Considering rule one of punk was to adopt a convincingly anti-social working-class persona, Rikki And The Last Days Of Earth made a rookie error. They had the look – all leather and spiky hair – and they were certainly early adopters, releasing their first single in May 1977.

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I’ve had this terrible seven-inch EP by lower-league punk group Riff Raff in my collection for nearly 45 years and I had no idea until literally just now that the singer is Billy Bragg.

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Of all the crimes committed in the name of music, few deserve a capital sentence more than this 1979 performance by Punishment Of Luxury. As you would expect from a group who had the truly terrible idea of marrying punk to its polar opposite, prog.

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This is one of the odder oddities of the punk era, even by the oddball standards of Stiff Records. Digging it out from my collecton, I have a confession to make – I had mentally filed the band as Joe ‘King’ Carrasco and the CLOWNS.

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Amid the visceral energy and tuneless thrashing of punk, a label called Beserkley somehow surfed along on the New Wave with a bunch of records that reminded us what a tune was. This was one of the best examples – a jangly version of a song from Springsteen’s debut album by a bloke called Greg Kihn.

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Not only is this one of the catchiest songs of all time but the story behind the song is remarkable… and lives up to the title.

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The word ‘iconic’ gets systematically misused, and overused, but it deserves to apply to the opening credits of Twin Peaks. And especially to Angelo Badalementi’s score.

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I have never been to Nigeria but I feel as if I’ve spent time amid the hustle and bustle of Lagos while listening to sound artist Emeka Ogboh’s album 6°30’33.372″N 3°22’0.66″E.

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I went to see Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers for the first time at Hammersmith Odeon in the summer of ’77 and he sang Ice Cream Man – six times in a row.

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I never thought I’d be singing the praises of disco tunes, least of all from a period when I was plunged deep in punk and post-punk. Until I remembered this hit by Odyssey.

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