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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Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers performing their biggest hit single, the instrumental Egyptian Reggae, on Dutch TV in 1978.

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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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I love Snõõper’s description of themselves as “a band who, in a 33 ⅓ RPM world, make 45 RPM music they play at 78 RPM.” Alternatively, you can use the shorter term “egg punk.”

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This summer song brought Tony Burrows, the Zelig of Seventies pop, his sixth hit single – all with different bands.

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In what is something of a golden era for electronic artists, one of the most consistently interesting is a former footballer called Darren Cunningham, who performs and records under the alias Actress.

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The Angelic Upstarts, led by shaven-headed Mensi, flew the flag for back-to-basics punk from the North East – and for socialism and kicked off the much misunderstood Oi! movement.

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