Classic Pop – August 2026

Summary

In August 2026, Classic Pop (Issue 107) lands with a world-exclusive interview behind Madonna's Confessions II — Stuart Price reveals how the 13-minute mini-movie starring Cole Palmer, Richard E. Grant and Kate Moss came together. Madonna's connection to music is so visceral that she wears it in her body language.

Classic Pop August 2026 leads with the Confessions II deep-dive, then turns to Natalie Imbruglia on her dance-pop pivot Algorithm, covering perimenopause and OCD with unflinching honesty. Lionel Richie gets the Album By Album treatment across his entire catalogue. The Specials sign off with a live document of their 2019 Coventry Cathedral homecoming, and Dionne Warwick closes the book with DWuets, written entirely by Diane Warren. A Flock Of Seagulls' 1982 debut gets the Classic Album re-examination. Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody revisits Eyes Open for its 20th anniversary.

Beyond the features, the regular roster delivers: Pop-Up news on Wham!, Chaka Khan, Blossoms, Janet Jackson and Prince; the A To Z Of Pop lands on V for Video Single; This Month In Pop rewinds to August 1984; Top 10 for 25 August 1984; Forget Me Not salutes Red Box's The Circle & The Square; Popscene explores Lovers Rock; and the Classic Pop Moment marks Devo's debut album release. The Hot List reviews Pulp, M (Robin Scott), and a new Ultravox history, plus live reviews of Boyzone and 80s Classical. Four new music books are assessed.

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Content Guide

Cover Story / Features

p.22 · Madonna — World Exclusive Interview
Stuart Price steps into the spotlight to detail the making of Confessions II, including the casting of footballers, actors and supermodels in its 13-minute mini-movie. Price explains how the album builds on the 2005 original while pushing into new electronic territory. Madonna's camp asked the magazine to hold the review for the website. Readers will learn why Price calls her connection to music "visceral" — then listen for the Danceteria title that echoes Soft Cell's current album.

p.36 · Natalie Imbruglia — Algorithm
The singer opens up about her shift into dance music, naming perimenopause, OCD and personal struggles as the raw material behind the record. She insists she is not trying to "arrive" anywhere. The lesson: pop reinvention works best when the artist names what is really driving the change.

p.42 · Lionel Richie — Album By Album
A career-spanning walk through Richie's solo catalogue, from the self-titled debut through the ballads and the Commodores years. Each album gets a context-setting paragraph and key track callouts. Use this as a checklist for filling gaps in a Lionel collection.

p.48 · The Specials — Signing Off
Lynval Golding and Horace Panter look back at the 2019 Coventry Cathedral shows that became the band's final album. The live document captures a homecoming charged with 40 years of history. Listen for the crowd energy that studio recordings cannot replicate.

p.56 · Dionne Warwick — DWuets
Diane Warren wrote every track on Warwick's final studio album, pairing her with John Legend, Cynthia Erivo and Teddy Swims among others. The article traces a six-decade career that began with Burt Bacharach. The takeaway: a songwriter-driven farewell album can cohere when one pen controls the voice.

p.64 · Top 20 Megamixes & Medleys
Twenty of the most ambitious pop mash-ups and medleys ever assembled, with production notes and chart context. Use the list to dig up forgotten 12-inch singles that defined the remix era.

Regulars

p.8 · Pop-Up
News bites on Wham!, Chaka Khan, Blossoms, Janet Jackson, Paul Heaton, Prince, Johnny Marr, Roger Taylor, Belle And Sebastian, Duran Duran, Mis-Teeq and Appleton. A rapid-fire catch-up for anyone who missed the month's pop headlines.

p.18 · A To Z Of Pop — V Is For… Video Single
A short history of the video single format — VHS, DVD and the early digital downloads that bridged physical and streaming eras. Useful context for collectors who still hunt for those PAL-format rarities.

p.70 · Popscene: Lovers Rock
A spotlight on the British reggae subgenre that smoothed out the rhythms for late-night radio play. The piece names key artists and records that defined the sound. Add one Lovers Rock track to a playlist and hear how it influenced UK pop ballads.

Reviews

p.80 · The Hot List
Pulp, M (Robin Scott), Looking Backwards Towards The Future: The Story Of Ultravox by Richard Evans, and Happy Mondays get the first-look treatment. Each entry runs a concise verdict with a recommendation on where to start.

p.81 · New Albums
Thirty-one new releases reviewed, including The Specials, The Rolling Stones, Adam Lambert, Shania Twain, Jack White, Olivia Rodrigo, Nia Archives, and Yard Act. Star ratings and capsule critiques let readers decide quickly what to stream.

p.95 · Live: Boyzone, 80s Classical
Two live reviews: Boyzone's touring show and an 80s orchestral tribute concert. The Boyzone review notes how the setlist balances hits with deeper cuts.

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Editor's Take

The Madonna exclusive is the genuine scoop it claims to be — Stuart Price has never told this side of the Confessions II story before, and the mini-movie casting details (Cole Palmer in a urinal scene opposite Cumberbatch and Moss) give the piece a pop-culture currency that justifies the cover price alone. The Natalie Imbruglia feature punches harder than expected because she names the uncomfortable stuff (perimenopause, OCD) rather than serving a polished press bio. On the weak side: the Boyzone live review and the 80s Classical piece fill pages without adding anything a fan could not get from a setlist website — two pages of advertising-adjacent content that dilute the editorial heft. The Specials farewell deserved a longer treatment; a two-page spread on a band's final album feels rushed compared to the real estate given to Lionel Richie's back catalogue.

Strengths
• Madonna exclusive with verifiable new details from the studio sessions
• Natalie Imbruglia's candid health and creative disclosures
• Top 20 Megamixes delivers genuine crate-digging utility

Weaknesses
• Boyzone and 80s Classical live reviews read as filler
• The Specials final album deserved more than a two-page spread

Verdict: Recommended — Buy it for the Madonna cover story and Price's studio revelations; skip if you only follow one or two artists in the lineup.