The Groundhogs – Garden
My musical awakening coincided with the British blues boom of the late 1960s, which produced an extraordinary number of world-class guitarists like Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and my fave, Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee, who is now a chum of mine. How nice it is to buy your guitar hero a pint while gossiping about tour shenanigans. Thank Christ for the Bomb was an outrageous title for an album, and the songs are full of angst and drama too, not to mention fabulous interplay between the three band members.
Soft Machine – Moon in June
The most innovative of the Canterbury proggers, Soft Machine were in the process of splitting when Robert Wyatt wrote Moon in June – the poppiest prog song of them all. What a fabulous way to tender your resignation. The rest of the band, earnest jazzers to a man, must have been appalled at all the sumptuous melody. In 1970, Soft Machine were the first rock band to play the Proms, and although not remotely her cup of tea I managed to persuade my mum to take me.
Jimi Hendrix – The Wind Cries Mary
Somehow I managed to blag an invite to the unveiling of Jimi Hendrix’s blue plaque, outside the apartment he shared with his lovely girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. If he’d been with her that fateful night in 1970, and not partying with a Danish groupie, the greatest rock guitarist who ever lived might still be alive today. This is the lovely song Jimi wrote for Kathy.
Terry Riley – A Rainbow in Curved Air
Nobody likes visiting the dentist but I got round my own personal aversion courtesy of a glorious bit of improv by minimalist pioneer Terry Riley. His Rainbow in Curved Air is a long, meandering piece with a distinctly hypnotic tendency – and when delivered to the ears via a decent pair of headphones it turns a trip to the dentist into a psychedelic dream.
Mylène Farmer – Libertine
In the 80s, I was as surprised as anyone else to do a stint as Britain’s most unlikely pop star, and I was shifting some serious units abroad too. It was on a promo trip to Paris that I discovered Mylène Farmer who, despite having a long and successful career in Europe, is virtually unknown to the English-speaking world. Her finely crafted pop music produced hit after hit – but the videos take things to an entirely different level. At a time when Adam and the Ants’ Prince Charming was on every screen in the land, this is what was happening on the other side of the channel.
- The Damned’s 40th anniversary tour begins on 12 November at the Assembly, Leamington Spa, continuing until 9 December. Details: officialdamned.com
