❉ Here’s a rundown of the 75 most popular articles we published in 2023!
It’s been a vintage We Are Cult year for news, reviews and interviews covering some of the past twelve months’ most interesting independent, cult and classic media releases in pretty much every format bar 8-track cartridge and zoetrope, as well as our usual retrospectives on cult and contemporary film and television, and a smattering of live events (kudos to WAC old faithful Robert Fairclough for pulling double duty as scribe and photographer).
In this rundown of the 75 most popular articles we published in 2023, you’ll find strong showings from stalwart cult brands, such as indie labels Ace and Cherry Red with their themed compilations and expanded reissues, covered by regular WAC contributors Ange Chan, James Collingwood, Huw Thomas, James R Turner and Stephen Porter; a bumper crop of much-awaited Blu-Ray releases from Fabulous Films, Second Sight, Radiance Films, Eureka Entertainment and BFI Films (Frankenstein: The True Story, Picnic At Hanging Rock, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, A Woman Kills, Creeping Horror, Dance Craze, Weekender, The Ballad Of Tam Lin); and chatter with always engaging indie rock legends Will Sergeant, John Robb, Brix Smith Start, Jim Bob and David Gedge – not to mention a delightful nostalgic interview with Alison Glennie (A Little Princess, Kessler, Blakes 7, Z Cars) conducted by Foster Hitchman.
In terms of new albums, you’ll find that Tim Arnold’s Super-Connected, Hi-Fi Sean (Dickson) & David McAlmont’s Happy Ending, Jim Bob’s Thanks For Reaching Out , Andrew Gold’s posthumous The Fraternal Order Of The All, Micko And The Mellotronics’ Le Vice Anglais and The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte by the unstoppable Sparks landed favourably with our team, so get your lugholes ‘round those.
Doctor Who, as always, is well represented by We Are Cult, in the form of Kevin Burnard, Ezekiel Thorp and Stephen Brennan’s critiques of Big Finish audio adventures, cult TV historians Rob Fairclough and Mike Kenwood reporting back from the BFI’s already-legendary special screenings previewing classic series Blu-ray releases, and our reviews of Obverse Books’ ongoing ‘Black Archive’ series.
As well as the afore-named writers, We Are Cult would also like to acknowledge Oluwatobi Are, Jon Arnold, Nina Bea, Chris Browning, Robin Bunce, Amanda Casabianca, Nick Clement, Han Cooper, Mark Cunliffe, Charles Donovan, Stuart Douglas, David Geldard, Emily Goss, Simon Hart, Brian J. Heistan, Don Klees, Ty Matejowsky,Lee Realgone, Johnny Restall, Dan Roberts, Thomas Lee Rutter, Ken Shinn, Jonathan Sisson and Nick Walters for their contributions.
So, this was our 2023 – let’s go from the top, hit it!
1. Saucy 70s! A British Sex Comedy Threesome
2. Phil Mealey talks ‘Early Doors’ and more
3. Echoes: Will Sergeant talks
4. Sparks: ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’
5. John Robb talks ‘The Art Of Darkness’
6. The Bunker Room Video Shelf
7. Wiser Now: ‘Strawbs – The Magic Of It All’
8. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls with Brix Smith
9. ‘Deviation Street: High Times In Ladbroke Grove’
10. ‘Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night: Brooklyn Disco 1974-75’
Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night: Brooklyn Disco 1974-75
11. Will Sergeant’s ‘Echoes: A Memoir Continued’
12. Inspiral Carpets ‘The Complete Singles’ reviewed
13. Bluebeard’s Castle, A Novel by Anna Biller
14. Alison Glennie talks: ‘A Little Princess’ at 50
15. Doctor Who: ‘Daleks! Genesis Of Terror’
17. David Gedge talks ‘24 Songs’ and more
18. The Auteurs: ‘People ‘Round Here Don’t Like To Talk About It’
19. ‘Talking Pictures TV & Renown Festival of TV & Film
20. An Appreciation Of ‘The Owl Service’ (1969)
21. The Residents: ‘Triple Trouble’ reviewed
22. ‘Doctor Who: The Sea Devils’ at the BFI
23. ‘Climb Aboard My Roundabout! The British Toytown Sound 1967-1974’
Climb Aboard My Roundabout! The British Toytown Sound 1967-1974
24. Marc Almond: ‘A Live Treasury Of Song’
25. There’s No Enlightenment, Just Psychosis: ‘Search Party’
26. ‘Vworp Vworp!’ Issue Five reviewed
27. Jim Bob – ‘Thanks For Reaching Out’
28. Bob Stanley/Pete Wiggs: ‘Winter Of Discontent’
29. ‘I Am Weekender’ BFI Blu-ray
30. ‘Musik Music Musique 3.0: 1982 Synth Pop On The Air’
31. The Satanic Gaze: Moral Panic, Heavy Metal Teens and the “Acid King”
The Satanic Gaze: Moral Panic, Heavy Metal Teens and the “Acid King”
32. ‘Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin’
Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin
33. ‘Bee Gees: Children of the World’ reviewed
34. ‘Frankenstein: The True Story’ (1973)
35. ‘Dance Craze’ (1981) BFI Blu-ray reviewed
36. Mart Sander’s ‘Ravengold’
37. Down Under the Influence: ‘The Highwayman’
38. Andrew Gold: ‘The Fraternal Order Of The All’
39. Lost in the Supermarket: Punk, Suburbia, and Generics
40. Leeds, United! ‘Where Were You?’ reviewed
41. ‘Folk, Funk & Beyond: The Arrangements Of John Cameron’
42. An eerie tale to tell: ‘Tam Lin’ (1971)
43. ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ Blu-ray reviewed
44. ‘Biddy Baxter: The Woman Who Made Blue Peter’
45. Interview: Jim Bob reaches out
46. Marc Almond: ‘Chaos And More’ (with Chris Braide)
47. ‘Round and Round: Progressive Sounds of 1974’
48. ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ 4K UHD/Blu-ray reviewed
49. ‘Doctor Who – The Lost Stories: The Ark’
50. ‘A Woman Kills’ (1968) reviewed
51. Tim Arnold: ‘Super Connected’
52. ‘Some Bizzare – Conform to Deform’
53. Hifi Sean/David McAlmont: ‘Happy Ending’
54. Truck Turner: Blaxploitation’s Answer to Dirty Harry
55. Murmurations: The Allure of Early R.E.M.
56. Marc Almond: Open All Night (Expanded Edition)
57. ‘Black Archive #62: Kinda’
58. ‘Black Archive #65: The Myth Makers’
59. ‘Witness Statements – Making The Bill: 1988’
60. Micko And The Mellotronics: ‘Le Vice Anglais’
61. ‘Enter Psychosis’ with Androids In The Mist
62. Van Der Graaf Generator: The Bath Forum Concert (4-Disc Box Set)
Van Der Graaf Generator: The Bath Forum Concert (4-Disc Box Set)
63. Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: New Frontiers
64. Doctor Who – Once and Future: The Artist at the End of Time
65. Doctor Who – Once and Future: Past Lives
66. Mrs Mills meets Joe Meek: ‘Lieutenant Pigeon: The Decca Years’
Mrs Mills meets Joe Meek: ‘Lieutenant Pigeon: The Decca Years’
67. ‘Typist Artist Pirate King’
68. ‘Splorry’ Seems to Be the Hardest Word
69. Tony Rivers: ‘Move A Little Closer (1963-1970)’
70. Zoo Time: ‘Creeping Horror’ (Eureka Classics)
71. Aladdin Sane: 50 Years at the Southbank
72. The Damned and The Nightingales, Norwich UEA, 15/4/23
73. Burt Bacharach – Dream Big: The First Decade Of Songs
74. The Residents: Third Reich’n Roll (pREServed)
75. Doctor Who – Once and Future: Two’s Company
And that’s a wrap!
A fabulous year of articles. Congratulations to all at WAC and here’s to a superfunk 2024 🎉👏🏼👏🏼