I was sad when The Specials fell apart: they had been such a part of my life for what they represented as much as their music. But it didn’t take long to fall in love again with the Fun Boy Three.

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When I was a schoolkid I loved Cream. Everybody loved Cream. And this was their signature song. They were the original “power trio” of guitar, bass and drums – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

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This is a fantastic discovery If you like funky horn sections and you like powerful female voices. They don’t come much more powerful than Lydia Pense and her San Francisco-based band Cold Blood.

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Tim Hardin’s struggles with addiction are mirrored in Black Sheep Boy, his heartbreaking tale of alienation from his family.

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Summer sounds in my August playlist: some classic postpunk (Magazine, Pere Ubu), some classic reggae (Culture and LKJ) and soul (Bill Withers, Gary US Bonds), some old-time country (Gillian Welch, Dwight Yoakam) and nu-skool punk (Dead Pioneers), vintage hip-hop (A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow) and a handful of brand new tunes (Nick Cave, Fontaines DC). Plus the magnificence of Pablo Picasso (Modern Lovers).

Tramhaus are The Netherlands’ best-kept secret – a post-punk band from the (low) land that gave us Focus, Golden Earring and, er, Pussycat. (more…)

Samuel Maghett – “Maghett Sam” merging into Magic Sam – was a Chicago bluesman who had moved north from his Mississippi Delta birthplace in 1956 when he was 19.

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When it comes to The Shangri-Las, my knowledge doesn’t stretch much further than their greatest hits, led by the glorious Leader Of The Pack.

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Cinnamon Horses is my favourite song from a lot of favourites on Wild God, the new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

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Sixties soul veteran Gary U.S. Bonds had a second career in the early ’80s after Bruce Springsteen wrote and produced two albums for him.

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