Television produced one of the foundation stones of punk with their debut single Little Johnny Jewel, released in 1976. (more…)

It’s the beginning of 1977 and punk is going overground. The Stranglers start the year with a bang, releasing their debut single Grip / London Lady. (more…)

All together now: “Rrrrright…. nowwww… Hahahaaaa!”

One night in late November 1976 I was at the Marquee Club watching a short fat Frenchman called Little Bob who played amphetamine-fuelled RnB when Malcolm McLaren walked in with a bag under his arm.

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As winter draws in, what better to chase away that chilly wind than a sunny slice of reggae from Jamaica. 
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Everyone my age must have grown up with Peter Wyngarde’s two TV shows – Department S and Jason King. Few have heard his only album.

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It’s funny to recall how much I hated disco at the time because this is another of those songs that just puts a smile on your face the minute you hear it.

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Here’s a confession. I only really knew Kool & The Gang for their party tunes and schmaltzy ballads in the Eighties.

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Nothing puts a smile on the face and gets the feet moving like Highlife music. So, to celebrate a century of recorded Ghanaian highlife, here’s a prime example by the late legend Atakora Manu.

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Seventies singer-songwriter Kevin Coyne deserves to be celebrated as one of British music’s cult icons as much as the likes of Nick Drake and Syd Barrett.

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Jackson Browne was not the first to record Stay, still the shortest single ever to top the charts, but he made it his own when he covered the doo-wop oldie in 1977.

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