Earth, Wind & Fire recorded Happy Feelin’ as an album track back in 1975, a quarter of a century before it formed the basis of a hit single.

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When it comes to musical pedigree, you can’t get deeper than sibling soul trio The Womack Sisters.

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The Techniques were a Jamaican vocal quartet who found fame once ska evolved into reggae, with this classic Queen Majesty.

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PVA describe their sound as “country-fried techno” though that’s probably not how you or I would describe them at first listen.

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Here’s a vocal version I’ve never heard of what is probably my all-time favourite reggae tune, King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown.

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Allow me to introduce you to Carlos Alberto Cázares Valenzuela, aka ‘El Solovino’ (The Uninvited). He’s 20 years old, he’s Mexican, and he loves Joy Division.

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Girl Talk is the stage name of Gregg Gillis, a master of mashup music who makes albums entirely out of classic samples. This is from his best album, Night Ripper.

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If he had never played another note after 1977, Fred Smith would still have had a place in music history as one quarter of the band who made Marquee Moon – my favourite album of all time.

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This is exactly the kind of song I hated back when it came out in 1982. I thought I was far too cool for disco; I definitely wasn’t ready for post-disco.

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Bob Marley captured the concerning mood of the times with his warning of impending global catastrophe – as relevant today as when he sang it in 1979.

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