With his big hat and catchy tunes, George Strait was my gateway drug into what the old joke calls my two of my favourite types of music – country and western. (more…)

Filmed in a downpour against leaden skies and the synthesised diesel roar of a motorway, this rave anthem – another list song – lives up to its title. (more…)

Joni Mitchell’s extraordinary gift for images and phrases first caught my ear, as much as her voice, with the jazz-textured 1975 album The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. (more…)

Hello were strictly second-division Glam. They had the second – and last – of their hits when they got back together with Russ Ballard of Argent, who had first discovered them when they were a covers band. (more…)

This was the 14th single by The Sweet – or ‘Sweet’ as they had just become – and the first to be written by the band themselves. (more…)

I’d forgotten about Kenny. I kinda wish I hadn’t remembered, though the story behind them is worth telling – especially the fact that Cheggers was nearly their singer. And that Kellogg’s took offence (and legal action) at their signature style of wearing tops with a big ‘K’ for Kenny on the front. (more…)

Ahh, the days when you could go on Top of the Pops wearing a sweater knitted by your nan with the name of your band on your tummy… (more…)

So very sad to hear of the death of Jamaican toaster U-Roy, aka Ewart Beckford, aka The Originator, aka Daddy U-Roy. One of the reggae greats.

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This was far from being the biggest hit by The Sweet. But it’s their best. It’s also the best song Chinn & Chapman ever wrote. (more…)

No sooner had the full falsetto horrror of The Rubettes begun to fade than along came another rock’n’roll revival outfit – the equally abysmal Showaddywaddy. (more…)