Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have finally released the much-talked-about Robert Smith remix of their lead single, ‘Pretty Boy’.
Gallagher had previously teased that he’d spent some time with The Cure frontman both inside and outside of the studio in the lead-up to this new album, Council Skies, revealing that the fellow alt-rock and Britpop icon had even done his own twist on ‘Pretty Boy’, which released back in October 2022.
Speaking to Radio X in January, the former Oasis man told Dan O’Connell he doesn’t usually go for collaborations, at least not on his own music, but after noting that the track sounds like The Cure, he simply asked himself: “wonder if [Smith] does remixes… wonder how easy it’d be to get hold of him?”
Cut to just a couple of emails later, “it turns out it wasn’t that difficult” and before he knew it, he had a song with The Smiths’ Johnny Marr playing the guitar and remixed by Robert Smith. Two British rock legends for the price of one.
As Noel went on to explain, Smith “loved” the track and while he may have thought achieved a ‘Cure-esque’ vibe on the first attempt, he admitted that “the remix sounds exactly like The Cure”.
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The 55-year-old singer-songwriter insisted that he’d “been fan of The Cure since [he] was at school” and that he’d recently seen them perform an “amazing” set at Wembley arena, reiterating: “they’re very, very good”.
He called Robert Smith simply a “lovely man” and as for the Blackpool-born musician himself, as it happens, he had similarly positive things to say about Noel and ‘Pretty Boy’ too.
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Speaking in a statement released shortly after the remix dropped, the 63-year-old said: “I was surprised and delighted when Noel asked me to remix this gorgeous song, and I had a lot of fun slowing it down and spacing it out”.
You can listen to Robert Smith’s remix of ‘Pretty Boy’ in full below:
We think we might prefer the remix — no offence, Noel.
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He went on to detail how “Cure drummer Jason Cooper gave [him] a great vibey drum track to play along with – and the rest just phased into place under the starry sky of my distant moon…” Never has there been a more Robert Smith sentence uttered.
Featured Image — Noel Gallagher/Robert Smith (via IG)/Wikimedia Commons
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One giant house party – Ne-Yo and Akon at Co-op Live, Manchester
Hollie Wells
‘So Sick’ of seeing pilates and matcha; when all you need is a messy naughties night out? Iconic duo Ne-Yo and Akon can, apparently, take you there.
Imagine the best house party of the 2010s with 20,000 of your favourite guests on perfect form, and you know what Co-op Live has been like for the last two nights for R&B royalty Ne-Yo and Akon.
Hosting a collaborative catalogue of bangers from both the stars, the atmosphere was buzzing with nostalgia and a readiness to have the ‘Time of Our Lives.’
Not only were we treated to two icons, they shared the stage with amazingly talented dancers, performing on the ground and in the sky, and perfectly embodying the showmanship of Ne-Yo and AKON and amplifying the party atmosphere.
It feels like there are endless group numbers, and if that wasn’t enough, these dancers start hanging on aerial silks from the rafters of Co-op Live by one foot and dropping into the splits on Ne-Yo’s lap. Casual.
This is a night for screaming timeless heartbreak anthems like ‘Angel’ and ‘Lonely’, throwing some ‘Dangerous’ dance moves, and throwing your arms around your best pal while copious amounts of confetti fall over you.
Not only did we get the classics, the packed audience of party people were presented with a dance-battle style compilation of tunes that the singer-songwriters were involved with.
And of course, they had a plethora of perfect numbers, including Rhianna’s ‘Hate that I Love You’, Gwen Stefani’s ‘The Sweet Escape’ and Beyoncé’s ‘Irreplaceable.’ A triad of divas, and these songs never get old.
With a running time of two hours and forty minutes, it is clear that these two are not short on hits.
Needing an interval at a gig is a flex and I would confidently say this Manchester crowd would have parted all night long, particularly the three lucky ladies who were called on stage to two-step with Ne-Yo. The office wont believe that on Monday.
If you’re craving a time-hop to 2010 and a setlist with zero flops, you’re in safe hands with Ne-Yo and Akon.
Rare picture of David Bowie’s legendary one-off gig in Stockport unearthed
Danny Jones
A rare picture taken from the night of the late, great David Bowie’s legendary one-off gig in Stockport has been unearthed by a local whilst digging through his loft.
Imagine having that kind of history just squirrelled away in an attic…
As revealed by Stockport Music Story, after being supplied with the image by David Maynard, the snap was shared more than half a century on from the much-mythologised moment in Greater Manchester music history.
In fact, it was put on display and posted on social media quite literally 56 years to the day since Bowie played his only Stopfordian set on 27 April, 1970.
Maynard himself is featured in the newly discovered photograph (second from the left) and was one of the select and lucky few who were in the room for that very special show.
Organised by a group of teens on behalf of the Stockport Schools’ Students’ Union, the performance took place at the long-gone Poco a Poco music venue and club over in Heaton Chapel.
The storied space hosted many big names over the years – Gerry Marsden, Freddie Starr, Hank Marvin and more – but sadly closed in May of 1987 following a fire.
It went on to become the popular Hinds Head pub, which still serves punters to this day, but once had the honour of hosting a true artistic great and British icon.
For anyone wondering, this is indeed the same night on which David Robert Jones (yes, that’s Bowie‘s full birth name) missed his train home and had to sleep on the railway platform.
Here’s a BBC segment covering the tale back on its 55th anniversary in April 2025.
It may be a small and somewhat curious claim to fame, but native love the legend of it all nonetheless.
As for the other individuals pictured alongside him, Stockport Music Story (SMS) said: “The names of the people we know are David Maynard (2nd left), Roz Wood (3rd left), David Bowie, Bill Frost (2nd right), Stewart Rigby (right).”
They go on to add: “It would be amazing to find out who the other people in the photograph are and what they remember from that night.” We sincerely hope they do.
You can now see the plaque up close and personal at Stockport Station for yourselves and as for SMS’s growing archive of the region’s creative culture, you can find out tonnes more about other pieces of SK heritage right HERE.
Danny Jones -
9th March 2023 
