I was sad when The Specials fell apart: they had been such a part of my life for what they represented as much as their music. But it didn’t take long to fall in love again with the Fun Boy Three.

(more…)

When I was a schoolkid I loved Cream. Everybody loved Cream. And this was their signature song. They were the original “power trio” of guitar, bass and drums – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

(more…)

This is a fantastic discovery If you like funky horn sections and you like powerful female voices. They don’t come much more powerful than Lydia Pense and her San Francisco-based band Cold Blood.

(more…)

Tim Hardin’s struggles with addiction are mirrored in Black Sheep Boy, his heartbreaking tale of alienation from his family.

(more…)

Summer sounds in my August playlist: some classic postpunk (Magazine, Pere Ubu), some classic reggae (Culture and LKJ) and soul (Bill Withers, Gary US Bonds), some old-time country (Gillian Welch, Dwight Yoakam) and nu-skool punk (Dead Pioneers), vintage hip-hop (A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow) and a handful of brand new tunes (Nick Cave, Fontaines DC). Plus the magnificence of Pablo Picasso (Modern Lovers).

Tramhaus are The Netherlands’ best-kept secret – a post-punk band from the (low) land that gave us Focus, Golden Earring and, er, Pussycat. (more…)

I hadn’t heard of Magic Sam, and I hadn’t heard this song, written before I was born, until it appeared in The Bikeriders.

With its driving raw-boned rhythm it’s perfect for a motorcycle movie, capturing the feeling of riding down the highway.

Samuel Maghett – “Maghett Sam” merging into Magic Sam – was a Chicago bluesman who had moved north from his Mississippi Delta birthplace in 1956 when he was 19.

Learning his trade from records by Little Walter and Muddy Waters, his debut single All Your Love was a local sensation and established the template for his career, showcasing a staccato fingerpicking style on the guitar, with generous use of the tremolo arm.

Sam soon became a name on the city’s new West Side sound in the late 1950s alongside Otis Rush and Buddy Guy, recycling the melody on songs like Everything Gonna Be Alright and Easy Baby, before changing direction for the searing rockabilly number 21 Days In Jail.

After his Army service was cut short when he was jailed for desertion, he returned to recording with another change of style on a version of Fats Domino’s Every Night About This Time, followed by a return to his roots with That’s Why I’m Crying and Out Of Bad Luck.

His most successful song was I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie) in 1963, earning him a UK tour. Two albums followed in 1967, including numbers like You Belong To Me and What Have I Done Wrong, the tribute to his adopted home, Sweet Home Chicago – and this version of J.P.Lenore’s 1955 tune Mama, Mama, Talk To Your Daughter.

Sadly his career ended in 1969 when he died from a heart attack at the age of only 32.

When it comes to The Shangri-Las, my knowledge doesn’t stretch much further than their greatest hits, led by the glorious Leader Of The Pack.

(more…)

Cinnamon Horses is my favourite song from a lot of favourites on Wild God, the new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

(more…)

Sixties soul veteran Gary U.S. Bonds had a second career in the early ’80s after Bruce Springsteen wrote and produced two albums for him.

(more…)