Michael Hann
@michaelhann.bsky.social
Writer for newspapers and magazines, sleevenotes etc. Two books: Denim and Leather, and The Gospel of the Hold Steady. QPR supporter, hoping always that change really is possible
Vintage Phil Collins interview time, to celebrate his return from serious illness. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Phil Collins: "People would hire me thinking, In a minute he’s going to go DA-DA! DA-DA! DA-DA!"
A vintage transcript from Phil Collins this week, to celebrate his return to view after serious illness
open.substack.com
trying to choose a freudian therapist but they're all just sex of one and half a dozen of your mother
Here's the full transcript of a Van Morrison interview in which he actually does talk a little … open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Van Morrison: "I was probably conscious I was doing something extraordinary"
Here's Van Morrison in 2017, being more open about his old records and feelings than he sometimes is in interviews
open.substack.com
Wrote a long thing about the new albums by The Strokes and Charli XCX. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Not Take Five: The Strokes, Charli XCX and the pop of celebrity
No notes this week. I was going to do a short one about two new albums, then some other stuff, but it became 2.400 words and a day late
open.substack.com
Reviewed Wet Leg and Pulp spectator.com/article/wet-...
Wet Leg have become a proper rock band
Everyone uses the word ‘indie’ to describe a style of music. And Pulp and Wet Leg are two bands that fit squarely into that rubric. But remember what the word originally meant. An abbreviation of inde...
spectator.com
I believe it is compulsory to do a World Cup substack. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Take Five: World Cup special!
Look, I used to be the editor of a football magazine. People used to pay me good money to have tendentious opinions about football!
open.substack.com
Just back from The Odyssey. Great fun. Like all Nolan films it’s about a troubled superhero who jerks a woman around.
I was the first person to pay to see The Island of Dr Moreau in the UK. In the 90s, movies still opened a week earlier in London, and I went to the first public screening in London. I was the only person there. That is a truly awful film.
Defector@defector.com · 3w agoWhat's the worst movie you've ever watched in a theater? defector.com/whats-the-wo...
“Did you know Andy Burnham likes New Order” is going to be the new “Don Letts was around at the Roxy, but he doesn’t like to talk about it”
More unplayed records from the 7” boxes, including one psych pop wonder. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
This week's old singles reviewed! No 5
An unexpected psych gem from the northwest – a hit I had not noticed – plus Goldfrapp remixes, Scottish weirdness and vintage electropop
open.substack.com
More old singles reviewed! Including "the very best of American punk rock"! open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
This week's old singles reviewed! No 4
After a mysterious absence, we're back with the very cream of American punk rock (it's what it says on the label), indietronica, cod-Beach Boys and more
open.substack.com
I reviewed the Harry Styles show. spectator.com/article/the-...
The slipperiness of Harry Styles
For the first time at a gig, I spent much of Harry Styles’s show thinking about the maths. He’s cunningly doing his 68 shows in seven cities, with 12 of them at Wembley Stadium, which means he has tra...
spectator.com
The goat played in the world’s second most popular sport, in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Statistically Don Bradmsn is nearly twice as good as anyone else who has ever played cricket. I am sure no other sport has an anomaly like that.
Jonathan Bernstein@jonathanbernstein.bsky.social · 4w agoI think Ali is the best answer. Gretzky is the best answer if you stick to US men's baseball/basketball/football/hockey. Secretariat was awful good. (If only Flightline had stuck around one more year...).
This week’s things that caught my attention, inc how hard rock voices age, Edward Norton and alpha-gal. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Take Five: Big gigs, bad ticks and more
Some things that distracted me from pondering the exact dimensions of Pete Hegseth's hair
open.substack.com
The final part of Def Leppard week features Rick Savage on Mensch and Mutt and Pyromania. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Rick Savage: 'It was the time of Indiana Jones – we wanted to make an album like that'
Completing Def Leppard week, ahead of tonight's O2 show, here are extracts from the transcript of my 2021 interview with bassist Rick Savage, looking at their early 80s rise
open.substack.com
Continuing Leppard week, here’s Joe Elliott on the band’s Mutt Lange revolution open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Joe Elliott: 'It's really hard to stay disappointed when you sell six million records in the States'
It's Def Leppard week! Following yesterday's Phil Collen transcript, here's Joe Elliott talking to me in 2021 about the early years with Mutt Lange, and breaking America
open.substack.com
So, how exactly do you make two groundbreaking records that transform your band into megastars? By paying attention to every detail. Old transcript time. open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
Phil Collen: 'Earth, Wind and Fire are very similar to Def Leppard'
With the mighty Lepp jn town, here's their guitarist explaining how they became one of the 80s' biggest acts. Warning: lots about making records; nothing about cocaine and sex
open.substack.com
I enjoyed the Garth Brooks show a whole lot more than I expected. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...
Garth Brooks review – swooning fans turn out for British Summer Time’s hottest ticket
The country star is deeply moved by the reception at this sold-out event, as a growing UK fanbase shows its love for his songs
theguardian.com
The Jet second album revival starts here! No ape urine, this! open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
This week's old singles reviewed! #3
Australian hard rock on pink vinyl, charity shop glam … it's all going on this week, as I pull more unplayed seven inches from my boxes and hear them for the first time
open.substack.com
I think Arsenal fans will be interested in this, from 1999, in which David Rocastle and Michael Thomas tell their sad stories of life in football … open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
The ballad of Rocky and Mickey
In late 1999 I tracked down David Rocastle and Michael Thomas, stars of Arsenal's 1989 title-winning team, to find out where they had disappeared to. It was a sad story …
open.substack.com
Been going through old seven inches I have never played … open.substack.com/pub/michaelh...
This week's old singles reviewed!
Every week I'll be reviewing five seven inches I own but have never played. The first batch has Philly shoegaze, weird prog on RAK and an assessment of Britney Spears' mental health …
open.substack.com
Not the best football songs, nor the best World Cup songs, but the best songs *about* football. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...
Sing when you’re winning: the 20 greatest songs about football – ranked!
As World Cup fever begins, we go beyond terrace chants and team anthems to look at footy-mad songwriting, from Cardiff rap to Zimbabwean rumbira ... and Rod Stewart
theguardian.com
