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Kris Needs (born 3 July 1954) is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. He became editor of proto-punk and early punk rock ZigZag magazine in August 1977 at 23 and has since written biographies of musicians and rock stars, including Primal Scream, Joe Strummer and Keith Richards.
In 1972, Needs became the secretary of the Mott The Hoople fan club, the Sea Divers, which he ran from his home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. [1] His contact details at the time appear on the sleeve of the band's sixth studio album, Mott .
In the late 1970s, he fronted a band The Vice Creems, appearing in John Otway's Aylesbury Market Square free concert and also recorded a single with The Clash's Mick Jones and Topper Headon in the same studio that The Rolling Stones used to record their late 1960s peaks. Billy Idol contributed percussion and backing vocals for the band.
Needs started in journalism on the Thame Gazette, a weekly newspaper in Oxfordshire, went on to The Bucks Advertiser and then took over editing ZigZag , the UK's first monthly music mag, in 1977. [1]
Needs and Wonder Schneider formed the band Secret Knowledge and recorded the 1992 club hit "Sugar Daddy" on Andrew Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise label. The track appeared on their 1996 electronic album So Hard. Kris and Wonder also recorded with Leftfield as Delta Lady.
Needs started DJing at college in 1970, continuing at 70s punk rock events, the Batcave in London during the 1980s and for Primal Scream and Prodigy in the 90s while spinning at the world's clubs, including Ibiza's infamous Manumission.
In 2014, he completed the biographical work on George Clinton: George Clinton: The Cosmic Odyssey of Dr Funkenstein . [2] In 2015 he wrote the authorised biography of Suicide; Dream Baby Dream: Suicide; A New York Story.
In 2022, he was writing for various UK music magazines, including MOJO , Record Collector , Classic Rock , Prog , Electronic Sound, Vive Le Rock and Shindig! . [1] In May 2017, he launched No More Big Wheels with author Helen Donlon, an online outlet for cultural essays beyond the remits of the magazines. [3]
Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums). Barrie Cadogan has toured and recorded with the band since 2006 as a replacement after the departure of guitarist Robert "Throb" Young.
Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s. Initially formed as a backing band for Clinton's vocal group the Parliaments, Funkadelic eventually pursued a heavier, more psychedelic rock-oriented sound. They released acclaimed albums such as Maggot Brain (1971) and One Nation Under a Groove (1978).
Suicide was an American musical duo composed of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev, intermittently active between 1970 and 2016. The group's pioneering music utilized minimalist electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers and primitive drum machines, and their early performances were confrontational and often ended in violence. They were among the first acts to use the phrase "punk music" in an advertisement for a concert in 1970—during their very brief stint as a three-piece including Paul Liebegott.
The Brides of Funkenstein were an American Soul and Funk girl band, originally composed of singers Dawn Silva and Lynn Mabry.
Screamadelica is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a significant departure from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the blossoming house music scene and associated drugs such as LSD and MDMA. Much of the album's production was handled by acid house DJ Andrew Weatherall and engineer Hugo Nicolson, who remixed original recordings made by the band into dance-oriented tracks.
Michael Geoffrey Jones is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as the co-founder of the Clash until 1983. In 1984, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. Jones has played with the band Carbon/Silicon along with Tony James since 2002 and was part of the Gorillaz live band for a world tour in 2010–2011. In late 2011, Jones collaborated with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band.
Peter Frame is an English music journalist and historian of rock music.
Scott Sturgeon, also known as Stza Crack or simply Stza, is an American musician and artist who has fronted several ska-punk bands in the New York City area, the best-known being Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack. The stage name Stza is a tribute to the Wu-Tang Clan, members of which would take their stage names from the Supreme Alphabet of the Five-Percent Nation, such as GZA and RZA - Stza's name would therefore be Self Truth ZigZagZig Allah.
The Scream is the debut studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its innovative combination of angular guitar with a bass-led rhythm and machine-like drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre.
Kaleidoscope is the third studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in 1980 by record label Polydor. With the departure of John McKay and Kenny Morris and their replacement by two new musicians, Budgie on drums and John McGeoch on guitars, the band changed their musical direction and offered an album containing a wide variety of colors. "It was almost a different band", said Siouxsie.
Steven Bookvich known as Muruga Booker is an American drummer, composer, inventor, artist, recording artist, and an autonomous Eastern Orthodox priest.
Earl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim Curry and David Coverdale, in addition to releasing several solo recordings, and two records with Phantom, Rocker & Slick, the band he formed with Slim Jim Phantom & Lee Rocker.
ZigZag was a British rock music magazine. It was started by Pete Frame and the first edition was published on 16 April 1969. The magazine was noted for its interviews, articles, innovative "rock family trees" by Frame, and support for American songwriters such as Michael Nesmith, Mickey Newbury, Gene Clark, etc. It lasted in various forms through 1986.
Australian musicians played and recorded some of the earliest punk rock, led by The Saints who released their first single in 1976 and subgenres or offshoots of punk music, such as local hardcore acts, still have a strong cult following throughout Australia today.
Andrew Colin Innes is a Scottish musician, best known for being the rhythm guitarist in Scottish rock band Primal Scream.
Kenny Morris is an English drummer, songwriter and visual artist. He was the first studio drummer of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He joined the band in January 1977; he had attended their first live appearance at the 100 Club a few months earlier and had been impressed by their performance. Morris's first studio recording with the group was in November 1977 when they recorded their first John Peel session for BBC radio. Music journalist Kris Needs said : "Like as a rhythm machine for feet and guts Kenny Morris' drumming is unorthodox, primitive and far removed from the clicking hi-hats of the fly-strength paradiddle merchants".
The Amazing Zig Zag Concert was a rock concert held at The Roundhouse on April 28, 1974 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Zig Zag Magazine. Described as "one of the gigs of the decade", the concert "has taken on legendary proportions over the years" and featured Michael Nesmith with Red Rhodes, John Stewart, Help Yourself, Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers and Starry Eyed and Laughing. The concert was recorded, but was not issued until 2010, when it was released as a 5-CD boxed set.
Friars Aylesbury is a music club that runs in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. It opened in 1969 but closed down twice, once in 1970 for a period of nine months and again in 1984 for a period of twenty-five years. Friars Aylesbury reopened in June 2009 to tie in with its fortieth anniversary.
Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series is a series of eight EPs with contributions from various artists paying tribute to Alan Vega and his band Suicide. The individual 10" vinyl EPs were pressed in limited quantities and released through the London-based label Blast First Petite. According to the project's press release, the series was originally intended to be a monthly year-long series across 12 EPs, but ended up being released periodically over three years starting in 2008, continuing into 2010. The series launched with simultaneous releases of Dream Baby Dream and Shadazz on October 28, 2008. Each EP features one or two artists covering either a Suicide or Alan Vega solo track, paired with either a previously unreleased live or demo version of a Suicide or Vega solo song. Most releases in the series featured what Blast First referred to as a "major" artist and also an "upcoming" artist. Most of the EPs were also released digitally around the time of the 10" vinyl release, with some seeing limited-edition CD releases as well.
Zig Zags is a L.A. based heavy metal/punk rock trio. The band consists of singer/guitarist Jed Maheu, drummer Dane Arnold and bassist Sean Hoffman. Clash has described their music as a "Venn diagram connecting Black Sabbath, Black Flag and Motörhead".
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