My latest playlist is one of my most eclectic yet. It begins with one of the all-time pop classics (Ronettes) and ends with an aptly valedictory elegy for one of those we lost in February (Bill Fay).

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In a month when we lost some big names in music – Marianne Faithfull, Roberta Flack, Rick Buckler of The Jam – the death of Bill Fay may have passed without much attention.

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Whenever Van Morrison puts out a new tune there’s always the worry that time will have finally caught up with the auld fella. But this is lovely.

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Erasmo Carlos is a legendary musical figure in his native Brazil and this is the closing song in the Oscar-nominated film I’m Still Here. If you’re anything like me, and half the rest of the audience, you’ll be hearing through a veil of tears.

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Roberta Flack sang two or three of the greatest and most ubiquitous songs in what you might call the Easy Listening Soul genre. But there was much more to her than that. A fantastic afro, for one thing; and the middle name Cleopatra for another… and this tune.

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The Melodians sealed their place in music history with their biblical anthem Rivers Of Babylon – even though most people know it best by Boney M. I’d rather listen to this song, Sweet Sensation, than either version.

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The Nice recorded this version of Tim Hardin’s song How Can You Hang On To A Dream, built around Keith Emerson’s jazz piano and a ghostly choral arrangement.

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Skoota Warner is a multi-talented drummer turned rapper turned drummer again, harnessing hip-hop and southern-fried funk from New Orleans.

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The most extraordinary thing about this tune is the age of the man who made it. Marshall Allen, the sprightly old fellow you can see capering about in the video, celebrated his 100th birthday almost a year ago.

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The Jam gig I’ll always remember – along with the last one at the Rainbow in 1981 – is the time my mate filled in for drummer Rick Buckler at a gig.

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