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…)

This really is a spectacular find for fans of funk and soul. An obscure deep soul nugget, it lures you in with its slow-burning groove. Then, about 30 seconds in, the horns catch fire and the bass player lets loose with the musical equivalent of St Vitus Dance.

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I stumbled upon this today and remembered how much I loved it when it came out. So much so that I bought the album.

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There are many contenders for the ultimate driving song – Born To Be Wild, Highway Star, The Chain, Road To Nowhere. But for me there’s only one – Radar Love. (more…)

The inspiration for one of the more regrettable dance crazes, Rock The Boat was also the inspiration for Rock Your Baby, regarded by many as the first disco hit. (more…)

This is the greatest disco song of all time; no argument about that. And one of the greatest songs of all time. I usually tend towards the view that these things are a matter of opinion but in this case I hope we can all agree. (more…)

There have been plenty of crazy characters and egotists in the history of popular music, and Ernie K-Doe was one of them. A bit of a blues and soul legend in his native New Orleans, he performed in a cape and crown and billed himself as “Emperor of the Universe.” (more…)

For Jamaicans, and an older generation of fans, Horace Andy is one of the legendary reggae singers from Jamaica. For a younger one, he’s synonymous with Bristol as the guest vocalist on some of Massive Attack’s best tunes. (more…)

Vocal trio The Abyssinians followed their seminal debut Satta Massa Gana with their second single, Declaration of Rights in 1972. (more…)