NME Award Winners 1994-2018 (Part Two)

Posted on 06/09/2018 by rollo

Let’s now complete our summary of the NME Awards, with all the winners in one single, easy-to-digest place. So, as an extension of part two of the NME Poll Winners 1952-1992, here’s the final part!

Best Newcomer

Continuing the list that saw Cliff Richard and The Stone Roses share the limelight previously, these are the more recent newcomers.

Best New Artist

1994 – Elastica (Best New Band), Credit to the Nation (Best New Solo Act)
1995 – Oasis
1996 – Supergrass
1997 – Kula Shaker
1998 – Embrace
1999 – Gomez
2000 – Muse
2001 – Coldplay
2002 – The Strokes
2003 – The Libertines
2004 – Kings of Leon
2005 – Razorlight
2006 – Arctic Monkeys
2007 – Klaxons
2008 – The Enemy
2009 – MGMT
2010 – Bombay Bicycle Club
2011 – Hurts
2012 – The Vaccines
2013 – Palma Violets
2014 – Drenge
2015 – Royal Blood
2016 – Rat Boy
2017 – Dua Lipa
2018 – Stefflon Don

Philip Hall Under the Radar Award

1995 – Gene
1996 – Rocket from the Crypt
1997 – Super Furry Animals
2000 – Terris
2001 – Starsailor
2002 – The Coral
2003 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2005 – Kaiser Chiefs
2006 – The Long Blondes
2007 – The Twang
2008 – Glasvegas
2009 – The Big Pink
2010 – The Drums
2011 – The Naked and Famous
2012 – The Child of Lov
2014 – Fat White Family
2018 – Pale Waves

Best Live Music Categories

Most award ceremonies now seem to recognise live music, but the NME Awards have been doing it since way back in the early 1990s.

Best Live Act

1995 – Blur
1996 – Oasis (Best Live Act), Pulp (NME Live Act of the Year)
1997 – Manic Street Preachers
2000 – Super Furry Animals (Best Live Act), Mogwai (NME Live Act of the Year)
2001 – Moby
2002 – U2
2003 – The Datsuns
2004 – Queens of the Stone Age
2005 – Muse
2006 – Franz Ferdinand
2007 – Kasabian
2008 – Muse
2009 – Muse
2010 – Arctic Monkeys
2011 – Biffy Clyro
2012 – Arctic Monkeys
2013 – The Rolling Stones
2014 – Arctic Monkeys
2015 – Royal Blood
2016 – Wolf Alice
2017 – The 1975
2018 – Kasabian

Best Festival Headliner

2017 – Adele
2018 – Muse

Best Live Event

1994 – Megadog
1995 – Orbital at Glastonbury Festival
1996 – Glastonbury Festival
1997 – Oasis at Knebworth (Best Musical Event)
1998 – Glastonbury Festival (Best Musical Event)
1999 – Glastonbury Festival (Best Musical Event)
2000 – Glastonbury Festival (Best Musical Event)
2001 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds (Best Musical Event)
2002 – Ozzfest (Best Musical Event)
2003 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds (Best Musical Event)
2005 – Glastonbury Festival
2006 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds (Best Musical Event)
2007 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds
2008 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds
2009 – Glastonbury Festival
2010 – Blur at Hyde Park

Best Festival

2010 – Glastonbury Festival
2011 – Glastonbury Festival
2012 – Glastonbury Festival
2013 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds
2014 – Glastonbury Festival
2015 – Glastonbury Festival
2016 – Glastonbury Festival
2017 – Glastonbury Festival
2018 – Glastonbury Festival

Best Small Festival

2011 – RockNess
2012 – RockNess
2013 – Festival No. 6
2014 – Sŵn
2015 – Liverpool Psych Fest
2016 – End of the Road
2017 – End of the Road
2018 – Festival No. 6

Radio Session of the Year

1997 – Suede (Radio 1 Evening Session of the Year)
1998 – Radiohead (Radio 1 Evening Session of the Year)
1999 – Junior Carter (Breezeblock Mix of the Year)
2000 – Supergrass (Radio 1 Session of the Year), Ooberman (Best NME Premier Show Performance)
2001 – Coldplay (Radio 1 Session of the Year)
2002 – The Charlatans (Radio 1 Session of the Year)

Best Club / Live Venue

1994 – The Forum
1995 – Brixton Academy
1996 – Brixton Academy
1997 – Brixton Academy
1998 – Brixton Academy
1999 – Brixton Academy
2000 – Brixton Academy
2001 – Cream
2003 – London Astoria
2004 – Brixton Academy
2005 – Brixton Academy
2006 – Brixton Academy
2007 – Brixton Academy
2008 – Wembley Stadium

Tour Award

2001 – Amen / JJ72 / Alfie
2002 – Lostprophets / Andrew WK / The Coral

Genre-Specific Artist Categories

These are just a selection of the artist categories that relate to a particular genre of music.

Best Dance Act

1994 – Orbital
1996 – The Prodigy (Best Dance Act), Goldie (Vibes Award for Best Dance Act)
1997 – The Prodigy (Best Dance Act), Orbital (Vibes Award for Best Dance Act)
1998 – The Prodigy
1999 – Fatboy Slim
2000 – The Chemical Brothers (Best Dance Act), Death in Vegas (On the Decks Award for Best Dance Act)
2001 – Fatboy Slim
2002 – Basement Jaxx

Best Hip Hop / Rap Act

1994 – Cypress Hill
1995 – Warren G
2001 – Eminem
2002 – Missy Elliott

Best Metal Act

2001 – Marilyn Manson
2002 – Lostprophets

Best Rock Act

2001 – U2

Best Pop Act

2001 – All Saints
2002 – Kylie Minogue

Best R&B / SOUL Act

2001 – Kelis
2002 – Aaliyah

One-off awards

There are a whole load of odd, eclectic, and occasionally wonderful one-off awards. Here are all the ones I could find.

One-off Awards

1996 – Special Award for Services Beyond the Call of Duty – Tony Crean
1999 – Brain That Should Be Kept Alive for Posterity – Nicky Wire
1999 – Would Make the Best Drugs Czar – Shaun Ryder
1999 – Would To See On A Blind Date – Marilyn Manson and Billie Piper
1999 – Would Most Like as Your Doctor – Natalie Imbruglia
1999 – Would Most Like to Go Shopping with – Brian Molko
1999 – Would Most Like to Cook You a Meal – Tiny Woods
1999 – Would Most Like to Be Marooned on a Desert Island with – Louise
1999 – Would Most Like as Prime Minister – Nicky Wire
1999 – Most Like as Your Driving Instructor – Jay Kay
1999 – Most Like to See in a Ring with Mike Tyson – Billie Piper
2004 – Fight of the Year – Jack White vs. Jason von Bondie
2004 – Living Legend – Arthur Lee
2004 – Most Missed – Johnny Cash
2005 – Special Award for Lifelong Service to Music – John Peel
2010 – Giving it Back Fan Award – Lily Allen
2014 – Songwriters’ Songwriter – Paul McCartney
2016 – Best Actor – Idris Elba
2016 – Best Actress – Vicky McClure
2016 – Vlogger of the Year – KSI

Best Solo Artist

In earlier decades, this award had been split pretty arbitrarily, and this continues. I’ve grouped these into British and International, since this is what they are currently going with, but we’re actually looking at about six different award categories here.

Best British Solo Artist

1995 – Paul Weller (Best Solo Artist)
1996 – Paul Weller (Best Solo Artist)
1999 – Robbie Williams (Best Solo Artist)
2001 – Badly Drawn Boy (Best Solo Artist)
2002 – Ian Brown (Best Solo Artist)
2005 – Graham Coxon (Best Solo Artist)
2007 – Jamie T (Best Solo Artist)
2008 – Kate Nash (Best Solo Artist)
2009 – Pete Doherty (Best Solo Artist)
2010 – Jamie T (Best Solo Artist)
2011 – Laura Marling (Best Solo Artist)
2012 – Florence + the Machine (Best Solo Artist)
2013 – Florence + the Machine (Best Solo Artist)
2014 – Lily Allen (Best Solo Artist)
2015 – Jake Bugg (Best Solo Artist)
2016 – Charlie XCX
2017 – M.I.A. (Female), Skepta (Male)
2018 – Loyle Carner

Best International Solo Artist

1994 – Björk (Best Solo Artist)
1997, 1998, 2000 – Beck (Best Solo Artist)
2003-2004 – Ryan Adams (Best Solo Artist)
2006 – Kanye West (Best Solo Artist)
2016 – Taylor Swift
2017 – Christine and the Queens (Female), Frank Ocean (Male)
2018 – Lorde

Best DJ

2000 – Fatboy Slim
2001 – Carl Cox

Best Group

Next, here are the categories for best group – of which there are still many.

Best British Band

1994 – Suede (Best Band)
1995 – Blur (Best Band)
1996-1997 – Oasis (Best Band)
1998 – The Verve (Best Band)
1999 – Manic Street Preachers (Best Band)
2000 – Blur (Best Band), Travis (NME Band of the Year)
2001 – Radiohead (Best Band)
2003 – Oasis (Best British Band and NME Band of the Year)
2004-2005 – The Libertines
2006 – Arctic Monkeys
2007 – Muse
2008 – Arctic Monkeys
2009 – Oasis
2010-2011 – Muse
2012 – Kasabian
2013 – Biffy Clyro
2014 – Arctic Monkeys
2015 – Kasabian
2016 – The Maccabees
2017 – Biffy Clyro
2018 – Alt-J

Best International Band

2002 – The Strokes (Best Band)
2003 – The Hives
2004 – Kings of Leon
2005 – The Killers
2006 – The Strokes
2007 – My Chemical Romance
2008-2009 – The Killers
2010 – Paramore
2011 – My Chemical Romance
2012 – Foo Fighters
2013 – The Killers
2014 – Haim
2015 – Foo Fighters
2016 – Run the Jewels
2017 – Metallica
2018 – Haim

Best Band Ever

2000 – The Beatles

Worst Band

1997 – Oasis
2003 – Nickelback
2005 – Insane Clown Posse
2006 – Son of Dork
2007 – Panic! At the Disco
2008 – The Hoosiers
2009-2011 – Jonas Brothers
2012-2013 – One Direction
2014 – The 1975
2015-2017 – 5 Seconds of Summer

Best Collaboration

2018 – Craig David and Bastille

Most Dedicated Fans / Best Fan Community

2012-2013 – Muse
2014 – Arctic Monkeys
2015 – Muse
2016 – The Libertines

Best of All Time Awards

Finally, NME introduced the Godlike Genius Award in 1994, and have therefore followed with a suite of “best of all time” awards.

Godlike Genius Award

1994 – John Peel
1995 – Alan McGee
1996 – Michael Eavis
1997 – Mark E. Smith
1999 – Massive Attack
2000 – Shaun Ryder
2001 – U2
2002 – Nick Kent and Pennie Smith
2005 – New Order and Joy Division
2006 – Ian Brown
2007 – Primal Scream
2008 – Manic Street Preachers
2009 – The Cure
2010 – Paul Weller
2011 – Dave Grohl
2012 – Noel Gallagher
2013 – Johnny Marr
2014 – Blondie
2015 – Suede
2016 – Coldplay
2017 – Pet Shop Boys
2018 – Liam Gallagher

Outstanding Contribution to Music

2002 – The Charlatans
2009 – Elbow
2010 – The Specials
2011 – PJ Harvey
2012 – Pulp
2013 – The Cribs
2014 – Belle and Sebastian
2017 – WIley

The Fuck Me! / John Peel Award for Innovation / NME Innovation Award

2003 – The Polyphonic Spree
2004 – Dizzee Rascal
2005 – The Others
2006 – Gorillaz
2007 – Enter Shikari
2008 – Radiohead
2011 – Crystal Castles
2014 – Damon Albarn
2018 – Boy Better Know

NME Icon

2018 – Shirley Manson

And that concludes the results of the NME Polls and Awards, from 1954 to 2018. Join us in 2019 for another new ceremony!

NME Awards – 2015-2017

Posted on 16/08/2018 by rollo

Finally, by the current decade, NME seemed to have regained their taste. Several decades after being obsessed with guitars and the lower reaches of the charts, they finally even decided to associate themselves with acts such as Pet Shop Boys. Let’s complete our journey through the history of their awards, with the last few years.

NME Awards 2015

Godlike Genius Award: Suede
Best British Band: Kasabian. Also nominated: Alt-J, Arctic Monkeys, Chvrches, Royal Blood, The Libertines
Best Album: Kasabian, for 48:13
Also nominated: Jamie T, for Carry On The Grudge, La Roux, for Trouble In Paradise, Royal Blood, for Royal Blood, Run The Jewels, for Run The Jewels 2, St Vincent, for St Vincent
Best International Band: Foo Fighters. Also nominated: Arcade Fire, Haim, Interpol, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tame Impala
Best Live Band: Royal Blood. Also nominated: Arctic Monkeys, Fat White Family, Foo Fighters, Kasabian, The Libertines
Best New Band: Royal Blood. Also nominated: Circa Waves, FKA Twigs, Jungle, Slaves, Superfood
Best Solo Artist: Jake Bugg. Also nominated: Jack White, Jamie T, La Roux, Lana Del Rey, St Vincent
Best Festival: Glastonbury. Also nominated: Bestival, Isle Of Wight Festival, Latitude, Reading & Leeds, T In The Park
Best Track: Jamie T, for Zombie. Also nominated: Future Islands, for Seasons (Waiting On You), Jungle, for Busy Earnin, Kasabian, for Eez-Eh, Noel Gallagher, for In The Heat Of The Moment, Royal Blood, for Little Monster
Best Video: Jamie T, for Zombie. Also nominated: Fat White Family, for Touch The Leather, FKA Twigs, for Two Weeks, Jungle, for Busy Earnin’, Peace, for Lost On Me, Royal Blood, for Figure It Out
Best Music Film: Pulp, for A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets. Also nominated: 20,000 Days On Earth, Finding Fela, Kasabian, for Summer Solstice, Supermensch: The Legend Of Shep Gordon, The Possibilities Are Endless
Best Film: Northern Soul. Also nominated: Boyhood, Frank, Get On Up, God Help The Girl, The Inbetweeners 2
Best TV Show: Game of Thrones. Also nominated: Girls, Foo Fighters, for Sonic Highways, Peaky Blinders, Sherlock, True Detective
Best Dancefloor Filler: Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, for Fancy. Also nominated: Jamie T, for Zombie, Kasabian, for Eez-Eh, Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars, for Uptown Funk, Metronomy, for Love Letters, SBTRKT feat. Ezra Koenig, for New Dorp. New York
Worst Band: 5 Seconds of Summer. Also nominated: , Bastille, Blink 182, One Direction, The 1975, U2
Villain of the Year: Nigel Farage. Also nominated: Bono, David Cameron, Harry Styles, Russell Brand, Taylor Swift
Hero of the Year: Alex Turner. Also nominated: Dave Grohl, Kate Bush, Noel Gallagher, Russell Brand, Taylor Swift
Music Moment of the Year: Jamie T‘s comeback. Also nominated: Alex Turner’s Brit Awards speech, Kasabian headline Glastonbury, Kate Bush returns, The Libertines reunite, Nirvana reunite at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Best Fan Community: Muse. Also nominated: Jamie T, Kasabian, La Roux, Peace, Royal Blood
Small Festival of the Year: Liverpool Psych Fest. Also nominated: End Of The Road, Festival No. 6, Field Day, The Great Escape, Tramlines
Book of the Year: Viv Albertine, for Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
Also nominated: Bernard Sumner, for Chapter And Verse, Ian Curtis, Deborah Curtis and Jon Savage, for So This Is Permanence, Jesse Frohman, for Kurt Cobain: The Last Session, John Lydon, for Anger Is An Energy: My Life Uncensored, Steve Hanley, for The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall
Reissue of the Year: Manic Street Preachers, for The Holy Bible. Also nominated: Led Zeppelin, for Led Zeppelin II, Oasis, for Definitely Maybe, Pixies, for Doolittle, Public Enemy, for It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Smashing Pumpkins, for Adore
Best Band Social Media: Liam Gallagher‘s Twitter. Also nominated: Questlove’s Twitter, Alana Haim’s Twitter, Albert Hammond Jr’s Twitter, Fat White Family’s Facebook, Slaves’ Facebook

NME Awards 2016

Godlike Genius Award: Coldplay
Best British Band: The Maccabees. Also nominated: The Libertines, Foals, Wolf Alice, The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen
Best International Band: Run the Jewels. Also nominated: Tame Impala, Foo Fighters, The Strokes, The Killers, Alabama Shakes
Best New Artist: Rat Boy. Also nominated: Hinds, Halsey, Yak, Låpsley, Formation
Best British Solo Artist: Charli XCX. Also nominated: Adele, Noel Gallagher, Ed Sheeran, Florence Welch, Skepta
Best International Solo Artist: Taylor Swift. Also nominated: Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, Courtney Barnett, Kanye West, Grimes
Best Live Band: Wolf Alice. Also nominated: The Maccabees, The Libertines, Foals, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Royal Blood
Best Album: Foals, for What Went Down. Also nominated: Wolf Alice, for My Love Is Cool, The Maccabees, for Marks to Prove it, Kendrick Lamar, for To Pimp a Butterfly, Tame Impala, for Currents, Grimes, for Art Angels
Best Track: Wolf Alice, for Giant Peach. Also nominated: Coldplay, for Adventure of a Lifetime, The Libertines, for Gunga Din, The Weeknd, for I Can’t Feel My Face, Skepta, for Shut Down, Foals, for What Went Down
Best TV Show: This is England ’90. Also nominated: The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Peep Show, Gogglebox
Best Film: Beasts of No Nation. Also nominated: Ex Machina, Spectre, Mad Max: Fury Road, Whiplash, Kill Your Friends
Best Music Film: Blur, for New World Towers. Also nominated: Amy, Montage of Heck, Straight Outta Compton, What Happened, Miss Simone, The Reflektor Tapes
Best Music Video: Slaves, for Cheer Up London. Also nominated: Rihanna, for Bitch Better Have My Money, The Libertines, for Heart Of The Matter, Wolf Alice, for You’re a Germ, Blur, for Ong Ong, Tame Impala, for The Less I Know The Better
Best Actor: Idris Elba. Also nominated: Tom Hardy, Eddie Redmayne, Nicholas Hoult, Stephen Graham, Daniel Radcliffe
Best Actress: Vicky McClure. Also nominated: Jennifer Lawrence, Emilia Clarke, Gemma Chan, Amy Schumer, Saoirse Ronan
Best Reissue: David Bowie, for Five Years (1969–1973). Also nominated: A Tribe Called Quest, for People’s Instinctive Travels And the Paths Of Rhythm, The Velvet Underground, for Loaded, Rolling Stones, for Sticky Fingers, Tori Amos, for Under The Pink, Faith No More, for Angel Dust
Best Book: Patti Smith, for M Train. Also nominated: Grace Jones, for I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, Elvis Costello, for Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Carrie Brownstein, for Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, Professor Green, for Lucky, Tom Jones, for Over The Top And Back
Best Festival: Glastonbury. Also nominated: Reading & Leeds, V Festival, T in the Park, Bestival, Isle of Wight
Best Small Festival: End of the Road. Also nominated: Sŵn, Festival No. 6, Green Man, Liverpool Sound City, Kendall Calling
Music Moment of the Year: The Libertines‘ secret Glastonbury set. Also nominated: The return of Adele, Dave Grohl breaks leg and carries on, Florence + The Machine headlines Glastonbury, Kanye at The Brits, One Direction ‘split’
Best Fan Community: The Libertines. Also nominated: Hurts, Muse, Catfish and the Bottleman, The 1975, Wolf Alice
Worst Band: 5 Seconds of Summer. Also nominated: One Direction, Little Mix, Sleaford Mods, U2, Nickelback
Villain of the Year: Donald Trump. Also nominated: David Cameron, Chris Moyles, Kanye West, George Osbourne, Simon Cowell
Hero of the Year: Dave Grohl. Also nominated: Adele, Jeremy Corbyn, Florence Welch, Kanye West, Taylor Swift
Vlogger of the Year: KSI. Also nominated: Vikkstar123, Charlie McDonnell, Joe Weller, Danisnotonfire, Savannah Brown

NME Awards 2017

Godlike Genius Award: Pet Shop Boys
Best British Band: Biffy Clyro. Also nominated: Wolf Alice, The 1975, Bastille, Years & Years, The Last Shadow Puppets
Best International Band: Metallica. Also nominated: Tame Impala, Kings Of Leon, Green Day, A Tribe Called Quest, Tegan and Sara
Best New Artist: Dua Lipa. Also nominated: Blossoms, Zara Larsson, Sunflower Bean, Christine and The Queens, Anderson .Paak
Best British Female Artist: M.I.A.. Also nominated: Dua Lipa, Adele, Charli XCX, Kate Tempest, PJ Harvey
Best British Male Artist: Skepta. Also nominated: Zayn Malik, Kano, Jamie T, Michael Kiwanuka, Richard Ashcroft
Best International Female Artist: Christine and the Queens. Also nominated: Sia, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Solange, Tove Lo
Best International Male Artist: Frank Ocean. Also nominated: Kanye West, Drake, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper
Best Festival Headliner: Adele. Also nominated: Coldplay, Radiohead, Biffy Clyro, Foals, The Stone Roses
Best Live Band: The 1975. Also nominated: Bastille, Slaves, Bring Me The Horizon, Christine And The Queens, Wolf Alice
Best Album: Bastille, for Wild World. Also nominated: Kanye West, for The Life Of Pablo, Skepta, for Konnichiwa, The 1975, for I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, Radiohead, for A Moon Shaped Pool, Beyoncé, for Lemonade
Best Track: Christine and the Queens, for Tilted. Also nominated: Tove Lo, for Cool Girl, Charli XCX, for After The Afterparty, Skepta, for Man, Bastille, for Good Grief, The 1975, for Somebody Else
Best TV Show: Fleabag. Also nominated: Stranger Things, Game Of Thrones, Black Mirror, Humans, People Just Do Nothing
Best Film: My Scientology Movie. Also nominated: Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, Suicide Squad, Everybody Wants Some!!, Hunt For The Wilderpeople
Best Music Film: Oasis, for Supersonic, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, for One More Time With Feeling, Sing Street, Gimme Danger, The Rolling Stones, for Havana Moon, The Beatles, for Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years
Best Music Video: Slaves, for Consume or Be Consumed. Also nominated: Kanye West, for Famous, Beyoncé, for Formation, Radiohead, for Burn The Witch, Rat Boy, for Get Over It, Wolf Alice, for Lisbon
Best Reissue: Oasis, for Be Here Now. Also nominated: R.E.M., for Out Of Time, Pink Floyd, for Meddle, Michael Jackson, for Off The Wall, DJ Shadow, for Endtroducing, Blur, for Leisure
Best Book: Johnny Marr, for Set the Boy Free
Best Festival: Glastonbury. Also nominated: Reading & Leeds, Download, Isle Of Wight, Primavera, V Festival
Best Small Festival: End of the Road. Also nominated: Y Not, Green Man, Festival No. 6, Kendall Calling, Slam Dunk
Music Moment of the Year: Coldplay‘s Viola Beach tribute at Glastonbury. Also nominated: Bring Me The Horizon invade Coldplay’s table at NME Awards 2016, Beyoncé drops Lemonade, Skepta wins Mercury Prize, Pete Doherty plays The Bataclan, The Stone Roses’ first new music in 20 years
Worst Band: 5 Seconds of Summer. Also nominated: The Chainsmokers, Clean Bandit, Honey G, Nickelback, Twenty One Pilots
Villain of the Year: Nigel Farage. Also nominated: Donald Trump, David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Martin Shkreli, Katie Hopkins
Hero of the Year: Beyoncé. Also nominated: David Bowie, Adele, Millie Bobby Brown, Gary Lineker, Liam Gallagher
Outstanding Contribution to Music: Wiley

NME Awards – The 1990s

Posted on 28/06/2018 by rollo

In 1994, the NME Awards suddenly went public, relaunching for the first time in twenty years as an annual awards ceremony, The NME Brat Awards. I’d always thought as the NME of the 1990s as being rather closed-minded, but they do seem to have been remarkably aware of non-indie forms of music, presenting awards to the likes of Tricky and Goldie towards the end of the decade.

NME Brat Awards 1994

After taking a break in 1993, the NME Poll finally reinvented itself as an actual awards ceremony in early 1994. Presenters: Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Best New Band: Elastica
Best Single: Radiohead, for Creep
Best Band: Suede
Best Album: The Boo Radleys, for Giant Steps
Best Dance Act: Orbital
Godlike Genius Award: John Peel
Live Event: Megadog
Rap Act: Cypress Hill
Best Film: Reservoir Dogs
Worst Record: Meat Loaf, for I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)
Best Venue: The Forum
Event of 1993: Unity March
Best Radio Show: John Peel
Hype: Jurassic Park
Best Solo Artist: Björk
Best New Act: Credit to the Nation
Bastard: John Major
Object of Desire: Björk

NME Awards 1995

Presenters: Tip Top TV

Best LP: Blur, for Parklife
Best Single: Oasis, for Live Forever
Best New Band: Oasis
Best Solo Artist: Paul Weller
Worst Record: Whigfield, for Saturday Night
Film of the Year: Pulp Fiction
Best TV Show: Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge
Best Comedian: Steve Coogan
Most Desirable Human Being: Kylie Minogue
Best Club/Venue: Brixton Academy
NME Album of the Year: Oasis, for Definitely Maybe
NME Singles of the Year: Blur, for Girls and Boys
Philip Hall/On Award for Best New Act: Gene
Godlike Genius Award for Services to Music: Alan McGee, Creation Records
Live Act of the Year: Blur
Best Rap Artist: Warren G
Event of the Year: Glastonbury Festival
Bummer of the Year: Kurt Cobain‘s Suicide
Best Video: Blur, for Parklife
Best Band: Blur
Best Live Event: Orbital at Glastonbury

NME Awards 1996

Presenters: Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer

Best Live Act: Oasis
Best Band: Oasis
Best LP: Oasis, for (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Best Single: Oasis, for Wonderwall
Vibes Award for Best Dance Act: Goldie
Best Dance Act: The Prodigy
Best Solo Artist: Paul Weller
The Special Award for Services Beyond the Call of Duty: Tony Crean for organising the War Child LP
Album of the Year: Tricky, for Maxinquaye
Single of the Year: Black Grape, for Reverend Black Grape
Worst Record: Robson Green and Jerome Flynn, for I Believe
Godlike Genius Award: Michael Eavis
Best Musical Event: Glastonbury Festival
Non-Musical Event: French Nuclear Testing
Best Dressed Person: Jarvis Cocker
Worst Dressed Person: Jarvis Cocker
Best Video: Pulp, for Common People
Live Act of the Year: Pulp
Best TV Programme: Shooting Stars
Best New Band: Supergrass
The Philip Hall Radar Award: Rocket from the Crypt
Best Radio Show: Radio 1’s Evening Session
Best Film: The Usual Suspects
Best Comedian: Steve Coogan
Most Desirable Human Being: Liam Gallagher
Git of the Year: Damon Albarn
Best Venue: Brixton Academy

NME Awards 1997

Took place on 28 January 1997.

Best LP: Manic Street Preachers, for Everything Must Go
Best Single: Manic Street Preachers, for A Design for Life
Best Live Act: Manic Street Preachers
Musical Moment of the Year: Skinner, Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds , for Three Lions
Best LP: Beck, for Odelay
Best Single: Underworld, for Born Slippy
Worst Single: Spice Girls, for Wannabe
Best Solo Artist: Beck
Best Radio Show: Radio 1 Evening Session
Most Desirable Person: Louise Wener
Best Video: The Prodigy, for Firestarter
Biggest Disappointment: The Stone Roses breaking up
Best Club/Venue: Brixton Academy
Best Band: Oasis
Worst Dressed Person: Liam Gallagher
Worst Band: Oasis
Arse of the Year: Liam Gallagher
Musical Event of the Year: Oasis at Knebworth
Radio 1 Evening Session Of The Year: Suede
Best New Band/Artist: Kula Shaker
Philip Hall/On Award for Best New Act: Super Furry Animals
Best Dance Act: The Prodigy
Vibes Award for Best Dance Act: Orbital
Best Film: Trainspotting
Best TV Show: Shooting Stars

NME Awards 1998

Took place on 27 January 1998. Presenter: Eddie Vedder

Best Band: The Verve
Best LP: Radiohead, for OK Computer
God Like Genius: Mark E. Smith of The Fall
Best Single: The Verve, for Bitter Sweet Symphony
Best Solo Artist: Beck
Worst Single: Aqua, for Barbie Girl
Best Film: The Full Monty
Musical Event Of 1997: Glastonbury Festival
Radio 1 Evening Session of the Year: Radiohead
Best TV Show: Shooting Stars
Best Dance Act: The Prodigy
Best Radio Show: Mark Radcliffe and Lard (Mark Riley)
Best New Band: Embrace
Best Club/Venue: Brixton Academy
Best Music Video: The Verve, for Bittersweet Symphony
Best Dance Single: The Prodigy, for Smack My Bitch Up
Dickhead Of The Year: Liam Gallagher
Most Desirable Person: Louise Nurding (Louise)

NME Premier Awards 1999

Best Single: Manic Street Preachers, for If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next
Best Band: Manic Street Preachers
Best Music Video: Manic Street Preachers, for If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next
Best Album: Manic Street Preachers, for This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
Best New Band: Gomez
Best Radio Show: Mark Radcliffe
Best Dance Act: Fatboy Slim
Best Dance Record: Fatboy Slim, for The Rockafeller Skank
Godlike Genius: Massive Attack
Best TV Show: South Park
Best Film: Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
Musical Event of the Year: Glastonbury Festival
Best Solo Artist: Robbie Williams
Most Desirable Person: Natalie Imbruglia
Worst Record: Billie Piper, for Because We Want to
Dickhead of the Year: Liam Gallagher
Best Venue: Brixton Academy
The Pop Personality’s Brain That Should Be Kept Alive for Posterity: Nicky Wire
The Pop Personality Who Would Make the Best Drugs Czar: Shaun Ryder
The Pop Personality You Would To See On A Blind Date: Marilyn Manson and Billie Piper
The Pop Personality You Would Most Like as Your Doctor: Natalie Imbruglia
The Pop Personality You Would Most Like to Go Shopping with: Brian Molko
The Pop Personality You Would Most Like to Cook You a Meal: Tiny Woods
The Pop Personality You Would Most Like to Be Marooned on a Desert Island with: Louise
The Pop Personality You Would Most Like as Prime Minister: Nicky Wire
The Pop Personality That You’d Most Like as Your Driving Instructor: Jay Kay
The Pop Personality You Would Most Like to See in a Ring with Mike Tyson: Billie Piper

NME Poll Winners 1952-1992 (Part Two)

Posted on 07/12/2017 by rollo

Finally, having worked through all the other categories, let’s take a look at the artist winners for the NME Polls from 1952 to 1992. As I mentioned last week, it’s hard to trace the winners of a particular category through time, so I’ve taken a few liberties. Essentially anything that seems to be roughly the same category has been treated as the same thing. Also, for the year ranges, there are a few missing years here and there, so for instance 1967-1970 could mean anything between 2 and 3 wins.

Best Newcomer

For thirty-five years, the NME Poll included a newcomer award, variously titled “World’s Most Promising New Name”, “Best New Group”, and various other things. It’s an amazing time capsule of new acts throughout the ages – who would have thought that Cliff Richard and The Stone Roses could appear on the same list?

Best New Artist

1956 – Ronnie Scott
1958 – Cliff Richard
1959 – Craig Douglas
1960 – Emile Ford
1961 – John Leyton
1962 – Frank Ifield
1963 – Gerry Marsden
1964 – Mick Jagger
1965 – Seekers (group) & Donovan (solo)
1966 – Spencer Davis Group (group) & Stevie Winwood (solo)
1967 – Bee Gees (group) & Engelbert Humperdinck (solo)
1968 – Love Affair (group & Mary Hopkins (solo)
1970 – Jethro Tull
1971 – McGuinness Flint (group) & Elton John (solo)
1972 – New Seekers (group) & Rod Stewart (solo)
1973 – Golden Earring (World) & Leo Sayer (British)
1975 – Bad Company
1976 – Eddie and the Hot Rods
1977 – Tom Robinson
1978 – Public Image Ltd.
1979 – The Specials
1980 – UB40
1981 – Altered Images
1983 – The Smiths
1984 – Bronski Beat
1985 – The Jesus and Mary Chain
1986 – The Housemartins
1987 – The Proclaimers
1988 – The House of Love
1989 – The Stone Roses
1990 – The Charlatans
1991 – Kingmaker
1992 – Suede

Technical Categories

A lot of categories seem to have come and gone throughout the history of the awards to celebrate particular types of performer. Here are some of the highlights!

Musician of the Year

1952 – Ronnie Scott
1954 – Eric Delaney
1957 – Eddie Calvert

Best Guitarist

1954 – Bert Weedon
1973 – Eric Clapton
1976 – Jimmy Page
1978 – Mick Jones
1979-1982 – Paul Weller
1983 – The Edge

Best Bassist

1973, 1976 – Paul McCartney
1978 – Jean Jacques Burnel
1979-1982 – Bruce Foxton
1983 – Peter Hook

Best Keyboardist/Electronics

1973, 1976-1977 – Rick Wakeman
1978-1981 – Dave Greenfield
1982 – Vince Clarke
1983 – Steve Nieve

Best Drummer

1973, 1975 – Carl Palmer
1976 – John Bonham
1977 – Paul Cook
1978 – Keith Moon
1979-1982 – Rick Buckler
1983 – Budgie

Best Instrumentalist

1962-1963 – Jet Harris
1973 – Roy Wood
1975-1977 – Mike Oldfield
1981 – Saxa
1982 – The Emerald Express, Violin
1983 – The TKO Horns
1985 – Johnny Marr

Best Producer

1973 – David Bowie
1975 – Eddie Offord

Best Songwriter/Composer

1973 – Elton John / Bernie Taupin
1976 – Bob Dylan
1978 – Elvis Costello
1979-1982 – Paul Weller
1983 – Elvis Costello
1984-1985 – Morrissey / Johnny Marr

Best Solo Artist

Curiously, the solo artist categories were for the longest time broken up into “world”, “British”, and even “US” for a while.

Best Female Singer

1952-1954 – Lita Roza
1957 – Ruby Murray
1958 – Alma Cogan
1959-1961 – Connie Francis
1962-1964 – Brenda Lee
1965-1967 – Dusty Springfield
1968 – Lulu
1970 – Dusty Springfield
1971-1973 – Diana Ross
1975 – Joni Mitchell
1976 – Linda Ronstadt
1977 – Julie Covington
1978 – Debbie Harry
1979 – Kate Bush
1981-1983 – Siouxsie Sioux
1984-1986 – Elizabeth Fraser
1987 – Suzanne Vega

Best British Female Singer

1955, 1957 – Alma Cogan
1959-1960 – Shirley Bassey
1961-1962 – Helen Shapiro
1963 – Kathy Kirby
1964-1966 – Dusty Springfield
1968, 1970 – Lulu
1971-1972 – Cilla Black
1973 – Maggie Bell
1975 – Kiki Dee

Best US Female Singer

1955-1957 – Doris Day
1958 – Connie Francis

Best Male Singer

1952-1954 – Dickie Valentine
1955 – Frank Sinatra
1956 – Dickie Valentine
1958 – Frankie Vaughan
1959-1962 – Elvis Presley
1963 – Cliff Richard
1964-1972 – Elvis Presley
1973 – David Bowie
1975-1976 – Robert Plant
1977-1978 – David Bowie
1979 – Sting
1980 – Paul Weller
1981 – David Bowie
1982 – Paul Weller
1983 – David Bowie
1984 – Bono
1985-1992 – Morrissey

Best British Male Singer

1955, 1957 – Dickie Valentine
1959-1967 – Cliff Richard
1968-1970 – Tom Jones
1971-1972 – Cliff Richard
1973 – David Bowie
1975 – Paul Rodgers

Best US Male Singer

1955-1956 – Frank Sinatra
1957 – Pat Boone
1958 – Elvis Presley

Outstanding Popular Singer

1955 – Frank Sinatra
1957 – Pat Boone
1958 – Elvis Presley

Best Instrumental Personality

1958 – Eddie Calvert
1959-1960 – Russ Conway
1961 – Bert Weedon

Best Musical Personality

1955 – Bill Haley
1956 – Dickie Valentine
1957-1959 – Elvis Presley
1960 – Duane Eddy
1961-1972 – Elvis Presley

Best British Musical Personality

1956 – Dickie Valentine
1957 – Tommy Steele
1958-1959 – Frankie Vaughan
1960 – Lonnie Donegan
1961 – Adam Faith
1962-1963 – Joe Brown
1964 – Cliff Richard
1965 – John Lennon
1966-1972 – Cliff Richard

Genre-Specific Categories

These are just a selection of the categories that relate to a particular genre of music.

Best Soul / Funk Act

1973, 1975 – Stevie Wonder
1984 – Womack & Womack
1985 – Cameo

Best Reggae Act

1984 – Smiley Culture
1985 – UB40

Best R&B / Blues Act

1964-1965 – The Rolling Stones
1966 – Spencer Davis Group
1967-1968 – The Rolling Stones
1970 – Fleetwood Mac

Best Traditional Jazz Act

1961 – Acker Bilk
1962-1963 – Kenny Ball

Best Group

Finally, we reach the categories for best group – of which there are a few.

Best Group

1954 – Stargazers
1955 – Four Aces
1956 – Stargazers
1957 – The Platters
1958-1962 – Everly Brothers
1963-1965 – The Beatles
1966 – The Beach Boys
1967-1970 – The Beatles
1971 – Creedence Clearwater Revival
1972 – T. Rex
1973 – Yes
1975 – Roxy Music
1976 – Led Zeppelin
1977 – Sex Pistols
1978 – The Clash
1979-1982 – The Jam
1983 – New Order
1984-1987 – The Smiths
1988 – The Wedding Present
1989 – The Stone Roses
1990 – Happy Mondays
1991-1992 – R.E.M.

Best British Group

1955 – Stargazers
1957 – King Brothers
1958-1959 – The Mudlarks
1960 – King Brothers
1961-1962 – The Springfields
1963-1971 – The Beatles
1972 – T. Rex
1973 – Yes

Best British Small Band

1952 – Johnny Dankworth Seven
1954 – Ronnie Scott and His Orchestra
1955-1957 – The Kirchins
1958-1959 – Lonnie Donegan
1960-1963 – The Shadows

Best British Large Band or Orchestra

1952-1961 – Ted Heath and His Music
1962-1963 – Joe Loss

Best British Instrumental Unit

1964-1971 – The Shadows
1972 – Collective Consciousness Society

Best Live Act

1973 – Alice Cooper (World) & Genesis (British)
1975 – Genesis
1982 – The Jam
1985 – The Pogues

That’s it for now – we’ll continue our journey through the NME Awards soon.

NME Poll Winners 1952-1992 (Part One)

Posted on 30/11/2017 by rollo

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that we’ve spent the last few weeks working through the history of the NME Polls, from 1952 to 1992. It’s a long and complicated history, and one that pretty much encapsulates the first forty years of modern popular music in the UK. So as a side-step, it’s worth taking a couple of posts to look at them, award by award.

With such a complex history, it’s hard to trace the winners of a particular category through time, so I’ve taken a few liberties here. Essentially anything that seems to be roughly the same category has been treated as the same thing. Also, for the year ranges, there are a few missing years here and there, so for instance 1967-1970 could mean anything between 2 and 3 wins, but it definitely isn’t 4, as we have no information for the poll results from 1969, or even any meaningful confirmation that the poll took place.

Best and Worst Single, Video and Album Categories

Here are all the winners for specific singles, videos, and albums, including the wonderful “Best Dressed Album” (later “Best Dressed Sleeve”) award.

Best British Disc / Single

1959 – Cliff Richard – Living Doll
1960 – The Shadows – Apache
1961 – John Leyton – Johnny Remember Me
1962 – Frank Ifield – I Remember You
1963 – The Beatles – She Loves You
1964 – The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun
1965 – The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
1966 – The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
1968 – The Beatles – Hey Jude
1971 – Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime
1972 – George Harrison – My Sweet Lord
1973 – Golden Earring – Radar Love (World) & The Who – 5.15 (British)
1975 – Bad Company – Can’t Get Enough
1976 – Thin Lizzy – The Boys are Back in Town
1977 – Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
1978 – The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
1979 – The Specials – Gangsters
1980 – The Jam – Going Underground
1981 – The Specials – Ghost Town
1982 – The Jam – Town Called Malice
1983 – New Order – Blue Monday
1984 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax
1985 – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Never Understand
1986 – The Smiths – Panic
1987 – Prince – Sign O The Times
1988 – The House of Love – Destroy the Heart
1989 – The Stone Roses – Fool’s Gold
1990 – The Charlatans – The Only One I Know
1991 – Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
1992 – Suede – The Drowners

Best Dance Record

1982 – Wham! – Young Guns (Go for It)
1986 – Cameo – Word Up
1987 – M/A/R/R/S – Pump Up the Volume
1989 – Happy Mondays – WFL

Worst Record

1991 – Bryan Adams – Everything I Do (I Do It for You)
1992 – The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode

Best Music Video

1982 – Madness – House of Fun
1983 – Michael Jackson – Thriller
1984 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes
1985 – Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere

Best Long Player / Album

1971 – The Beatles – Let it Be
1972 – T. Rex – Electric Warrior & John Lennon – Imagine (tie)
1973 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
1975 – Rod Stewart – Smiler
1976 – Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same
1977 – Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks
1978 – The Jam – All Mod Cons
1979 – The Jam – Setting Sons
1980 – The Jam – Sound Affects
1981 – Echo and the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
1982 – The Jam – The Gift
1983 – Elvis Costello – Punch the Clock
1984 – Cocteau Twins – Treasure
1985 – The Smiths – Meat is Murder
1986 – The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
1987 – The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come
1988 – R.E.M. – Green
1989 – The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
1990 – Happy Mondays – Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches
1991 – Primal Scream – Screamadelica
1992 – R.E.M. – Automatic for the People

Best Dressed Album / Sleeve

1973 – Yes – Yessongs
1975 – Yes – Relayer
1976 – Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same
1978 – The Rolling Stones – Some Girls
1980 – The Jam – Sound Affects
1981 – Echo and the Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
1982 – Siouxsie and the Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
1983 – New Order – Power, Corruption and Lies
1984 – Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasuredome
1985 – The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

Media Categories

The group of media awards, for radio, TV, films, and venues, are particularly fascinating, since other award ceremonies rarely have anything like this.

Best Disc Jockey

1955-1957 – Jack Jackson
1958-1959 – Pete Murray
1960-1963 – David Jacobs
1965-1972 – Jimmy Savile
1973 – John Peel
1975 – Noel Edmonds
1976-1980 – John Peel

Best Music Radio Show

1975-1976 – Alan Freeman
1977-1992 – John Peel

Best TV Show

1965-1972 – Top of the Pops
1973-1977 – The Old Grey Whistle Test
1978 – Revolver
1979 – Fawlty Towers
1980 – Not the Nine O’Clock News
1981 – Coronation Street
1982 – The Young Ones
1983-1984 – The Tube
1985 – The Old Grey Whistle Test
1986 – The Singing Detective
1987-1988 – Brookside
1989 – Blackadder
1990-1991 – Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out
1992 – Have I Got News for You

Best Film

1978 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1979 – Quadrophenia
1980 – The Elephant Man
1981 – Gregory’s Girl
1982 – E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
1983 – Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
1984 – Nineteen Eighty-Four
1985 – Letter to Brezhnev
1986 – Mona Lisa
1987 – Angel Heart
1988 – A Fish Called Wanda
1989 – Dead Poets’ Society
1990 – Wild at Heart
1991 – The Silence of the Lambs
1992 – Wayne’s World

Best Club / Venue

1986 – Town and Country Club
1989 – The Haçienda
1990-1992 – Town and Country Club

Best Fashion Item

1989 – Flares
1990-1992 – Dr. Marten Boots

People Categories

In later years, the poll included some odd nominations for people, often outside of the world of music, which provide an interesting window on the past.

Most Wonderful Human Being

1976-1977 – Johnny Rotten
1978 – Sid Vicious
1979 – John Peel
1980-1983 – Paul Weller
1984 – Arthur Scargill
1985 – Bob Geldof
1986-1988 – Morrissey

Klutz/Prat/Creep/Bastard of the Year

1975 – Steve Harley
1977 – Freddie Mercury
1978 – John Travolta
1979 – Gary Numan
1980 – Margaret Thatcher
1981 – Adam Ant
1982-1989 – Margaret Thatcher
1990-1991 – Saddam Hussein
1992 – John Major

Best Dressed Male

1979 – Gary Numan
1980 – Adam Ant
1981 – Michael Foot
1982 – Paul Weller
1983 – David Bowie
1984 – Paul Weller
1985 – Morrissey

Best Dressed Female

1982-1983 – Siouxsie Sioux

Worst Dressed Person

1985 – Bob Geldof

Most missed Dead Person

1976 – Jimi Hendrix
1981 – John Lennon

Political and Real World Categories

These are some of the oddest categories – I’m honestly not sure what the “Hype of the Year” category was all about, but it is interesting to see just what was catching people’s eyes at the time.

Event of the Year

1977 – Death of Elvis Presley
1980 – Death of John Lennon
1982 – The Jam Split
1986 – 1986 FIFA World Cup
1987 – Nuclear Agreement
1988 – Nelson Mandela’s Birthday Bash
1989 – Revolution in Eastern Europe
1990 – Margaret Thatcher’s Resignation
1991 – The release of the hostages
1992 – Bill Clinton winning the US election

Pin-Up/Sex SYmbol/Object of Desire

1978 – Debbie Harry
1986 – Joanne Whalley
1988-1989 – Wendy James
1990 – Betty Boo
1991-1992 – Toni Halliday

Bad News of the Year

1987 – Another Conservative Victory at the General Election
1988 – US Election Result

Hype of the Year

1985 – The Jesus and Mary Chain
1989 – Batman
1990 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1992 – Madonna – Sex

That concludes part one of the summary of NME Poll Winners. Next week, we’ll look at the artist categories.

NME Poll Winners – The 1990s

Posted on 23/11/2017 by rollo

For the first half of the 1990s, the NME Poll continued as a quiet annual newspaper poll, focusing very strongly now on indie rock, and ignoring pretty much everything else that was going on in the world of music. But then, in 1994, it suddenly went public, relaunching an annual awards ceremony, The NME Brat Awards. More on that later, so for now, here are the last three years of poll results:

NME Readers’ Poll 1990

Best Single: The Charlatans, for The Only One I Know
Best LP: Happy Mondays, for Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches
Best New Band/Artist: The Charlatans
Best Band: Happy Mondays
Event of the Year: Margaret Thatcher‘s Resignation
Solo Artist: Morrissey
Radio Show: John Peel
TV Show: Vic Reeves‘ Big Night Out
Film of the Year: Wild at Heart
Club or Venue: Town and Country Club
Hype of the Year: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Fashion Item of the Year: DM Boots
Bastard of the Year: Saddam Hussein
Object of Desire: Betty Boo
Word/Phrase: ‘You wouldn’t let it lie!”

NME Readers’ Poll 1991

Best Band: R.E.M.
Best LP: Primal Scream, for Screamadelica
Best Single: Nirvana, for Smells Like Teen Spirit
Best New Band: Kingmaker
Best Venue: Town and Country Club
Best Solo Artist: Morrissey
Bastard of the Year: Saddam Hussein
Film of the Year: The Silence of the Lambs
Radio Show of the Year: John Peel
Fashion Item: DM Boots
Event of the Year: The release of the hostages
Object of Desire: Toni Halliday
TV Show: Vic Reeves‘ Big Night Out
Worst Record: Bryan Adams, for (Everything I Do) I Do It for You
Word/Phrase: “You fat bastard”

NME Readers’ Poll 1992

Best Band: R.E.M.
Best Album: R.E.M., for Automatic for the People
Solo Artist: Morrissey
Venue: Town and Country Club
Single: Suede, for The Drowners
Worst Record: The Shamen, for Ebeneezer Goode
New Band: Suede
Event: Bill Clinton winning the US election
Fashion Item: Dr. Martens
Bastard of the Year: John Major
Hype of the Year: Madonna, for Sex
TV Show of the Year: Have I Got News for You
Word/Phrase of the Year: “Not!”
Film of the Year: Wayne’s World
Radio Show of the Year: John Peel
Object of Desire: Toni Halliday

Unsigned Act – Blue Swan (and Subculture)

Posted on 02/02/2017 by rollo

With this blog and the radio shows that came before it, I have always tried to keep some space available for unsigned artists, but honestly giving them the chance to be written about or to appear on an actual radio station yields surprisingly poor results. In the end, I only ever covered two unsigned acts on my old radio show Music for the Masses (2004-2005), one of whom was Blue Swan.

I must have contacted them via email, and wrote the following…

The duo consists of Henrik Jürgensen, 31, the vocalist and a soon-to-be qualified accountant, and Kasper Lauest, 30, who is the producer and also a psychologist (in the band?) They have been producing music since late 1999, when they met on the first Pet Shop Boys internet forum at Dotmusic, discovering by chance that they had gone to the same high school, one class apart, so they decided to meet up.

They listened to each other’s music, and both liked what they heard. When they heard about the Pet Shop Boys fan tribute project Attribute, they decided to record a cover of A New Life. They liked the result, so continued working together. They continue the story:

Last August, we released our first “virtual” album Sinister But Fragile. The track Black Widow was supposed to have been recorded by a famous Danish artist for her international debut album, but the deal fell through.

They are situated around Copenhagen, Denmark. All of their songs are recorded in their home studio in Kasper’s house. They write their songs together, sometimes in collaboration with Kasper’s younger brother Jakob.

The track Black Widow was done as an instrumental entitled Brutal, written by Kasper and his brother. When Henrik heard it, he absolutely loved it and wrote the lyrics and melody line on top of it. All synth sounds on Black Widow were made using an Access Virus C, while the beat was programmed using Reason 2.5.

Their virtual album Sinister But Fragile can be heard and downloaded in its entirety for free at (a website which no longer exists).

Their favourite band is the Pet Shop Boys, and Kasper’s favourite TV show is 24.

If you’re wondering, the other unsigned act we featured on the show was Subculture, but my only notes for them read as follows:

“Trash pop”
New Order
The Human League
David Bowie
OMD
Suede
Ladytron

Ross (vocals), Mace (synth), Matt (guitar), and Julia (bass).

You can read our most recent feature on Blue Swan here. If you’re unsigned and want some coverage, please get in touch using the form on the “Are You Unsigned” page.

Music for the Masses 3 – 1 December 1999

Posted on 01/12/2014 by rollo

History doesn’t record who Phil and Mary-Jane were, although as I recall their “thing” was to argue live on air, in addition to apparently destroying the studio while broadcasting, neither of which are likely to make particularly good listening. But these were early days on Bay Radio.

Tracks played on the third show, Wed 1 Dec 1999, from 1pm-3pm

Tracks taken from the playlist (Total 7 tracks). A indicates A-list (6 tracks); B indicates B-list (0 tracks) and C indicates C-list (1 track). S indicates the Single of the Week. R indicates tracks taken from my own collection (Total 10 tracks). L indicates tracks I snatched at random in the vain hope of impressing people (Total 8 tracks).

1. Beastie Boys “Alive” A
2. Primal Scream “Swastika Eyes” L

3. Dubstar “It’s Over” R
4. Robbie Williams “She’s the One” C
5. Olive “You’re Not Alone” R

6. Chicane “Saltwater” L
7. Pet Shop Boys “Closer to Heaven” R
8. William Orbit “Barber’s Adagio for Strings” (Ferry Corsten Remix) L
[Advert Break]
9. Grid “Diablo” (The Devil Rides Out Mix) R

10. Garbage “The World is Not Enough” A
11. Murry the Hump “Colouring Book” S
12. Catatonia “Londinium” L
[News Break]
13. Suede “She’s in Fashion” L
14. Electronic “Get the Message” R

15. Beloved “Deliver Me” (Salt City Vocal) R
16. Amar “Red Sky” A

17. Kraftwerk “Pocket Calculator” R
18. Yazoo “Nobody’s Diary” R

19. O.D.B. “Got Your Money” A
20. Offspring “She’s Got Issues” A
[Advert Break]
21. Ace of Base “Beautiful Life” R
22. Eiffel 65 “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” L

23. Peach “From this Moment On” R
24. Groove Armada “I See You Baby” (Full Frontal Mix) A

25. New Order “Touched by the Hand of God” (Biff & Memphis Remix) R

Producer: None.

Notes: Well this was just plain bizarre. Probably the best show I’ve done yet, but still bizarre. Basically, Phil and Mary-Jane, who are normally after me on Wednesday afternoons, elected to swap with me for one week only, and I obliged. So, I arrived in the studio at about 12.45, to find the studio in complete disarray, with CDs scattered everywhere. The line-in input for CD2 was hanging out of its socket (so presumably they had been broadcasting in mono all morning) – which made it impossible to check levels until I plugged it back in. I couldn’t work out which microphone I was using, so for the first link had to turn them both right up… and then there was another thing. When I arrived, I discovered that the people before me had very kindly played all my tracks off the playlist, so I had nothing to play. I eventually arranged with someone who was kind of in charge, to play most of the tracks off the A-list and the single of the week, which left me with quite a lot to fill. Fortunately I was, of sorts, prepared for this (as boy scouts always are), and duly played loads of bizarre remixes and obscure dance tracks. Whether the open day visitors really appreciated this is debatable, but I did get one “What was that last track?” and one request, so it can’t really have been too dire. Well, not really. The lessons to learn from this are, firstly, never to do a show after Phil and Mary-Jane, and secondly, that it probably isn’t a good idea to do a section in which Yazoo follow on from Kraftwerk. They worked well together, but it suddenly dawned on me half way through, that 1983 was quite a long time ago. Eeeh well, we live and learn. Hopefully.

Mercury Prize Winners 1992-2013

Posted on 24/10/2014 by rollo

Last year, we looked at the nominees of the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize in excruciating detail (you can find the links below). This year, let’s just take a very quick browse through the list of winners!

1992 – Primal Scream – Screamadelica
1993 – Suede – Suede
1994 – M People – Elegant Slumming
1995 – Portishead – Dummy
1996 – Pulp – Different Class
1997 – Roni Size / Reprazent – New Forms
1998 – Gomez – Bring it On
1999 – Talvin Singh – Ok
2000 – Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
2001 – PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
2002 – Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper
2003 – Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner
2004 – Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
2005 – Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
2006 – Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
2007 – Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
2008 – Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
2009 – Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
2010 – The XX – XX
2011 – PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
2012 – Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
2013 – James Blake – Overgrown

Which does make for a slightly odd list when you see it all together – it’s a mix of legends and total drivel… but who are we to judge? That’s the job of the judging committee.

If you want to delve into the gory details of previous years, you can find them here: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. The nominees for 2014 can be found here, and we’ll take a look at the winners next week.

The BRIT Awards 1995

Posted on 30/01/2014 by rollo

Alexandra Palace in London was the venue on 20th February 1995, and Chris Evans took to the stage to present the awards, now with a “voting academy” (I’m sure you were just as excited as everyone else was).

This post is part of a series about the history of the BRIT Awards. You can read about the 1994 ceremony here, and the 1996 ceremony in a couple of days’ time.

Best British Album

Presented by Cindy Lauper. Nominees:

Blur – Parklife
Eternal – Always and Forever
Massive Attack – Protection
Oasis – Definitely Maybe
Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

Winner: Blur

Best British Dance Act

Nominees:

Brand New Heavies
Eternal
M People
Massive Attack
The Prodigy

Winner: M People

Best British Female

Presented by Jarvis Cocker. Nominees:

Kate Bush
Des’ree
Michelle Gayle
Eddi Reader
Lisa Stansfield

Winner: Eddi Reader

Best British Group

Presented by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Nominees:

Blur
Eternal
M People
Oasis
Pink Floyd

Winner: Blur

Best British Male

Nominees:

Eric Clapton
Elvis Costello
Morrissey
Seal
Paul Weller

Winner: Paul Weller

Best British Newcomer

Presented by Ray Davis. Nominees:

Echobelly
Eternal
Oasis
PJ and Duncan
Portishead

Winner: Oasis

Best British Producer

Nominees:

Ed Buller
Flood
Nellee Hooper
Trevor Horn
Stephen Street

Winner: Nellee Hooper

Best British Single

Presented by Lisa I’Anson. Nominees:

Blur – Girls and Boys
Blur – Parklife
China Black – Searching
D:Ream – Things Can Only Get Better
East 17 – Stay Another Day
Michelle Gayle – Sweetness
Tom Jones – If I Only Knew
Oasis – Whatever
The Grid – Texas Cowboys
Wet Wet Wet – Love is All Around

Winner: Blur – Parklife

Best British Video

Presented by Simone Angel and Tommy Vance. Nominees:

Blur – Parklife
Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy
The Rolling Stones – Love is Strong
Seal – Prayer for the Dying
Suede – The WIld Ones

Winner: Blur

Best International Female

Presented by Jimmy Nail. Nominees:

Tori Amos
kd lang
Madonna
Kylie Minogue
Sinéad O’Connor

Winner: kd lang

Best International Group

Presented by Des’ree. Nominees:

Counting Crows
The Cranberries
Crash Test Dummies
R.E.M.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Winner: R.E.M.

Best International Male

Nominees:

Bryan Adams
Warren G
Youssou N’Dour
Prince
Luther Vandross

Winner: Prince

Best International Newcomer

Presented by Tom Jones. Nominees:

Carleen Anderson
Counting Crows
Marcella Detroit
Warren G
Lisa Loeb

Winner: Lisa Loeb

Best Soundtrack / Cast Recording

Nominees:

Elton John and Hans Zimmer – The Lion King
Various Artists – Forrest Gump
Various Artists – Four Weddings and a Funeral
Various Artists – Philadelphia
Various Artists – Pulp Fiction

Winner: Pulp Fiction

Outstanding Contribution

Presented by Sting.

Winner: Elton John

Performances

Blur – Girls and Boys
East 17 – Let it Rain
Eternal – Baby Love
Elton John – Believe
Madonna – Bedtime Story (also available with press conference)
Eddi Reader – Patience of Angels
Sting and M People – Set Them Free
Take That – Back for Good

Best Newcomer

Best New Artist

Philip Hall Under the Radar Award

Best Live Music Categories

Best Live Act

Best Festival Headliner

Best Live Event

Best Festival

Best Small Festival

Radio Session of the Year

Best Club / Live Venue

Tour Award

Genre-Specific Artist Categories

Best Dance Act

Best Hip Hop / Rap Act

Best Metal Act

Best Rock Act

Best Pop Act

Best R&B / SOUL Act

One-off awards

One-off Awards

Best Solo Artist

Best British Solo Artist

Best International Solo Artist

Best DJ

Best Group

Best British Band

Best International Band

Best Band Ever

Worst Band

Best Collaboration

Most Dedicated Fans / Best Fan Community

Best of All Time Awards

Godlike Genius Award

Outstanding Contribution to Music

The Fuck Me! / John Peel Award for Innovation / NME Innovation Award

NME Icon

NME Awards 2015

NME Awards 2016

NME Awards 2017

See also

NME Brat Awards 1994

NME Awards 1995

NME Awards 1996

NME Awards 1997

NME Awards 1998

NME Premier Awards 1999

See also

Best Newcomer

Best New Artist

Technical Categories

Musician of the Year

Best Guitarist

Best Bassist

Best Keyboardist/Electronics

Best Drummer

Best Instrumentalist

Best Producer

Best Songwriter/Composer

Best Solo Artist

Best Female Singer

Best British Female Singer

Best US Female Singer

Best Male Singer

Best British Male Singer

Best US Male Singer

Outstanding Popular Singer

Best Instrumental Personality

Best Musical Personality

Best British Musical Personality

Genre-Specific Categories

Best Soul / Funk Act

Best Reggae Act

Best R&B / Blues Act

Best Traditional Jazz Act

Best Group

Best Group

Best British Group

Best British Small Band

Best British Large Band or Orchestra