Chant! Chant! Chant! were working-class lads from the northside of Dublin and were Ireland’s answer to Joy Division: at least that’s what their publicist would have said if they had one.

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This was the first funk I ever really “got” – I remember first hearing it in a pub on the Mile End End where there was a DJ who span tunes far removed from my usual New Wave and postpunk fare.

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Sticking with the No Wave post-disco sound of Ze Records, here is the weird, eclectic and infectious debut single by Was (Not Was).

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This is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. I never tire of hearing it, with its shimmering echo from speaker to speaker, Green Gartside’s romantic vocal and Robert Wyatt’s syncopated piano.

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Jamaican dancehall star Ini Kamoze started out singing roots reggae long before he topped the charts with his signature song Here Come The Hotstepper.

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I’m not the only one who loves this slice of vintage reggae by Pablo Gad. This song, Hard Time (sic), might be better known for being sampled by The Prodigy in their take on Arthur Brown’s classic Fire.

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Here are The Slits, half of them anyway, with ex-members of The Pop Group and Rip Rig + Panic, in session for John Peel from 1981.

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This came on the radio the other day and reminded me that, for all its faults, disco had some memorable moments. This sci-fi-themed single was one.

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Being somewhat jazz-hesitant, if not an outright jazzophobe, especially when it comes to the F-word – “fusion” – I obviously haven’t heard of Alphonse Mouzon before.

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I have to own up. I did not know anything about Robbie Robertson until he made his first solo album in 1987. But when I did it was love at first note. This is the song that blew me away.

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