There was always a strong element of panto about Glam but Geordie took it one step further with this blatant send-up of Slade. (more…)

My all-time favourite David Bowie single followed The Jean Genie. It was another song from his forthcoming album Aladdin Sane – Drive-In Saturday. (more…)

Song of the Day

Two of my favourite singles of all time hit the charts in the same week in the spring of 1973. This was the first of them. (more…)

This clip caught my eye (and ear) because of the synchronicity – it’s The O’Jays performing Love Train on the TV show Soul Train. (more…)

Tony Orlando and Dawn sang the biggest hit of 1973 with this sentimental slice of cheese, Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree. (more…)

This is the third and final song in a trilogy that always come to my mind together: The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face, Killing Me Softly With His Song and Help Me Make It Through The Night. (more…)

The history of this classic romantic ballad is a long and complicated one, involving two English folk singers, an American schoolteacher, a screen legend – and a dead cat. (more…)

I love the filthy fuzzed-up guitar squall that starts this song. Sleazy and crunchy; grunge before grunge. (more…)

The Emeralds (as they were first called) were a group of four brothers from Little Rock, Arkansas: the splendidly named Ivory, Cleophus, Raymond and Abrim, who wrote, arranged and produced their handful of hits. (more…)