Word In Your Ear

‘Mystique is dead’: what Gary Kemp learnt in 40 years of making and selling records


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Gary Kemp has been posting reels of his recent visits to old haunts in Soho where he and his early bands used to rehearse, this in the run-up to releasing a third solo album, ‘This Destination’, in January. We talk to him here about how records were made and promoted in the ‘80s and how radically that’s changed today. Which includes …

 

… “all media is now about getting and keeping people’s attention”.

 

… the first time he heard one of his songs on the radio.

 

… Bowie, Bolan, Queen and Elton John at Trident Studios.

 

… how bands copy the groove of a track.

 

… technology and the curse of too much choice.

 

… why TikTok’s changed the way songs are written.

 

… how the first Spandau Ballet album was made.

 

… the phone call from Richard Hawley that kick-started a song.

 

… the craft of 10cc and Steely Dan and why it doesn’t work on 2024 radio.

 

… the male attitude to bands who are largely followed by women.

 

… cunning ways to infiltrate the NME in the early ‘80s.

 

… plus Robert Elms in jodhpurs and “fly dentists” in the Saucerful Of Secrets audience.  

 

Pre-order This Destination here:

https://lnk.to/GaryKempThisDestination


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Word In Your EarBy Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold