Beat the devil
After two decades of drug-fuelled paranoia and erratic behaviour, James Brown was back on track - at least, it seemed that way to James Maycock when he met the Godfather of Soul last year. But his latest arrest suggests his demons are back, and as strong as ever.

Flash-forward: FeFe Dobson
She could be the new Britney - but Kitty Empire's tip for the top thinks her riff-laden love songs deserve better.

My first love
Helen Walsh was 13 when she discovered clubbing, house music and ecstasy - she had her first pill before her first kiss. In this astonishingly frank memoir, she recalls the pain she brought to her mother, together with the euphoria she found with the friends who became her new family.

Superfunk brothers
Outkast are a rap act like no other - as interested in Kate Bush as in hardcore hip hop, and as likely to be found in the kennels with their pitbulls as they are scooping up awards. Chris Campion catches up with Big Boi and Andre 3000 in rural Georgia and in LA and discovers why the planet's strangest group is also its hottest.

The real school of rock
Jack Black's movie isn't all fiction: there really is a school where teenagers learn how to play classic prog. Johnny Davis meets the masters and willing students of Jethro Tull in Philadelphia.

Flashback
Ten years on, Terry Christian recalls how Oasis made their TV debut on The Word. And it was all down to him ...

Two the power
It's not just Europe's most popular music station, it's also the most influential one in Britain. Paul Flynn spent a week in the studios with Radio 2's presenters, including Jonathan Ross and Terry Wogan, to find out how the once-derided institution found its cool.

The 10 novelty songs
Silly? Childish? Irritating? Well, yes... but who's to say that there isn't excellence in every field?

Making the law
Peter Paphides justifies his selection this month of the best bits of nonsense.

Last month's 10
Mark Kermode picked the best rock comedies on film. And for one issue only, we turned the list up to 11.

... Will Young
Three cheers for William! He may be posh - but the crown prince of British pop has nothing to hide ...

Sam Taylor-Wood
The artist works upstairs from the Pet Shop Boys, but her head is full of Johnny Cash. So the Doctor has to find her some 'happy' music. By Peter Paphides.

Permission to rock
When Marc Sands took up the guitar in his late thirties, his five-year-old son was the only person who didn't assume he was having a midlife crisis. Then his wife bought him a Strat and his mate arranged a very special fortieth birthday present.

David Arnold meets Ennio Morricone
David Arnold, the man who put the 'oo' back into 007 as one of Britain's leading film-score composers, asks the great Ennio Morricone about writing the music for spaghetti westerns, the perils of fame, cooking and the nature of comedy

Song of the month: 'Thank You' by Jamelia
When did young British women become so brutally adept at cutting through the crap?

The classic: Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Jazz guitar great George Benson remembers the summer of 1971, when his friend's finest album was played all over Harlem.

The first 10
The best team of critics pick the month's best LPs - from Barcelona to cyberspace.

More reviews
Including the next 20 best February releases and the worst album of the month.

Brand new retro
Miranda Sawyer: A lifetime achievement award? For Duran? Maybe we should remember the real Eighties ...

The indie kids
Tom Cox enters a world where the clothes are still baggy, and taste remains resolutely frozen in a time (1991) and a place (Manchester).

... the Western Isles
There are no clubs, and Woolies is the only record shop. Yet there's still a vital music scene, from ceilidhs and fiddlers to Runrig and the Gaelic covers band Weapons of Mass Destruction, reports Sarah Boden.

Rome is where the art is
Paul Morley finds that when commercial pop meets the demands of commercial TV, you can discover a point to almost anything - even Styx.

Editor's letter
It is always healthy to have a hobby, and when they are not posing with naked models in what might be considered a knowing pastiche of an old Jimi Hendrix sleeve, or simply a perk of their particular line of work, Outkast pursue theirs

Guitarist wanted
It takes hard cash to live the rock'n'roll lifestyle to the max and Rhodri Marsden, in his final bid for pop-propelled riches, decides that a career in a high-earning covers band is within his reach. But there's just one problem ... the demanding Teutonic band leader.

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