Philly soul’s signature sound was its sweetness but there was a bitter pill inside the sugar-coated harmonies of Ghetto Child by The Detroit Spinners. (more…)

Bryan Ferry took a break from Roxy Music to pay tribute to the pre-Beatles era of pop with his solo album These Foolish Things. This was the first single. (more…)

Just weeks after he famously “retired” Ziggy Stardust at a live show, David Bowie bounced back with a saxophone singing Sorrow, the first track from the covers album Pinups. (more…)

Is this Elton’s best single? It’s certainly one of them, a sepia-tinted elegy for the lost innocence of childhood. (more…)

I had loved Mott The Hoople’s Bowie-assisted makeover with All The Young Dudes in 1972 and I loved their next album Mott, the best by a reinvigorated band. (more…)

I loved my Slade raucous and rowdy so I was a bit disappointed when they came up with this pub singalong at the tail end of 1973. (more…)

The Sweet notched up their sixth Top Five hit when The Ballroom Blitz went to number two in September 1973. (more…)

Clive Dunn cashed in on his fame in Dad’s Army when his sentimental song Grandad topped the chart in January 1971. (more…)

This song is so strangely timeless: it sounded ahead of its time in 1973 and it still sounds futuristic half a century later. (more…)

When I think of The Rolling Stones I think of Jagger pouting and strutting as Keith chops out a guitar riff with a fag in his mouth. Angie isn’t like that at all. (more…)