The word genius gets bandied around rather too much when it comes to musicians. But few would dispute that Brian Wilson was a genius.

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The Litter languished in garage rock obscurity during their brief career in the late Sixties – until they were rediscovered a decade later.

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With a name like The Electric Prunes, whose founder and front man James Lowe has just died, they could only have been a late-Sixties band from California.

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Soul ballads don’t come more soulful than this gem, the title track of Jimmy Holiday’s debut album in 1966.

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The Remains made one of the best tunes to feature on the Nuggets anthology of ’60s garage rock, but never made a mainstream breakthrough.

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Dobie Gray’s stomper Out On The Floor has been called the best Northern Soul record of all time, though I remember Dobie Gray for two other songs – Drift Away and The In-Crowd.

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French vocal trio Belle Epoque had their biggest (and possibly only) hit single in 1977 with disco classic Black Is Black.

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RIP Sam Moore, sole survivor – and soul survivor – of Sam & Dave, the duo known for their two biggest hits Soul Man and Hold On, I’m A Comin’.

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When I was a schoolkid I loved Cream. Everybody loved Cream. And this was their signature song. They were the original “power trio” of guitar, bass and drums – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

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Blimey! I had no idea The Kinks ever sounded like this. I’ve never heard it before, though seven million others seem to have watched it on YouTube.

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