MOJO 287 / October 2017
IN 2017, DAVE GROHL is a world-straddling rock titan with his band the Foo Fighters, touting a brand new album of his best songs yet; but 25 years ago, as he prepared to take the Reading Festival stage with an embattled Nirvana, his future was on a knife edge. ONLY in this month’s MOJO magazine, he relives the moments and celebrates the influences that made the songwriter and star of today, while a 15-track FREE CD showcases the American alternative rock revolution of 1989-92, with fierce tracks from Afghan Whigs, Pavement, Mudhoney and more. Also in the issue: David Gilmour goes back to Pompeii; Cat Stevens reclaims his past; while Sparks wave their freak flag high. Plus: Ian Dury & The Blockheads; Elvis – The Last Mystery; unseen Lou Reed by Mick Rock; LCD Soundsystem return… And: how Jimmy Webb struck MOR gold on PCP!
CONTENTS MOJO 287
COVER STORY: DAVE GROHL From Scream and Nirvana to Foo Fighters' global hegemony, Dave Grohl has never lost his fire and fandom, but you’ll be surprised by some of the songs that have sustained him…
PLUS! The Reading Festival in 1992 was NIRVANA's UK swan song. Mud, tampons and an Abba tribute band co-starred. Matt Allen sifts the fact from flim-flam.
FREE CD: TEEN SPIRIT 15 tracks of inflammable underground rock and sub-pop, 1989-1992. Stars Afghan Whigs, Pavement, Mudhoney, The Jesus Lizard and more.
DAVID GILMOUR On the road, or rather, via, with the Pink Floyd Fender-bender, as we go deep into his fateful return to play Pompeii, 45 years on. Veni, vidi, vici?
CAT STEVENS He came back from the dead twice. Once to rule in the heyday of the singer-songwriter, once to reject stardom for Allah. Now he wants his old name back.
SPARKS The sibling sorcerers of deadpan panstick rock and pop return with the familiar parade of eccentricities. “The mission is unspoken but clear,” they insist.
ELVIS: THE LAST MYSTERY Without You was the record Sam Phillips asked Elvis to emulate at his key audition, but who was its anonymous singer? Maybe now, finally, he can be named…
JIMMY WEBB Fast cars, song-suites, PCP: the tunesmith’s tunesmith never did anything by halves, as his new memoir reveals. “It was a world of opulence,” he tells MOJO.
REVIEWED: LCD Soundsystem / Neil Young / The Horrors / Nick Lowe / The National / Ringo Starr / Kelley Stoltz / Mogwai / Laur Nyro / Gorillaz / Van Morrison
ALSO: Ian Dury & The Blockheads hit their stride / Adam & The Ants melt down / Rolling Stones take on Auntie Beeb / PP Arnold’s lost classic / This Is The Kit amazes us all / Unseen Lou Reed / Peter Buck unburdens / Steven Wilson on Talk Talk / Tributes to Chester Bennington