Same style different song

Lady Gaga's bubbly Rolling Stone cover last month elicited a swathe of responses from our team - the usual Gaga-induced shock, awe and possibly, disgust. I simply thought: Kate Bush.

Perhaps it was because I'd had my nose deep in Wuthering Heights most of the past week; more likely, it's because Stefani Germanotti's otherworldly gaze, rosebud lips and frazzled hair reminded me of Bush's own fearlessly idiosyncratic early-70s/mid-80s. Bush also spent an inordinate amount of time parading around in leotards (but then again, didn't everyone do that in the '80s?), and was singularly unafraid to tread her own fashion path against a backdrop of long-haired male bands like Thin Lizzy and Supertramp. Not unlike our modern little Lady.

Not longer after, the sight of Rihanna in Dolce and Gabbana at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala brought Grace Jones (and a little bit of Imelda Marcos) to mind: Riri's been consistently channelling the 80s singer/model/kook-on-call through her cropped hair and hard-edged looks.

And it seems that beacon of music and fashion, Kanye West, likes to play match up between stars past and present too. In a May posting on his caps-locked blog, while commending a quite exceptional paparazzi shot of Rihanna, West said: "I look at our current superstars like legends in the making... like Justin [Timberlake] is the new Mike [Jackson], Beyonce's the new Tina Turner, Gaga's Madonna, Jay [Z] is Sinatra... [Lil] Wayne is Hendrix, Thom Yorke is Roger Waters."

While West looked at these stars from a musical point of view - as such his suggestions are valid - here at tabloid! we thought a fashion perspective made just as much sense. Plus, it sounded like a good excuse to see some classic shots of our favourite stars juxtaposed with those upstart newbies.