Here is my second contender for the first rock’n’roll song of them all – That’s All Right by Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup – from 1946.

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Louis Jordan was already the biggest black music star when he staked his claim for the first rock’n’roll song way back in 1945. (more…)

In the pantheon of soul greats, Major Lance never got the name recognition of Curtis Mayfield, his mentor and collaborator on the Chicago soul scene in the Sixties.

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Another weather-appropriate tune today, to mark the onset of brass monkeys and taters. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the only cover version by New Order.

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As winter draws in, what better to chase away that chilly wind than a sunny slice of reggae from Jamaica. 
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Everyone my age must have grown up with Peter Wyngarde’s two TV shows – Department S and Jason King. Few have heard his only album.

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It’s funny to recall how much I hated disco at the time because this is another of those songs that just puts a smile on your face the minute you hear it.

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Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson is the forgotten guitar legend of rock’n’roll. Perhaps he was just too far ahead of his time. This is simply extraordinary.

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The Amen Break is the much-sampled drum loop that spawned a thousand tunes and kick-started drum & bass. Here’s the song that started it.

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Here’s a confession. I only really knew Kool & The Gang for their party tunes and schmaltzy ballads in the Eighties.

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