After the pleasures of Pyjamarama and Virginia Plain the last thing I expected was for Roxy to turn their hands to funk. Love Is The Drug is nothing if not funky. It’s also archetypal Bryan Ferry: louche, sophisticated, sexy, urbane, expensive, nocturnal… and a little bit pretentious. (more…)

I was still riding around on my Raleigh Chopper bike, thinking I was cool, when Tina Charles (nee Hoskins) burst into the charts with what may be our first home-grown disco hit, I’m On Fire.

(more…)

Disco was everywhere in 1975, a new wave of soul and funk for the dancefloor. This song shows why. (more…)

The Stylistics dominated the early Seventies with their smooth soul ballads, defining the smooth soul sound synonymous with producer Thom Bell. (more…)

This wasn’t a hit for Labi Siffre in 1975 but it’s got a place in pop history, spawning the sample that brought Eminem to the world. (more…)

It’s easy to forget that The Bee Gees had pretty much disappeared from view by the mid-Seventies. So much so that this comeback single was sent to DJs in a plain white sleeve with no band name. (more…)

When you think of Glam’s hitmaking duo Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, you think of the songwriters behind a string of stomping bangers by The Sweet, Suzi Quatro and Mud. (more…)

Even as a kid, I remember thinking this novelty single was inauthentic. Inauthentic but catchy enough to top the charts. (more…)

This tribute to the falsetto singers of the doo-wop era lived up to its name by entering the American charts at No.18… with a bullet. (more…)