The mysterious Rubin only recorded a single side in his obscure music career – but it became a Northern Soul classic. (more…)

I don’t know how you can make a song sound this funky with little more than a bunch of drums from Africa and Asia. But dammit, Nina Simone can. And she did.

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Do we really want to hear an elderly church minister sing a song blissfully unaware that it celebrates the pleasures of heroin? Well yes, it turns out we do.

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Unlike some other old punks of my acquaintance, I am no longer a fan of being hectored by angry men thrashing guitars and pummelling drums into oblivion.

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Glasgow reggae collective Mungo’s Hi Fi team up with toaster Pupajim for a celebraton of two-wheeled transport in the catchy Bike Rider.

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This came on the radio the other day and reminded me that, for all its faults, disco had some memorable moments. This sci-fi-themed single was one.

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Rudies don’t fear… This rude boy anthem is the first and best-known of all rocksteady tunes to come out of Jamaica when ska began its evolution towards reggae in the mid-1960s.

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Being somewhat jazz-hesitant, if not an outright jazzophobe, especially when it comes to the F-word – “fusion” – I obviously haven’t heard of Alphonse Mouzon before.

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This song has been covered numerous times by a who’s who of soul singers. This is the original – the first of two versions by bluesman Latimore – from 1974.

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Here’s a blast of primal punk… no, wait. Not that. It’s the theme music of Douglas Sirk’s magnificent film Written On The Wind, written by Sammy Cahn and sung by The Four Aces.

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