Retro soul duo Charles & Eddie followed up their chart-topping hit Would I Lie To You with this story of how they first met on the New York subway.

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Abbey Lincoln was an actor, a civil rights activist and a jazz singer in the mould of her idol Billie Holiday.

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Tori Amos was such a unique voice when she came into our musical lives with Cornflake Girl, arguably the progenitor of the confessional female singer-songwriter genre.

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Counting Crows came from San Francisco and immediately struck gold with their debut single, Mr Jones, in early 1994.

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Garbage burst out of nowhere in 1995 with Supervixen – the powerful opening tune on the self-titled album that introduced us to the band formed by Nirvana producer Butch Vig and led by Shirley Manson.

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No prizes for guessing why this one popped into my mind this week as Los Angeles battles the terrible wildfires.

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Low’s wonderful Christmas album is a staple in my house at this time of year. This is my favourite song.

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The Fall might not be the most obvious band to convey the festive spirit. But Mark E Smith and chums do a decent job of tackling this old carol.

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Galaxie 500 take Yoko Ono’s delicate Christmas song and transform it into an intense Velvets-like jam that improves on the original.

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The Verve had their first (and last) number one single with The Drugs Don’t Work, the second of four hit ballads from their 1997 album Urban Hymns.

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