I really tried quite hard to like Nina Hagen, the so-called Godmother of German Punk. She was beautiful, glamorous and a little bit frightening – like a grown-up Toyah.

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Different Trains, composed and recorded in 1988, was Steve Reich’s first composition to draw on his Jewish heritage, inspired by a childhood memory.

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Here’s the mid-nineties classic by KRS-One that might well top the hip-hop hall of anti-cop fame were it not for a certain earlier song by NWA.

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Here is some rare footage of the last time Sting took public transport, way back in 1978, before The Police had had a hit single, and before Sting bought a lute.

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I have loved this song since the day I first heard it, and I still love it just as much today. The only doubt I have ever had is whether I prefer it to Wah! Heat’s first single Better Scream.

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Oh how I love this single, from the opening keyboard run to that rat-a-tat-tat drum figure… and Julian Cope’s exuberant vocal. Then the breakdown with the burbling bassline and skittering hi-hats when he sings “It’s true.”

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Cornel Campbell’s sweet quaver of a voice was first noticed in the church choir when he was a young boy, and as one of the finest falsettos in reggae, it never really changed.

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Like so many punk groups, The Ruts were inspired to become a band after singer Malcolm Owen saw The Sex Pistols, but as their short career progressed, they increasingly incorported reggae into their sound.

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Buzzcocks had evolved far beyond the primitive proto-punk and two-note guitar solos of Spiral Scratch by the time they released their third album in 1979. A Different Kind Of Tension was a game-changer of two halves: the first side an unremarkable set of short sharp pop-punk songs.

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Like so many of the great reggae and soul stars, Alphonso “Al” Campbell started singing in church, initially to raise funds for his preacher father.

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