This article originally appeared in the July 1992 issue of SPIN. In honor of Achtung Baby turning 30, we’re republishing it here. “What you can never get in your book is the utter, total boredom of being in a band [on tour].” —John Lydon, quoted in Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming April 9, 1992: Rolling through the sun-scrubbed Arizona […]
This article originally appeared in the August 1993 issue of SPIN. Polly Harvey is standing in the rain, in the middle of a generic English small-town shopping street. The 23-year-old singer is wearing a plush fake leopard-skin coat, her usual Olive Oyl bun let loose into barely restrained curly waves. She is bone-tired, fed up with […]
This article originally appeared in the March 1991 issue of SPIN. It was like a scene out of Penelope Spheeris’s punk documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization. Social Distortion pounded away onstage while broken glass and a sheen of blood covered the dance floor. Big goony bouncers grabbed kids by their mohawks, or in the […]
This story originally appeared in the February 1993 issue of Spin, which was partially written and guest-edited by members of the SNL cast. Read interviews and stories from comedy icons of the era–Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Lorne Michaels and others–in our package of highlighted stories from the issue. The word genius is thrown around ever so loosely nowadays, but in the case of Todd Rundgren, anyone familiar with […]
This article originally appeared in the September 1995 issue of SPIN. It’s getting harder and harder to remember that, for much of his career, Neil Young has been regarded—if loved—as a self-destructive oddball. Even in his most celebrated decade, the 1970s, he shelved entire albums; others, such as Time Fades Away and On the Beach, were […]
This article originally appeared in the August 1993 issue of SPIN. To a Deadhead, Las Vegas is the other side of the universe. —Bill Graham It’s a match made in heaven. —Sean, a 100-show veteran Deadhead from Burbank For the third year in a row, Deadheads descended on Las Vegas, Nevada, that unlikeliest of hippie […]
This article originally appeared in the January 1999 issue of SPIN. In light of the Fugees reuniting, we’re republishing it here. A baby-on-board Lauryn Hill is feeling “fat and bothered,” hanging out with her mom and toddler son, Zion, in the kitchen of her New Jersey home. “I’m due tomorrow,” she jokes. Actually, she’s got […]
This article originally appeared in the December 1991 issue of SPIN. In honor of Nevermind’s 30th anniversary, we’re republishing our original review here. After a most fine lunch on a bright, sunny New York day, Nevermind is blasting through the little box on my desk and the finance department here at the lovely SPIN offices […]
This article originally appeared in the September 1992 issue of SPIN. In honor of Singles hitting theaters on this date in 1992, we’re republishing it here. Phoebe Cates fellating a carrot. Judge Reinhold beating off in the can. John Cusack lovelorn outside lone Skye’s window holding aloft a boom box blaring Peter Gabriel. Details such as these […]
This article originally appeared in the March 1995 issue of SPIN. Just another Friday night in the hard rockin’ territory of New Jersey, with two important differences: (1) I’ve never been here; and (2) it’s the last night of live music at Trenton’s legendary City Gardens. After two hours of turnpike and strip malls, I’m down with […]