Mud took a sideways turn from Glam stompers to celebrate the Christmas of 1974 with an hommage to Elvis Presley – and a bizarre TOTP appearance.

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Happy Hallowe’en folks! And nothing says Hallowe’en like a Northern Soul banger with a spooky title.

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Bobby Byrd ought to be much more famous. He gave James Brown his big break and wrote most of his hits but never became a household name.

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I didn’t see much mention in the news of the death of Kinky Friedman, the self-styled “Texas Jewboy” of country music. It’s probably fair to say his records would not be released these days because of their close-to-the-bone satirical content; and their language (including this one).

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Harry Chapin is someone I vaguely recall in the same MoR mould as John Denver and Jim Croce, making sentimental string-laden songs with sermonising social messages. Which is true. But I do him a disservice.

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I first heard his name when Gerry Rafferty released Baker Street. Everyone knew who played that sax solo. Almost as many knew that the same guy played the two sax solos on Bowie’s Young Americans.

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Captain Beefheart enjoyed one of his more mainstream moments when he recorded Observatory Crest for his ninth album Bluejeans & Moonbeams.

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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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