Mary Gauthier keeps it real in a way few others have ever dared to do in her autobiographical coming-of-age song Drag Queens In Limousines. (more…)

The Teardrop Explodes were one of my favourite bands in the late Seventies. I bought all their records and saw them several times.

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Babybird, aka Stephen Jones, had been making home demos for five years without a record deal when You’re Gorgeous shot into the chart.

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John Douglas was a founder member of The Trashcan Sinatras, playing guitar and singing harmonies with the Glasgow band since 1986.

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Hey Joe is not just a classic, but a genuine rock standard, with at least a hundred versions. This is one of my favourites, by blues guitarist Roy Buchanan.

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British DJ Dave Clarke teamed up with German electroclash ensemble Chicks On Speed on this banger, with a Bauhaus sample to boot.

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Leon Bridges teams up with dance trio Jungle on a slice of uplifting summer soul infused with the sound of Afro jazz and funk.

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Sigue Sigue Sputnik arrived in an explosion of silly hair and sci-fi costumes as a postmodern pastiche of the ultimate Eighties band.

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Summer’s here – as if we didn’t notice! – and here is a soundtrack for those long lazy sunshiney days, preferably with a long cool drink in hand. We’ve got the most memorable horn riff of all time – so good we’ve got it twice! – and artists from Lisbon to Madrid and Mexico, ending in a poignant tribute to the late lamented Glen Hansard.

When I first heard the adrenalin rush of those guitars at the start of Girl From Mars, I was instantly transported back to the first wave of punk in 1977.

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