The night I saw the legendary bass man from the legendary MC5 – and he didn’t play their legendary song, Kick Out The Jams. (more…)

Johnny Horton walked the line between country music and rockabilly but had his biggest success with a pair of folk-flavoured “saga songs” before dying an early death in a car crash in 1960. (more…)

Richard Hell’s debut single is one of the first examples of New York punk. It also defines the sound of what would later become known as post-punk… even though, strictly speaking, it’s more pre-punk. (more…)

Television produced one of the foundation stones of punk with their debut single Little Johnny Jewel, released in 1976. (more…)

Raymond Hill was the sax man who got a shout-out from Ike Turner for his solo on Rocket 88 – and the man who fathered Tina Turner’s first child. (more…)

It’s the beginning of 1977 and punk is going overground. The Stranglers start the year with a bang, releasing their debut single Grip / London Lady. (more…)

Elton Britt, famed for his yodelling, made his name with a patriotic song that went viral during World War Two. This equally infectious number came along 14 years later in 1956. (more…)

All together now: “Rrrrright…. nowwww… Hahahaaaa!”

One night in late November 1976 I was at the Marquee Club watching a short fat Frenchman called Little Bob who played amphetamine-fuelled RnB when Malcolm McLaren walked in with a bag under his arm.

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Protest songs don’t get more powerful than this state-of-the-nation report – its finger firmly on the xenophobic pulse of post-Brexit Britain. (more…)