HERE COMES THE SONG

Musically, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is one of his simplest pieces. But it is expressed with an exceedingly rare degree of grace and empathy

Originally titled Jock-A-Mo, the song perhaps pre-dates its first recording and is considered emblematic of New Orleans

To comprehend the nasty buzz of that song the listener must appreciate the jubilant inclusivity of Sly And The Family Stone’s earlier music

The authenticity of the sentiments, framed within a pretty, waltz-like tempo, give Tout Suite! an uplifting feel

King's Cross has a muted brilliance – the perfect mix of lyrical interest, a great tune and a generous dollop of melancholy

A Man Needs A Maid is strange but it is wonderful. Like all great art it makes you look at the world differently

Cole carried on excavating (the heart, that is) into his seventh decade with a steady stream of moving recordings

Neil Morton The beaming smile and twinkling eyes said it all as the audience roared their approval when it dawned on them who was on...

Rob Steen If you see me walking down the street And I start to cry, each time we meet Walk on by Walk on by The larynx that introduced...

Rob Steen It’s far too bloody late to stop now. For yours truly, never mind Van the Man. Sorry, Sir Van the Man. At 78, George Ivan...

Ian Malin In a recent Guardian feature a number of musicians were asked about their hometown acts who, for one reason or another, failed...

Neil Morton After six years of writing about songwriters I admire for Here Comes The Song, I nervously introduce you to a collection of...

Ian Malin In the harbour of Hydra Town find a narrow passage by the Pirate Bar and follow the winding stone steps upwards. It’s hard work...

Ian Malin The darker side of human nature has always attracted artists. From Hamlet and Paradise Lost to The Sopranos and Breaking Bad we...

Ian Malin Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau struck the right note when he said of the death of Gordon Lightfoot: ‘He captured our...

Ian Malin Remember the early days of Covid lockdown in 2020. All that walking, all that staring out of the window? We all had our pet...

Rob Steen At a guess, 99 per cent of music zealots couldn’t possibly cite their favourite album, if only because the choice is usually so...

Rob Steen Oh I’m on my way, I know I am Somewhere not so far from here All I know is all I feel right now I feel the power growing in my...

Russell Cunningham In 1951 the composer John Cage visited the anechoic chamber at Harvard University. Upon entering he had expected to...

Kate Ellis And when you feel you’re breaking It’s just your past unmaking You’re perfect, you are whole I don’t know what you’ve been...

Rob Steen Time to fess up. I was more or less a Kurt Vile virgin until last week. My son, Joe, had raved aplenty but only one song, One...

Phil Shaw In the days before ubiquitous mobiles, a mate who owned a jukebox was having it repaired when the engineer asked if he could...

Rob Steen I probably shouldn’t be writing this. After all, I am by no means an Elvis fan. I giggled at his movies, never bought anything...

Phil Shaw It scarcely seems possible but Brian Wilson – still celebrated for his sumptuous teenage symphonies for The Beach Boys six...

Ian Tasker If you are talking blues standards then they don’t come much more ready-made, boil-in-the-bag than Muddy Waters’ Got My Mojo...

Tim Woods What kind of Beatles fan are you? Maybe the obsessive type, the sort who whistles the chorus to Honey Pie without even...

Ian Tasker Today is a day for remembrance, reflection and wondering what might have been, for exactly 50 years ago on October 29, 1971,...

Rob Steen Bodacious cowboys. Snook-cocking hipsters. Coolest white dudes on the Seventies block. Steely Dan, aka The Dan, are the...

Phil Shaw Perhaps Robert Johnson’s deal with the devil at the crossroads was to blame for all the blues artists, here and in America, who...

Rob Steen Lindsey Buckingham has pulled off quite a coup with his latest album. Emulating Sting, not to mention leaving Paul, Mick, Keef...

Rob Steen Freddie and Bowie. Crosby and Bowie. Crosby and Nash. Mahalia and Mavis. Aretha and George Michael. Michael McDonald and Joni....

Jason Mandell in Los Angeles There’s a great Julian Barnes line: ‘I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.’ That’s kind of how I felt...

Tim Woods As a parent, you have certain responsibilities towards your children. You need to keep them safe, provide them with a home,...

Neil Morton Reading the harrowing back story of Allison Russell while listening to her remarkable debut solo album is a humbling...

Phil Shaw OK, so who’s the oldest singer or musician from the rock ‘n’ roll era onwards still performing? When the question was posed at...

Rob Steen So I sat in the attic, a piano up my nose And the wind played a dreadful cantata (cantata, cantata) Sore was I from a crack of...

Shug Hanlan It is impossible to mistake the looks of genuine joy and affection on the faces of the various ‘celebrities’ assembled for...

Tim Woods Record sales that topped 15 million. Eight top 10 studio albums, with two reaching No1 in the charts. Twenty-two singles that...

Ian Malin Fifty years ago, in the second week of March, an album that now has almost mythical status was released and hardly anyone...

Tim Woods There are people out there who don’t like Oasis. Plenty, in fact. Some find the constant bickering between the Gallagher...

Ian Malin Meet the New Year. But to paraphrase The Who it’s the same as the old one. This dark lockdown is worse really than anything in...

Rob Steen Hyde Park, July 3, 2016. For the first time, Carole King, one of the most successful songwriters of the 20th century, is about...

Phil Shaw ‘Our songs crop up in strange places,’ said Eddie Phillips, lead guitarist with The Creation, who briefly rubbed shoulders with...

Sharon Watts in Beacon, New York The name Jennifer has ‘muse’ written all over it. Just ask Kurt Weill, Little Richard, Tommy Tutone,...

Ian Malin Don’t worry it will soon be over. For those of us still standing anyway. The year the music, and pretty much all entertainment,...

Chris Hewett Those of us who have spent the best part of 50 years surfing the mighty swells of Bruce Springsteen’s music – or, just...

Tim Woods There are different ways for musicians to be successful. The most obvious is through the charts: No1 singles or albums that go...

Andrew R McGaan in Chicago One of the Grateful Dead’s most beautiful songs, both musically and lyrically, is a love song, a sermon, and...

Exactly 49 years ago today, on 29 October 1971, a long-haired motorcyclist was making his way through the Georgia town of Macon when he was…

When Covid19 first struck and lockdown imposed, the West Country folk guitarist Gaz Brookfield – a type 1 diabetic more conscious than most…