The opening chant of Vivian Jackson’s debut single in 1972 is what gave him his nickname of Yabby You (or sometimes Yabby U). (more…)

I just couldn’t make up my mind which version of this sweet soul song to post. It was recorded and released by two Texans named Bobby only a few months apart in 1973. (more…)

He’s not exactly a household name but Popcorn Wylie is one of the key figures in Detroit soul music. A producer, songwriter, singer, bandleader, pianist and record label boss, he discovered some of the biggest names and played on some of the biggest Motown hits. (more…)

This is what used to be called a “Negro Spiritual” dating back to slavery days in the USA. It was first published in 1867 and I think the first recording was by Marian Anderson in 1925. (more…)

It’s not often in the internet age that you can’t find out a single thing about a record, or the people who made it. Until now. (more…)

Let’s celebrate the Commonwealth Games like they did – with some miusic from Birmingham. Not Sabbath or The Streets, and not the organisers’ choice of Duran bloody Duran. Not even UB40 or my preference, Steel Pulse. (more…)

When I was 14, before Bowie and Bolan, Slade and Sweet, I was a big fan of an English group called The Strawbs. I haven’t listened to them in years. (more…)

Be-Bop Deluxe filled a Bowie-shaped hole in my musical education after Aladdin Sane. I loved them despite – no, because of – the obvious similarity. (more…)

Chuck Brown is surely not the only convicted murderer to have a hit record, but his crime lends a certain macabre cachet to his place in pop history. (more…)

Everyone knows them best for Boogie Nights but the Heatwave single I have in my collection is the 12-inch version of this sultry slow jam from 1978. (more…)