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…)

I’ve got to be honest: I find Glen Campbell’s life story much more interesting than his music, which I always found bland and middle-of-the-road. (more…)

After the pleasures of Pyjamarama and Virginia Plain the last thing I expected was for Roxy to turn their hands to funk. Love Is The Drug is nothing if not funky. It’s also archetypal Bryan Ferry: louche, sophisticated, sexy, urbane, expensive, nocturnal… and a little bit pretentious. (more…)

This was the last hit for The Faces, in December 1974, continuing their tradition of marking the festive season by releasing singles that had nothing to do with Christmas. (more…)

I was still riding around on my Raleigh Chopper bike, thinking I was cool, when Tina Charles (nee Hoskins) burst into the charts with what may be our first home-grown disco hit, I’m On Fire.

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This is another of those uniquely strange and timeless songs that would leave its mark in any era. (more…)

Disco was everywhere in 1975, a new wave of soul and funk for the dancefloor. This song shows why. (more…)

Frank Zappa once said there were only two bands worth buying a ticket to see: The Mothers Of Invention and “an English group called The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.” (more…)