Nick Drake teamed up with African percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah on sessions for his classic album Five Leaves Left.

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Traffic are one of those bands who somehow fell through the cracks of my musical journey. Consequently, Dave Mason was not a name that meant a great deal to me.

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The Bee Gees’ disco classic Stayin’ Alive interwoven with Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl turns out to make the perfect mash-up marriage.

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Gregg Foreman, who looked and sounded every inch the rock star, was the founder of The Delta 72 and musical director for Cat Power.

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Lou Reed’s song Ennui is the standout song of one his less acclaimed albums, Sally Can’t Dance, with music and lyrics that embody the title.

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Ernie Hines achieved belated recognition when Our Generation was famously sampled by Pete Rock and CL Smooth on their 1992 hip-hop classic Straighten It Out.

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Andy Kershaw introduced me – us – to so much new music, making him second only to John Peel in terms of influence on my own formative tastes.

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It remains a source of regret that the one time I went to see Pavement, on the NME’s Brat Tour back in 1997, I spent most of their set chatting to friends in the bar.

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Kenny Knots is far from a household name, even in specialist reggae circles, but was a regular one on the sound system scene in the UK in general, and Hackney in particular.

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The narcotic country twang and angelic vocal of Widowspeak put me in mind of Mazzy Star. And that’s never a bad thing.

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