Category : Fans

Ah, this year’s releases, as the typically uncomplicated title already said. Now, I realise that we’re barely three months into the year, but I think it’s started with abundant promise. Have you heard anything that particularly caught your ear?

Two albums released (in the UK) this week – yesterday, in fact – which I’m enjoying are Man Up by The Blue Van and Beat the Devil’s Tattoo by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I do think I should have saved more than £1-a-time by downloading and forgoing all that awful plastic, but that’s another matter entirely.

Marcus Bonfanti’s What Good Am I To You?, released last month, is also one to look out for. He’s touring at the moment, with tickets extremely reasonably-priced.

The above- and below-mentioned artist names, you’ve probably already realised and maybe even clicked out of curiosity, double as links to respective MySpace pages, should you care to give their tunes a few moments of your time.

Free downloads provide a good way of adding new material to your music collection. Here’s one from MGMT, and here’s another – it’s from Peter Gabriel’s Scratch My Back. Produced by Bob Ezrin, it’s a collection of orchestral covers of songs such as David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ and Elbow’s ‘Mirrorball’, to perhaps give two of the more enticing examples.

If you know of any other goodies, and they must be legal downloads, don’t forget, please don’t keep them to yourself.

Which as-yet unreleased albums are you most looking forward to? New releases are expected from Arcade Fire, The National, Radiohead, R.E.M. and U2 this year. The one I most eagerly anticipate, though, is a fresh offering from Fleet Foxes.

Black Rock by Joe Bonamassa comes out later this month, too…

And speaking (or blogging, rather) of guitarists, there’s also a ‘new’ Jimi Hendrix album out; called Valleys of Neptune, it’s made up of previously unreleased songs, and you could win a copy here, courtesy of the nice people at Fender. Good luck.

Your thoughts on any of these, plus recommendations for others, are, as usual, appreciated; as were the birthday messages for David, thank you all for those.

You never know, 2010 could turn out to be as good a year for music as… 2006?

If you’ve been wondering, Lance’s clay sculpture is now complete – and here’s the finished article. A video of its development can be viewed here.

Thanks again for sharing it, Lance.

The chatroom will be open tomorrow from 3pm (UK), so have some of the Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll lined up and we’ll chat about… something completely unrelated, I’m sure.

Keep those songs coming, please.

On this day in 1969, David’s pick of his Desert Island Discs – ‘Dancing in the Street’ by Martha and the Vandellas – was a UK Top Five hit behind Diana Ross, the Supremes and the Temptations (‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me’), Peter Sarstedt’s ‘Where Do You Go To (My Lovely?)’, ‘Blackberry Way’ by The Move and Cardiff’s very own Amen Corner, with ‘(If Paradise is) Half As Nice’. Would you nominate any of those as a song that shaped music?

If ever a recording studio influenced music more than most, it’s Abbey Road. We’ll talk about this legendary London landmark next week, by which time there may have been a decision made as to its new owners. Fingers crossed.

Until then, here’s something to consider: Should the National Trust try to save it?

Lastly, in continuing with references and bold directions to old posts that you might like to re-visit: Oasis won the BRIT’s Album of 30 Years award, by the way.

Speaking of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as we were back there (I know, it was quite a while ago, apologies for my desertion) with the news of the Hollies’ eventual induction next month, I noticed that the Museum has an exhibition deliciously entitled “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”. Get that.

Which got me thinking of answers to two questions:

1) Are there any David Gilmour/Pink Floyd songs in there (and if there aren’t, should there be)?
2) Have any of the songs written and recorded in, say, the last 30 years really influenced the way popular music has evolved?

Take a look at the list of 500, as chosen by a gaggle of curatorial staff at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum with a little help from rock critics and historians, or perhaps don’t just yet, because other than your thoughts on what has been listed, I’d like to know which songs you would select without first being influenced by what the exhibit values most highly.

I’m sure that we could come up with a decent list of 500 between us, so please list as many or as few as you wish, but please do bear in mind that these are songs that have shaped Rock and Roll, influencing and inspiring others to take up instruments, be they of the writing or the musical sort, and to get creative. Therefore, they almost all will have to have been popular, if not hugely commercially-successful (but many of them are most likely to have been worldwide hits, rightly or wrongly). And, of course, you don’t have to like them; you just have to acknowledge their influence, even if it is somewhat grudgingly.

All musicians and all genres. Songs only, not albums, please. If you think of an artist that absolutely deserves inclusion, but cannot decide on a song, do list him or her and perhaps others can chime in with suggestions for most deserving entry.

Looking forward to what you come up with.

Here are a few to get us started, which you may or may not agree with:

- Beach Boys, ‘Good Vibrations’
- Bill Haley & His Comets, ‘Rock Around the Clock’
- Sam Cooke, ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’
- Carl Perkins, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’
- Queen, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Now we just need another 495…

Guitar Player magazine’s 2010 (yes, the ballot paper did say 2009) Readers’ Poll.

Tricky one, this. In spending time thinking about it, whilst simultaneously compiling a list for one of next week’s topics in addition to a Favourite 50 Liverpool Goals countdown (the latter for personal amusement, although it did start as a kind of therapy), and unfortunately not knowing when the voting would cease, I’m now mentioning it too late to positively affect the votes. Unless you follow the comments and tweets, that is. I’m sorry.

To make matters worse, I’m none the wiser for the time spent pondering and have given up trying to confidently produce a completed form.

So I leave it to the experts to enlighten, secure in the knowledge that there are plenty of you who know much more about Country and Jazz guitarists than I ever will or indeed would care to admit. I look forward to your commendations, particularly if you could suggest a song or two to go with the name.

Now that this is just for fun and the nominations cannot be transferred to the voting form irrespective of Guitar Player’s far stricter rules, your choices do not have to exclusively reflect recent activity, either on the road or in the studio, so you need not limit yourself to the creative outpourings of the last year, nor to the 36 days of this one. I trust that makes it much easier.

Best guitarists in as many of the following fields as you can muster, please (I know, Best again; should be Most Popular or at least Most Respected): Acoustic, Blues, Classical, Country, Jazz, Metal, Rock, Slide, World.

Told you it was tricky, but remember: it’s good for the brain to strain and stretch for those names, faces, riffs and melodies that are so often tantalisingly out of reach. And far less monotonous than Sudoku, I like to think.

Joe Bonamassa has been claiming the Best Blues Guitarist accolade in recent years – I think it’s four in a row for him now.

Other 2009 winners include Eric Clapton, Kirk Hammett, Fareed Haque, Warren Haynes, Pat Metheny, Brad Paisley and Derek Trucks.

Who do you predict will be triumphant in 2010?

If you really know your stuff, there were also categories for Best New (Guitar) Talent, Best Outsider/Experimental Guitarist, and Best Overall Guitarist.

I thought this rather interesting when I belatedly stumbled across it today: the shortlist for the BRIT Awards’ ‘Best Album of 30 Years’ accolade, representing the finest of 30 years of previous BRIT Award-winning albums.

They are as follows:

- Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head
- Dido, No Angel
- Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms
- Duffy, Rockferry
- Keane, Hopes & Fears
- Oasis, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
- Phil Collins, No Jacket Required
- Sade, Diamond Life
- The Verve, Urban Hymns
- Travis, The Man Who

The thing is, the BRITs being the music industry’s own awards, to be eligible you had to have already won a BRIT Award – in the Best British Album category – and you win this in the first place based on sales figures.

So, I had a look and found the other past winners… and realised that the shortlist probably is as good as it can get, although I would definitely substitute the two Manic Street Preachers albums at the expense of pretty much any of them bar Brothers in Arms and Urban Hymns. I would also like to see Annie Lennox (Union Jack-et negotiable) win a BRIT each year, even though she has seven already.

Do you favour any of these over the actual nominees? If, as many believe, Britannia ruled the (air)waves in the ’60s and ’70s, are these award-winning albums conclusive proof that things have gone downhill dramatically ever since?

- Adam and the Ants, Kings Of the Wild Frontier
- Blur, Parklife (Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell had been nominated)
- Coldplay, Parachutes and X&Y
- The Darkness, Permission to Land
- Fairground Attraction, First Of a Million Kisses
- Fine Young Cannibals, The Raw and the Cooked
- Annie Lennox, Diva
- Manic Street Preachers, Everything Must Go and This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours
- George Michael, Listen Without Prejudice
- Seal, Seal
- Stereo MCs, Connected
- Sting, Nothing Like the Sun

If, like me, you initially find the idea of the ten albums in contention representing the pinnacle of 30 years of British music as depressing as a bowl of cold porridge on a wet winter’s morn (and the use of ‘Best’ as contentious as, well, the last equivalent survey we discussed), you might find this stirs you from your malaise.

Ten ‘better’ albums, even if they weren’t as commercially-successful – from 1980 onwards, please. From UK artists only, don’t forget. (The Division Bell… Hello?)

Should you care to vote, voting closes at 9pm (UK) tomorrow – Thursday 28 January. The winning album will be the one with the most votes when voting ends.

You have to register to vote and the registration form asks for everything other than your shoe size, which may prove off-putting to some. (Slight exaggeration there, but why should one’s date of birth, not to mention telephone number, be required? Presumably the only advantage to registering is being able to cast a vote and leave a comment, not buy cigarettes, and nobody should expect a ring-back.)

The 2010 BRIT Awards will take place on 16 February. Will you be watching?

The recent post about the albums of the Noughties (I hate that term, but how else do you sum up the last ten years in one word?) contained the following question: Which year had the best new music? At the time of writing, almost half of the vote was with 2006, so, which songs would you recommend from that year?

They don’t have to be singles, album tracks are fine.

My favourite albums from 2006, On an Island aside, were as follows, so I’ve cheated with a favourite song off each.

- The Blue Van, Dear Independence – ‘Goldmind’
- James Dean Bradfield, The Great Western – ‘To See a Friend in Tears’
- Ray Davies, Other People’s Lives – ‘Over My Head’
- Bob Dylan, Modern Times – ‘Nettie Moore’
- Gomez, How We Operate – ‘How We Operate’
- Neil Young, Living with War – ‘The Restless Consumer’

Here are 100 from Rolling Stone to help you, or, should their list have the same effect on you as it did me, make you feel old and out-of-touch… and perhaps just a little grateful for it?

Not knowing approximately 65% of the acts listed, I’d like to know which, if any, are worth listening to; the titles don’t exactly make me want to investigate (I know, books and covers and all that). Besides, if the grammar, or lack of it, causes me to grind my teeth, I daren’t think what listening to the song could do. In all honesty, to my shame, I don’t hold out much hope that listening to some of them would be anything other than a waste of time that I can never get back. ‘Baby Let’s Have a Baby Before Bush Do Somethin’ Crazy’? Where do you begin? I clearly must be old and out-of-touch. God knows I’d like to add a comma to that title.

Pitchfork’s list is here, very helpful in that you can hear 30-seconds from each song with ease. Just play the first one and the others will follow. If you hear something you like, the player will show both artist and song title. If you hear something you don’t like, you can skip to the next one and curse my suggestion.

Knowing that you have exquisite taste, I genuinely look forward to your recommendations and to hopefully discovering something new to listen to.

Six more before I hand over to you, seeing as I cheated earlier. Know any of them?

- Baby Woodrose, ‘Growing Younger’ (Love Comes Down)
- Band of Horses, ‘The Funeral’ (Everything All the Time)
- Burning Saviours, ‘Lilly Marion’ (Hundus)
- Califone, ‘The Orchids’ (Roots and Crowns)
- Five Horse Johnson, ‘Feed That Train’ (The Mystery Spot)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Dani California’ (Stadium Arcadium)

Which year had the best new music?

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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If I’m honest, and I almost always am, if we didn’t start 2010 by looking back at 2009 in order to applaud the good and jeer the bad, I’d feel that something’s not quite right (much like the quibbling as to how this new year should be referred: is it ‘twenty-ten’ or ‘two-thousand-and-ten’?), so let’s start with the decade’s finest long-play offerings and maybe we’ll think about the tunes another time.

(I’m curious to learn if you’re playing, never mind buying, fewer albums in favour of single tracks; I know I am, and I can’t help but feel slightly sad about that whilst, at the same time, uncomfortably asking myself whether many of the albums I have recalled as high points of the past ten years are really good ‘albums’ or just decent collections of songs, some of which are really good.)

Anyway, The Times jumped the gun slightly and produced this diverse, yet somewhat incomplete, list in November.

Here’s mine, trimmed down to leave one from each year, which wasn’t difficult for 2003, but was considerably so for 2006. What a fine musical year that was.

On an Island is obviously a given, so, should you choose to nominate a favourite on a year-by-year basis as I have done, please list another from 2006.

- Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, The Blue Trees (2000)
- Starsailor, Love is Here (2001)
- The Mooney Suzuki, Electric Sweat (2002)
- Kings of Leon, Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
- Jet, Get Born (2004)
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Howl (2005)
- Neil Young, Living with War (2006)
- Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden (2007)
- Neil Diamond, Home Before Dark (2008)
- Ray Davies, Kinks Choral Collection (2009)

…but same old blog. Happy New Year, all.

As I recall doing at about this time last year, I would like to get an apology in nice and early relating to the absence of exciting news of forthcoming albums and concerts. There isn’t going to be any for the time being, I’m afraid.

I’m also sorry that silly rumours still spring up like mould on cheese you should have eaten by now and falsely raise your hopes. I guess some people just need the attention.

So, the random stuff you sometimes like, sometimes hate, will continue in lieu of the kind of thing I know you hope to see (me, too). As ever, I hope you can dip in and out as your mood allows, and I thank you for it.

Pictured is the latest from Lance’s excellent sculpture. How good is that?

And how nice that BBC Radio 2 will re-broadcast the Mermaid Theatre concert during the final week of this month, possibly the first week of the next. Precise details when they’re available, but I trust you’ll all tune in to reminisce about On an Island’s first real public airing, which many of you were able to attend, of course.

Yep, the final and surely only important remaining topic of 2009: the best and worst Christmas songs. Obviously. You are surrounded by them everywhere you go, after all, and probably have been since the Hallowe’en paraphernalia was hidden away for another year. How limp and lifeless would Christmas be without them?

However clichéd they may be, whether you like them or despise them, I’m especially interested in different versions of the same piece for comparison’s sake. The Drifters’ version of ‘White Christmas’, for example. Frank Sinatra’s ‘Jingle Bells’. Celine Dion’s attempt at ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’. And so on and so forth.

By the way, in my view, which is flagrantly biased, never mind downloading ‘Killing in the Name’ to spite Cowell and Co.; people in the UK should be trying to make this Christmas Number One – and supporting Crisis at the same time. What do you think? (Proceeds will also be donated to Feeding America and the United Nations’ World Food Programme. Good for you, Bob.)

OK, I’ll get straight to the songs that I find most irritating at this (most wonderful) time of the year. I have a fairly high tolerance level when it comes to Christmas tunes, surprisingly, but draw the line at these. I’m really sorry if mentioning them causes anyone’s blood pressure to rise. You might want to hold your breath?

- Burl Ives, ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’
- Jona Lewie, ‘Stop the Cavalry’
- Mike Oldfield, ‘In Dulci Jubilo’

And breathe out through your mouth slowly…

As always, thank you very much for your company throughout the year, both here and in the chatroom; I continue to value your honesty and humour greatly. Enjoy the Christmas holiday, however you choose to spend it, and may the New Year bring all that you hope for, particularly good health.

At the risk of sounding like Shakin’ Stevens: Merry Christmas, everyone.

Ten years ago to the day, almost to the hour, in fact, David was performing with Paul McCartney at Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club before a crowd of 300 incredibly lucky so-and-sos.

Available on DVD as of 2001 (Paul McCartney, Live at The Cavern Club!), the show went out as a live webcast and is estimated to have been watched by some three million people worldwide – then a record for an online audience. A giant screen broadcast the performance to the many thousands gathered in a nearby park.

Did you see it at the time, have you seen it since, and what did you make of it?

Paul’s band also consisted of Deep Purple drummer, Ian Paice, Pete Wingfield on keyboards and the legendary Mick Green (of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates) on guitar.

For fun, if David could put together a similar band of talents to perform covers of anyone’s songs in any style, who would you want to see in the line-up, where would you want to see them and what would they play? As the Cavern gig’s set was an oh-so short one, I’ll have to limit you to choosing not much more than 45-minutes of material, please, so choose wisely… and not ‘Pink Floyd’.

How about recreating Jokers Wild somewhere in or around Cambridge, possibly involving a few early Beatles and Stones numbers, perhaps a smidgen of Sam & Dave, but almost certainly Manfred Mann’s brilliant ‘Don’t Ask Me What I Say’?

The chatroom will be opening for its final session of 2009 on Wednesday. Please note that there is a change to the time as has been advertised for the last week or so, thus the chatroom will now be open from 1pm (UK). Hope to see you there.

Top of the charts in the UK on this day was ‘Sugar Sugar’ by The Archies.

Not one of David’s favourites, this, but equally annoying and slightly less grammatically irritating than the US sing-along-a-No.1 of this day 40 years ago, ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’ (by Steam). Remember that one?

I can’t bring myself to say a bad word about the wonderful Roy Orbison, so I’ll just quietly point out that ‘Penny Arcade’ was No.1 in Australia at the time and leave it to you to decide whether or not that nicely rounds off a hat trick of truly terrible chart-topping songs which paint 1969 a hideous, nauseating shade of ‘Fun’.

There were some classic stand-out tunes, though: ‘Albatross’ by (Peter Green’s) Fleetwood Mac, which obviously is one of David’s favourites, and ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ by Crosby, Stills and Nash, to name just two of them.

As we’ve been talking about him this week, ‘Give Peace a Chance’ by (John Lennon’s) Plastic Ono Band is another.

Great albums, too. All the best acts did well, I thought, and their record covers were often equally impressive: The Beatles’ Abbey Road (and Yellow Submarine); Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Neil Young’s first album with Crazy Horse; Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats; Leonard Cohen’s Songs From a Room…

Do note Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s Trout Mask Replica sleeve at this point, if you will. Words fail me each time I see it.

There were two records from Pink Floyd, of course: More and Ummagumma. I’d like to know which remain your favourite moments from those two, please.

So, your favourite songs from 1969. Hopefully this list of 100 will help start you off, and this just might jog a few memories.

Here are five of my favourite tracks:

- King Crimson, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’
- Elvis Presley, ‘Suspicious Minds’
- Rolling Stones, ‘Gimme Shelter’
- Stevie Wonder, ‘For Once In My Life’
- Neil Young, ‘Down By the River’

A special mention for Tommy’s ‘Underture’, which is one of my most favourite instrumentals, but we can talk about that and those another day.

Until then, have a good weekend, everyone.

Another example of your many talents, this impressive oil-on-canvas work is entitled ‘My Spiritual Education (King’s College, Cambridge)’.

Thanks for sharing it with us, Julie. I’ll leave you to introduce it, but will first add that there have been a few more additions made to the gallery, so do take a look and feel free to share any thoughts.

This is how I saw King’s College from Queen’s Road on my visit to Cambridge back in the summer of 2002. I was hunting feverishly for this college, which seemed to be hidden amongst the tree-lined Queen’s Road, and on passing a gap in the trees, my jaw dropped at such beauty. I tried to capture that vision from my mind’s eye when I started painting it at home.

Cambridge is also known as the “seat of learning” and with King’s College Chapel being a “chapel”, one can state that it is spiritual.

My sincere thanks again to everyone who has made a contribution to this special part of David’s site; I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

- FEd

We’ve looked at 1966 and 1975, now it’s time for something from the Eighties.

The decade’s best year for music, I feel (and you are free to tell me that you disagree just as long as you can back it up with better examples), is 1983.

From Pink Floyd, the vastly under-rated The Final Cut; ZZ Top produced their most successful, Eliminator; Metallica released their first (Kill ‘Em All), The Police their last (Synchronicity) and U2 their most delightfully political, War.

It was, of course, the year of Thriller, even if it was released in late-1982.

It’s also remembered as the year that Karen Carpenter and Beach Boy, Dennis Wilson, died. Both in tragic circumstances, Karen was just 32 and Dennis, 39.

Which are your favourite songs from 1983? Here are five of mine, starting with another respectful tip of the hat to that great evergreen, Ray Davies:

- Eurythmics, ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’
- The Fixx, ‘One Thing Leads to Another’
- Michael Jackson, ‘Billie Jean’
- Elton John, ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’
- Bonnie Tyler, ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’

Thinking of it, it’s probably quite possible to compile an A to Z of chart artists from 1983 (-ish) without great effort. If you’re feeling up to it, in need of a pointless distraction from whatever you should be doing right now, see how far you can get with those unforgettable names, such as Kajagoogoo and Prefab Sprout.

You have to admit, the Eighties were and will forever remain… strangely amusing.

I’ll start you off with Adams, Bryan (‘Cuts Like a Knife’)…

The Photo of the Month posts stopped in February this year after 10 photographs, one painting and a clever mock-up of a famous beer label. With fewer photos and more artistic creations, the series title made less sense, but I’ve received so many excellent examples of work inspired by David and his music, as you can see by today’s chosen piece, I’ve had to bring it back.

I’ll let Lance explain his work-in-progress:

I wanted to sculpt David as he is pretty much the guitar Messiah as far as I’m concerned – ‘and I should know I’ve followed a few’!

From an aesthetic point of view the individual facial features are quite unusual, but together they obviously make a pretty good looking bloke (even bald), the aim of this early portrait is to capture as much of that sparkle as possible. It should be close to life-sized, given that the distance between David’s pupils are roughly equal to the distance between fret 1 and fret 3 on a Stratocaster? I know – sad on so many levels!

Please note that, remarkably, Lance is not a professional sculptor. He welcomes any feedback and promises to keep us updated as to how the piece develops.

You can see his finished sculptures here.

My continued apologies to anyone who has sent me their very own work of art and is still waiting to see it featured here. There’ll be more this week and next.

If you haven’t seen what’s in the gallery… You really are a talented bunch.

Thanks again, Lance.

As Charlie Chaplin supposedly said, a day without laughter is a day wasted, or something like that, so today’s topic is put in place to hopefully make you chuckle.

Please share your favourite comedians, their jokes, their clips.

Here’s Billy Connolly, who, as well as topping a recent Channel 4 poll to determine the British public’s favourite stand-up (the other 99 can be found here, if you’re interested) also celebrates a birthday today.

More interestingly, or perhaps not, Channel 4 had previously concocted a list of the finest 50 comedians as voted by their peers. The results are here.

As it would be easier to list five that I don’t like from each list, I’ll just respectfully tip my hat to the late, great and delightfully-cantankerous Dave Allen.

And lastly, although I receive no payment whatsoever for such a plug, I hereby declare that Guy Pratt’s last ever UK gig, a revised and updated-just-in-time-for-Christmas version of his ‘Breakfast of Idiots’ show, takes place on Wednesday 9 December at the 20th Century Theatre in London’s Notting Hill.

If you haven’t yet experienced what’s it’s like “being seated on a train journey next to the most interesting man you ever met,” according to The Sunday Times, or wish to experience it all over again, please see here for all the necessary details.

It was the year of Jaws, the Hustle, curly perms and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It boasted a ‘Funky Moped’ as well as a ‘Funky Gibbon’. The Beatles’ output, now quadrupled, continued to delight and sadden in equal measure (John Lennon, ‘#9 Dream’; Paul McCartney/Wings, ‘Letting Go’; George Harrison, ‘Dark Horse’; Ringo Starr, ‘It’s All Down to Goodnight Vienna’). The Eagles released One of These Nights, while Queen gave the world ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

Pink Floyd, of course, served up Wish You Were Here.

Then, alas, there are those that, in our moment of reminiscence, must also be thrown into the equation, if not the Abyss of Shame and Continued Revulsion. I won’t name names, but I am thinking ‘Swedish four-piece, four letters’… (Sorry.)

Here’s some Bad Company to further convince those that need convincing – myself included – that 1975 wasn’t all insipid soft rock ballads and disco naffness.

Here are some of my favourite tunes from the year (perhaps this link will help you remember, and hopefully list, yours):

- Grand Funk Railroad, ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’
- KC & The Sunshine Band, ‘Get Down Tonight’
- Pointer Sisters, ‘How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)’
- Roxy Music, ‘Love Is the Drug’
- ZZ Top, ‘Tush’

All in all, a better musical year than 1966, you think? I’m not so sure that it was.

Link Wray, born Frederick Lincoln Wray Jr, the innovative guitarist credited with inventing ‘fuzz’ (apparently he poked a pencil through the cone of his amplifier to achieve a uniquely distorted guitar sound) and widely hailed as the father of the power chord, died on this day in 2005 – at the age of 76.

An influence to more household names than you could wave a pencil at, his most famous song and signature tune – ‘Rumble’, a Top 20 12-bar blues instrumental, released in March 1958 – was banned by several radio stations across the US on the grounds that it glorified juvenile delinquency (the word ‘rumble’ being a slang term for a gang fight).

Have a listen. It’s hard to believe that he created this in 1958, when The Chordettes were chirruping about their lollipop, Little Anthony had tears on his pillow, and the presumably terribly forgetful Royal Teens kept making the same annoyingly adorable enquiries as to the wearers of short shorts.

So, first and foremost, hats off to Link Wray. Just think of the guitarists he has inspired with his innovations. Said Pete Townshend: “If it hadn’t been for Link Wray and ‘Rumble’, I would have never picked up a guitar.” Everyone from The Kinks, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young in the early ’60s, to the grunge bands of the ’90s, when interest in Link Wray was renewed.

Secondly, how about remembering all the things – be they songs, films, album covers – that have been banned at one time or another? Elton John’s ‘The Bitch Is Back’ (what a naughty word), the Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ (God forbid, we mustn’t mention God…) and my favourite, which I desperately hope is true: The Who’s ‘My Generation’, temporarily shunned by the BBC because those paragons of impartiality (yeah, right) didn’t want to offend people who st-st-stutter.

Thirdly and lastly, although I don’t realistically expect enough interest in the period or genre to give it a post of its own if the results of this poll are anything to go by, I’d like to know your favourite songs from 1958.

Notwithstanding my above sneers, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard also put out ground-breaking records that would influence and re-invigorate many, making 1958 a year as worthy of note as any we have discussed previously or will discuss in the future.

Elvis also gave us ‘Don’t’ in 1958, which, of course, David has covered.

Here are 100 songs, anyway, to save you from having to search.

Naturally, I apologise if I have offended The Chordettes, Little Anthony, any of his Imperials, the Royal Teens, the BBC or anyone who stutters by writing this post.

A completely random, yet hopefully moderately useful post today; I’m sure it’s one that everyone can make a contribution to one way or another, should they feel so inclined, particularity should they have a propensity to compile subject-specific music playlists, which is so very easy to do nowadays.

Which songs make driving more enjoyable, tolerable or relaxing?

Five that I’d confidently wager are guaranteed a swift mention, so I’ll get them in early so that your lists are more imaginative than mine, are:

- Beatles, ‘Drive My Car’
- Canned Heat, ‘On the Road Again’
- Eagles, ‘Life in the Fast Lane’
- Chris Rea, ‘Road to Hell’
- Steppenwolf, ‘Born to Be Wild’

Whether you favour the Beach Boys’ ‘Little Deuce Coupe’, Wilson Pickett’s ‘Mustang Sally’ or Prince’s ‘Little Red Corvette’, do tell which songs sound at their very best when you’re behind the wheel (or handlebars, even).

If you can’t think of any, just have a look at the many ‘drive-time’ compilations that record labels, possibly with a little help from radio DJs, have put together.

How about Pink Floyd’s La Carrera Panamericana (were it legally available in a format other than VHS, of course)? Have you seen it and do you have a favourite instrumental from those recorded specifically for the film?

Lastly, as an excuse to let off some steam, which are your pet hates when you’re on the road? The apparent inability of other road users to indicate, particularly at roundabouts, probably grates on my nerves more than anything else.

As today marks the birthday of one of the greatest and most soulful guitarists you will ever have the privilege of hearing, have a listen to this…

For those that don’t know, Peter Green replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (no pressure there, then) before forming Fleetwood Mac with the Bluesbreakers’ rhythm section: drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and bassist, John McVie.

Within a short time, they gave the world – and Carlos Santana – ‘Black Magic Woman’, ‘The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)’, ‘Man of the World’, ‘Need Your Love So Bad’ and most famously of all, ‘Albatross’, which you will doubtless recall David exclusively performing for Jools Holland’s Radio 2 show last year (it being one of his favourites and Green one of his influences).

Is there another Peter Green number that you think David could attempt?

As a tribute to an exceptional yet incredibly modest musician, I’d like to hear which you think are his stand-out songs, albums, solos and collaborations today.

And if you’ve recently seen Peter Green and Friends, who have been touring this year, please don’t keep it to yourself.

Often hailed as music’s finest year, I’d like to be reminded of the many wonderful tracks that first appeared in those twelve amazing months.

Bob Dylan gave us Blonde On Blonde in 1966, and the Beatles and Beach Boys matched him all the way with Revolver and Pet Sounds respectively.

Best year for music? Of course it’s the best year for music!

There were classic tunes by Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, the Mamas and Papas, Who, Stones, Kinks and more bands with a ‘The’ in than I can count at present.

From the world of television and film, we got the enigmatic ‘Born Free’ and Neal Hefti’s unforgettable Batman Theme (so good that The Who covered it).

There’s also this one, sung by the brilliant Eddie Brigati, whose birthday is today. A Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper in April 1966, as you’ll see from the video, it spent 12 weeks in the Top 40. (Stop, I know what you’re thinking, but ‘Groovin” was actually released the following April.)

I’ll just list five of my favourites, leaving out about 55 that I hope you’ll remember.

- 13th Floor Elevators, ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’
- Eddie Floyd, ‘Knock on Wood’
- The Spencer Davis Group, ‘Gimme Some Loving’
- Cat Stevens, ‘I Love My Dog’
- Sonny Boy Williamson II, ‘Help Me’

So turn off your mind, relax and float downstream… and list some songs from 1966, if you’re not too far-gone after all that mental floating to list, that is.

Our own discussion of Sixties Number Ones may help to jog your memory, and this batch of 200 Sixties songs, courtesy of those nice Pitchfork people, surely will.

By the way, if 1966 wasn’t the best year for music, which was?

If you can’t place the lyrical reference, it was the Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ – the best track off Revolver, perhaps. But, gosh, there are so many others…