Former Mediaweek deputy editor Marc Andrews did his best work in his years at our old Double Bay office, but it was a love for Kylie and Madonna that eventually separated him from Australia’s media trade bible.
The pop culture aficionado also spent years toiling over the keyboard first at the Australian edition of Smash Hits before later being snapped up by the British edition of the world’s best-selling music magazine.
These days Andrews again calls London home and he has just pumped out two books for British publisher Fonthill Media on the world’s most prolific and successful female solo artists. The books are part of the publisher’s Song By Song series and cover the substantial bodies of work released since the 1980s by Kylie Minogue and Madonna.
Madonna Song By Song is available now, Kylie Song By Song is due late in May 2022.
“These Madonna and Kylie books were labours of love, something that I hope that comes through when people read the books,” Andrews told Mediaweek in our exclusive interview.
He admitted he is uniquely qualified to tackle the two projects: “To do these types of books accurately you need to be a proper fan.”
Andrews has been asked to do more books for the publisher, but he is wary of taking on projects for artists if he doesn’t consider himself a proper fan. “I have to consider if I am prepared to devote six months of my life to other artists to do them properly.
Although you could argue the careers of Kylie (maybe) and Madonna (certainly) had peaked, Andrews noted this year sees both artists at interesting points in their music journeys. “They are both milestone years. Madonna is celebrating 40 years since she released her first record. For Kylie, it is 35 years since she released Locomotion. They are angles we can use to market both books.
“The milestones also indicate the longevity of their careers. Both have managed to outlive their critics.”
With long careers for both artists, it means the job of assessing their catalogues is a significant challenge. “There is so much music out there and so much information about each artist. These books run to about 50,000 words which means we had to edit carefully. The Madonna book I wrote ran to 100,000 words and it had to be pruned right down.
“The Kylie book I wrote actually was 150,000 words and was really pruned down. They are both about curating the best information about each artist.
“Over the years a lot of people have said a lot of interesting fun and interesting things and I have curated the best into the books. I also tried to give the commentaries context which you don’t get in things like Wikipedia.
“During Madonna’s career she has put her life in her music and I note why some songs take on extra importance because she might have been going through a separation or perhaps a custody battle.
“In Kylie’s career, why did she decide not to record the song Toxic which ended up going to Britney Spears instead. Perhaps because she had just come out of a toxic relationship and the last thing she wanted to do was to talk about it.
“I am careful to make sure the books are contextual, not too tabloid or gossipy, yet to keep the reader informed as I go through their music catalogue.”
Andrews got involved with the publisher after helping his friend Ian Cole [“the world’s leading fan authority on Abba”] on the Abba Song-by-Song book. “Ian came to me understanding he wasn’t a writer. He’d liked my work on Smash Hits over the years. I gave him some advice on the manuscript.”
The Song-by Song titles feature some of the writer’s personality and are not just a presentation of facts and statistics. “I wanted to music sure these were fun reads, not just forensic examinations.
“Kylie and Madonna have literally helped pay my wages for the past 35 years and I am well informed and I hope people can trust my opinion when I tell them the remix of Nothing Really Matters by Club 69 is the best remix of all time for Madonna.”
When it comes to relationships with their super fans, Andrews commented: “Kylie and Team Kylie use social media much better and how it should be used. The issue I have with Madonna and social media is that someone needs to take control. I don’t know how many photos of Madonna sitting on a toilet we really need to see. [Laughs]
“But telling Madonna not to do something is like a red flag to her and she will go and do it. She always wants to do things regardless of what others say.” Andrews noted that this month marks 30 years since she released her controversial Sex book.
“She will hopefully never stop being Madonna which is why the fans love her.”
Madonna was a key influence on the career of Kylie. Andrews quotes Mike Stock [of hitmakers Stock Aitken Waterman] that when Kylie heard Madonna’s 1989 album Like a Prayer, Kylie wanted to start writing songs too. “Kylie subsequently started working with Stephen Bray who wrote Express Yourself, Into the Groove and others for Madonna. Kylie’s next album featured songs she had co-written which was the transition of Kylie from being a pop star to a pop artist.
“Kylie’s career has taken lots of interesting, quirky turns that people weren’t expecting. Pete Waterman noted that for Kylie to go from working with Stock Aitken Waterman to material like Can’t Get You Out of My Head she went via Nick Cave.
“It’s interesting too that Kylie has a bigger back catalogue than Madonna does. Many people might assume it was the other way around. Other Kylie collaborations have included music with Jimmy Little, Ben Lee, The Pet Shop Boys, and Scissor Sisters. As part of Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom family it has seemed important for her to work with Australian artists along the way. Recently she did a cover of one of Troy Sivane’s songs.”
Andrews noted the success Kylie is still enjoying with her most recent album Disco topping the charts in the UK and Australia. There should be new or at least repackaged music (in Madonna’s case) from both this year. Andrews noted Madonna continues to work on her biopic project too as co-writer and director.
In addition to working on Mediaweek and Smash Hits in Australia and then later in the UK, Andrews also continues writing for indie Australia glossy gay magazine DNA after 20 years. He also spent time at the Mail Online in the UK (“It nearly killed me and I got a warning for being too newsworthy when writing a story about Rihanna!”). He has also worked as a freelance music and travel writer for a number of titles.
Now based in London, he is working on a major book project on Smash Hits, one of the biggest-selling UK magazines of all time.
Look for Kylie Song By Song and Madonna Song By Song in your bookstore, by online from the publisher or from Amazon.