Soul singer Al Wilson had a hit with this anti-racist allegory before Donald Trump appropriated it 50 years later as an anti-immigration parable. Because he’s an idiot.

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Peter Gabriel performed A Whiter Shade Of Pale as a punk parody – or was it a tribute? – at Knebworth in the summer of 1978.

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I know there are people – many people – who hate this prime fillet of cod reggae. They probably hate cricket too. In both cases they are mistaken.

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I really tried quite hard to like Nina Hagen, the so-called Godmother of German Punk. She was beautiful, glamorous and a little bit frightening – like a grown-up Toyah.

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Different Trains, composed and recorded in 1988, was Steve Reich’s first composition to draw on his Jewish heritage, inspired by a childhood memory.

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Mark Stewart, who has died, was not past his prime. He was not in his 90s, or 80s, or even his 70s. He was only just into his 60s and he had much more to give.

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Here’s the mid-nineties classic by KRS-One that might well top the hip-hop hall of anti-cop fame were it not for a certain earlier song by NWA.

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Here is some rare footage of the last time Sting took public transport, way back in 1978, before The Police had had a hit single, and before Sting bought a lute.

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I have loved this song since the day I first heard it, and I still love it just as much today. The only doubt I have ever had is whether I prefer it to Wah! Heat’s first single Better Scream.

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Oh how I love this single, from the opening keyboard run to that rat-a-tat-tat drum figure… and Julian Cope’s exuberant vocal. Then the breakdown with the burbling bassline and skittering hi-hats when he sings “It’s true.”

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