I never thought I’d be singing the praises of disco tunes, least of all from a period when I was plunged deep in punk and post-punk. Until I remembered this hit by Odyssey.

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London collective Hi-Tension flew the flag for the disco offshoot of Brit-funk with their self-titled hit single. I have to confess the song – and entire genre – passed me by completely at the time.

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You didn’t have to like disco to like Chic, who always claimed to be a rock band for the disco generation. And you didn’t have to like Le Freak to find yourself singing along.

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Two members of The Blockheads were responsible for the biggest gaffe of my entire career at Dury’s funeral in April 2000. Well, them…. and me. 

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In that early post-punk universe of new sounds and new ideas, Bela Lugosi’s Dead was an important landmark. The nine-minute single was the first recording Bauhaus ever made – as a demo – just six weeks after forming in Northampton in 1978.

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Talking Heads’ second album tends to get unfairly overlooked, sandwiched between their landmark debut, 77 and Fear Of Music.

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Has there ever been a more perfect match of a song to the opening scene of a movie? It’s impossible to think of Saturday Night Fever without the bouncy rhythm of Stayin’ Alive coming into your head.

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The Residents first came to my attention with their barely recognisable version of the Stones’ song Satisfaction in 1977,

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Of the three or four times I saw Joy Division, oddly the occasion I remember most is the time I didn’t. Because I couldn’t get in.

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The Glaxo Babies may be the most underrated band of the immediate post-punk era; or all time. They certainly deserve to be celebrated in the pantheon of Bristol bands alongside The Pop Group, Portishead and Massive Attack. 

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