The first time I heard or saw Cliff Richard was when he sang Congratulations in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. But he had been having hit singles since the year I was born. This one was top of the Hit Parade on my third birthday. (more…)

Here’s a summery reverb-drenched slice of Sixties psychedelia to send the mind spinning back to San Francisco in the Summer of Love. (more…)

This is the song that was number one on my first birthday. Obviously I don’t remember it, though I do remember the song from Glen Campbell’s version in 1970. (more…)

What was the first disco hit? The Trammps would define the genre with Disco Inferno. But before that came this old Broadway tune in 1972. (more…)

I never thought I’d be waxing lyrical about The Stranglers 45 years after I first saw them, supporting Patti Smith at The Roundhouse. (more…)

Nat Turner Rebellion: Laugh To Keep From Crying – album review

Barry White’s only chart-topping single started life as a country-and-western tune before he gave it a disco makeover. (more…)

I love this strangely timeless tune as much now as when it came out in 1973. And I’m sure this clip is the only example of a hit single prominently featuring the oldest instrument in the world. (more…)

Some time in the summer of 1975 ads began appearing with the picture of a bloke I’d never seen or heard and the words: “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” (more…)

I knew Joan Baez more by reputation than her music when I was growing up – as a folk singer, and a protester, and for her Bob Dylan connection. But I do have fond memories of this song, which gave Joan her only hit in 1971. (more…)