He looked like Elvis, he sounded like Elvis, and that was Ral Donner’s golden ticket to pop stardom – for a brief period in 1961.

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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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I was too young to see the New York Dolls in their heyday, though I saw Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers on numerous occasions. The closest I got to David Johansen in those early days was that historically fabulous OGWT in 1973.

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The Flirtations are one of those bands who left their native USA to find success in the UK… and then became even bigger back in America.

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In a month when we lost some big names in music – Marianne Faithfull, Roberta Flack, Rick Buckler of The Jam – the death of Bill Fay may have passed without much attention.

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Erasmo Carlos is a legendary musical figure in his native Brazil and this is the closing song in the Oscar-nominated film I’m Still Here. If you’re anything like me, and half the rest of the audience, you’ll be hearing through a veil of tears.

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Roberta Flack sang two or three of the greatest and most ubiquitous songs in what you might call the Easy Listening Soul genre. But there was much more to her than that. A fantastic afro, for one thing; and the middle name Cleopatra for another… and this tune.

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The Melodians sealed their place in music history with their biblical anthem Rivers Of Babylon – even though most people know it best by Boney M. I’d rather listen to this song, Sweet Sensation, than either version.

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The Nice recorded this version of Tim Hardin’s song How Can You Hang On To A Dream, built around Keith Emerson’s jazz piano and a ghostly choral arrangement.

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This cute sibling duet from 1975 slipped my mind completely. But it’s peak Seventies in all its faintly emetic glory.

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