The deepest of deep cuts, this little-known cover of a little-known soul song is one of the hidden gems in Bowie’s repertoire.

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This really is a proper deep cut from Gene Clark’s long-forgotten fourth album No Other from back in 1974. Long forgotten for many years, but now regarded as something of an underground classic.

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When it comes to underrated talents, Shuggie Otis should be one of the first names to come to mind. No less a judge than David Byrne rates his trippy R&B jams as “equal to Marvin and Curtis.”

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I don’t know how I forgot this one when I was trawling through the songs of my childhood. It wasn’t a big hit but back in 1974 it seemed to be everywhere.

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I don’t know how you can make a song sound this funky with little more than a bunch of drums from Africa and Asia. But dammit, Nina Simone can. And she did.

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On a steamy summer’s day, who doesn’t enjoy a bit of soca music? Well I do, but I’ll admit I don’t know much about it beyond what seems to have become the Notting Hill Carnival’s signature tune, Arrow’s infectious singalong tune Hot Hot Hot.

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

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Merle Haggard’s self-penned number from 1974 has all the elements of the perfect Christmas song – a sad, sentimental, yet optimistic lyric, and a cracking tune.

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