Music
Nothing sacrilegious about this British Library Punk show, says Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols
There have been many punk exhibitions over the years so I can’t help but chuckle at the ‘experts’ who are…
The Heckler: love your music, Macca, just not sure about you
It’s slightly galling, after years of sticking up for Paul McCartney, to read a new biography of the bloke and…
‘Wanna come to Prince’s house?’
The untold story
Why we love unfinished art
An unfinished painting can provide a startling glimpse of the artist at work. But the common tendency to prefer it to a finished work is being taken to extremes, says Philip Hensher
Dull hipsters in broad daylight – why I’m done with today’s dance music
At 19, I dropped out of university to pursue a career as a rave promoter. I went into business with…
Aphorisms and the arts: from Aristotle to Oscar Wilde
The author of this jam-packed treasure trove has been a film critic at the New York Times since 2000 and…
Phil Lynott, from Dublin teenager to rock'n'roll burnout
It’s often said that there are only seven basic plots in literature. When it comes to biographies of rock stars…
Joan Bakewell: on socks, fridge magnets, teddy bears and such stuff
I don’t know if this counts as name-dropping, but I recently interviewed a boyhood friend of Elvis Presley’s in Tupelo,…
At the going down of the sun
One of the epigraphs to Peter Davidson’s nocturne on Europe’s arts of twilight is from Hegel: ‘The owl of Minerva…
If we really cared about mental health, muzak would be a top priority
No one is consulted. No one is held to account. No one has the authority to turn it off. How…
Bowie realised there was more to life than art
The DJ and sage Mark Radcliffe once said that he didn’t think he could ever like anyone who didn’t love…
Benjamin Clementine hasn’t really dedicated his prize to the Paris victims — yet
Benjamin Clementine, who won the 2015 Mercury Music Prize for his debut album At Least For Now, received his cheque…
Is television at its best when it mimics radio?
Not that long ago the BBC trumpeted a new Stakhanovite project to big up the arts in its many and…
Frank Sinatra never went away — but did he ever grow up?
‘He never went away. All those other things that we thought were here to stay, they did go away. But…
Never again, I told myself last time Bob Dylan was in town
We were like four hapless contestants on University Challenge. None of us knew the answer. But just like they do…
Not all crap TV is all that crap
Girl is back for half-term so I’ve been able to watch nothing but crap on TV this week. Some of…
My Schubert cruise was a transport of delight
Michael Henderson is transported to raptures on a Schubert cruise
Why I’m stepping down after 28 years as The Spectator pop critic
Pop's place in culture has changed drastically. Marcus Berkmann explains why, after 27 years, it is time to step down as The Spectator's pop critic
German refugees transformed British cultural life - but at a price
German-speaking refugees dragged British culture into the 20th century. But that didn’t go down well in Stepney or Stevenage, says William Cook
The truth about me, David Cameron, drugs and Supertramp
This week I woke up shocked to find myself on the front page of the Daily Mail. Apparently I’m the…