Tom Poak

Tom Poak

Writer

Tom Poak has written for the Hull Daily Mail, Esquire, The Big Issue, Total Guitar, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and more. In a writing career that has spanned decades, he has interviewed Brian May, Brian Cant, and cadged a light off Brian Molko. He has stood on a glacier with Thunder, in a forest by a fjord with Ozzy and Slash, and on the roof of the Houses of Parliament with Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham (until some nice men with guns came and told them to get down). He has drank with Shane MacGowan, mortally offended Lightning Seed Ian Broudie and been asked if he was homeless by Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch.

Articles by: Tom Poak

Rear view of man with headphones against Bali island at sunset.

Want to get your kids off their phones? The answer could be to buy them a decent set of headphones

By Tom Poak last updated

I thought my kids would be a little army of music nerds but social media and video games had other plans for them. And then I got them a serious pair of headphones…

Creed's Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti holding a guitar

Win a PRS Guitar signed by Creed!

By Tom Poak published

Win a Tremonti PRS Guitar signed by all members of Creed, plus a vinyl copy of Human Clay, a subscription to Guitar World and a Classic Rock Collector's Edition with signed setlist!

Nancy Wilson, Lita Ford, Sheila E, Rhonda Smith and Nita Strauss

Nancy Wilson, Lita Ford, Nita Strauss and more to head up women-only Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp

By Tom Poak published

Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp announce their third annual female-only camp

BATH, ENGLAND - JUNE 27: A female fan in the crowd attending the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, England on 27 June, 1970.

“Led Zeppelin’s fee went from £500 to £20,000 in a year!” Collapsing stages and no toilets: The 1969 Bath Blues Festival that inspired Glastonbury

By Mick Wall published

They sold 7000 tickets – and 30,000 people turned up. How The Bath Blues Festivals became the inspiration to a young Michael Eavis and Glastonbury.

10cc

“When they make documentaries about the 70s, they talk about glam and prog rock. 10cc weren't either so we don’t get a mention..." The rise and fall of 10cc's original line-up

By Lin Bensley published

Four great musicians and songwriters, known for their pioneering studio techniques, 10cc ruled the charts and straddled a line between prog and pop. But was their genre-defying talent their undoing?

Robert Fripp and Toyah on BBC Breakfast

“We realised during lockdown that classic rock changes people's lives…” Toyah and Robert Fripp on why they do what they do

By Tom Poak published

Toyah and Robert Fripp on the healing powers of music: “We should live every year of our lives as if it's the best year of our lives”

Poster for the Ziggy Stardust movie

“David was furious: 'I won’t have that kind of disloyalty!’" The real reason David Bowie ended Ziggy Stardust and sacked the Spiders From Mars

By Tom Poak published

50 years ago, David Bowie announced that he was playing his last ever show. It marked a split from the men who had revitalised his career – and it was all over money…

Nick Cave, Clutch and Watain in front of a trio of Cormac McCarthy books

Cormac McCarthy was the author of heavy books. In turn, those books inspired some very heavy music

By Tom Poak published

Cormac McCarthy has died aged 89. The author of No Country For Old Men, The Road, Blood Meridian, his books struck a chord with Nick Cave, Clutch, Earth, Watain and more – why?

English singer Eric Burdon of The Animals posed in London in October 1968. (Photo by Ivan Keeman/Redferns)

"I am the Eggman!" Eric Burdon was the character referred to in The Beatles classic I Am The Walrus – and the story behind it is kinda filthy

By Tom Poak published

How John Lennon took an amazing x-rated story – told to him at an orgy – and turned it into part of a psychedelic masterpiece

Paul McCartney

The 1973 Paul McCartney TV Special might be the exact moment people started rolling their eyes at Paul McCartney

By Tom Poak published

Screened 50 years ago, the James Paul McCartney TV special offers a bizarre window into Macca's mindset post-Beatles

Defiled playing on an iceberg

10 of the weirdest gigs ever

By Tom Poak published

From Metallica on ice to Brian May on a royal roof, these are 10 of the strangest gigs in rock history

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram on the roof of the Hard Rock Hotel London

Watch as Grammy-winning guitarist Kingfish plays Hendrix so well he would've blown the roof off the Hard Rock Hotel if he wasn't already on it

By Tom Poak published

JIMI AT 80 Christone "Kingfish" Ingram plays Jimi's Red House – on the roof of Hendrix's last-known house

Ozzy Osbourne

Watch: The Story of Ozzy Osbourne's Diary Of A Madman

By Tom Poak last updated

Let the madness begin. 40 years after its release, Diary Of A Madman deserves to be remembered as more than the album that kicked off Ozzy's crazy years...

TV

Behold! The greatest heavy metal documentary of all time!

By Tom Poak last updated

WATCH Looking for something to watch? This classic 1989 BBC Arena documentary starring Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Metallica and more has it all

Dinosaur Jr

Kurt Cobain asked Dinosaur Jr’s J. Mascis to join Nirvana – twice!

By Tom Poak published

New Dinosaur Jr documentary tells the story of one of alt.rock’s most influential bands, from punch-ups to professional mishaps

David Bowie and Cher

"I was out of my gourd": David Bowie duetting (and flirting) with Cher might be the most 70s thing you'll ever see

By Tom Poak last updated

In 1975, Bowie joined Cher on her new TV show. The result was a flirty, coke-fuelled cheesefest that would end most careers

David Bowie

Watch David Bowie react as his 1970 Space Oddity award performance is sabotaged by an orchestra

By Tom Poak published

It's the 10th May, 1970, and David Bowie's moment of triumph is about to go wrong...

the Beatles

The Beatles Get Back documentary: How to watch it and what people are saying about it

By Tom Poak last updated

How to see and why to watch the most talked about music doc of the year: Peter Jackson's Beatles opus, Get Back

Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

It was the 7th best track of 1992: so why haven’t you heard it?

By Tom Poak last updated

How The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy’s Television brought beats to a rock audience

Beaux Gris gris and the Apocalypse

Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse bring Good times, End Times to the UK this week

By Tom Poak published

Go see Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse, have a nice cold pint and wait for all of this to blow over. How's that for a slice of fried gold?

Van Halen

Van Halen's Jump: how the band's biggest song was inspired by suicide, sick jokes and EVH vs DLR in-fighting

By Tom Poak published

This week in 1984, Van Halen's Jump was no.1 in the US, a massive hit that symbolised the peak – and the end – of VH MK1

AC/DC

Watch: That time AC/DC filmed TWO videos in a day and took over the streets of Melbourne

By Tom Poak published

Watch the two classic promos for It's A Long Way to the Top that helped put AC/DC on the map

Michael J Sheehy

"Like Mark Lanegan covering the Velvet Underground": the album that's captured the lonesome sounds of lockdown...

By Tom Poak published

Michael J Sheehy's new album was recorded alone and quietly – the result is a profound and touching response to these dark times

The Dirty Nil

Could this tribute to Slayer be the feelgood hit of the summer?

By Tom Poak published

The Dirty Nil's Doom Boy is the van-smashing, romance-starting metal anthem you need right now

Shadow & The Thrill

This blues rock version of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy will make Joe Bonamassa consider a career change

By Tom Poak last updated

A bluesy cover that's good enough to make Slash jealous and raise the ghost of Gary Moore