Blitzed Issue 27

Blitzed Magazine – Issue 27 

Cover picture credit: Bari Goddard

Welcome to Issue 27 of Blitzed Magazine, and we are kicking off the Summer of 2026 where ‘Frankie Says Slap on Plenty of Factor 50!’ with front cover star Holly Johnson spending a traditional day out beside the seaside with Marc Massive, discovering the charms of Brighton in an exclusive two-part interview.

We also have interviews with Altered Images’ Clare Grogan, Martyn Ware of Heaven 17, Howard Jones, JoBoxers, Laurie Black, part two of Paul King’s exclusive chat, top covers band Erasured, Blancmange’s Neil Arthur, independent synth duo EmT, Mark Reeder, Nik Kershaw and Nostalgia Deathstar.

Album reviews include Bronski Beat, D•SiPAUL, EmT, Happy Mondays, Howard Jones, Hue and Cry, Madeline Goldstein, The Durutti Column, Romeo Void and We’re in the Water. John Jøn Foster tells us about Bronski Beat’s album re-issue, we cover the Out of Line Music Festival in Berlin, we look at the life of Stuart Adamson, the highlights of British Sci-Fi, plus we look back on releases by Depeche Mode, Eddie Grant and Madonna, and celebrate notable anniversaries for David Sylvian and the classic Aliens movie.

There are gig reviews featuring Berlyn Trilogy, BlakLight, Echo and the Bunnymen, KN/GHTS, Kraftwerk, Massive Ego, Mesh, Midge Ure, Paul Young and Thomas Dolby.

Tim Muddiman brings us an exclusive feature on celebrated author and photographer Gavin Watson, Richard West continues his journey through every UK hit single of 1980, Richard Evans presents his latest findings from the Rusty Egan playlist, Mik Scarlet returns with his Tech Corner review page and Martin James rediscovers lost treasures.

Will Barry Blitz ever make it into the infamous London nightspot? In other news, this will be the last issue featuring the lovely Bridget Gray as coeditor. But don’t panic! … By the time you read this, Bridget will have married the other co-editor Kurt, so she will still be at the helm, but with a longer name!

We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we have enjoyed putting it together for you. Thank you so much to our amazing team that scurry about like hamsters on speed behind the scenes. Thank you.

Kurt and Bridget,