“Seasons in the Sun” was weirdly played at a wedding reception I was at last weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever intentionally listened to it, but I remember it being one of those songs my mum warbled along to on long car journeys. It was probably on one of her then husband’s eight-track cartridges along with Billy Gentry’s Ode to Billie Joe.

While debating the greatest guitar solos ever with Alex and Sue last week, I suggested that the absolute best is Prince’s one-off live performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Prince played alongside George Harrison’s son Dhani, ELO’s Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, and more. This set me down a rabbit hole to find the best-ever version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Dave Letorey has an Isolation Station project where he’s interviewing industry people about their favourite music in a Desert Island Discs style. Last Friday he asked me to join him to talk about some music which is important to me. It was a fun forty minutes.

To celebrate the launch of my Code ♠ Shirts ♠ Rock tees tomorrow, here are my top five rock albums of all time.

Sue and I were driving home last Sunday when I realised that on Tuesday this week we would’ve seen Motörhead live at the Manchester Apollo.

Let me start this list of my top five country music albums of 2015 with a confession. Although country’s been by far my most listened to genre again this year, I haven’t listened to it as much as I have the past few years. In the latter part of the year, I’ve taken several musical diversions. The last one’s been Electric Light Orchestra, a band that I’ve loved since my teens. But, with the possible exception of their Wild West Hero, they couldn’t be further from county.

I know that my taste in country music’s mainstream. Mainstream enough that some country aficionados might criticise my ‘this Englishman’s’ lists for not straying far enough from the top of the country charts. The truth is, I like catchy country pop, and while next year I will try harder to discover music that’s further from the stereotypical southern dirt road, this year I’m happy to listen to songs about beer, cut-off jeans and cowboy boots, fishing in lakes and trucks and tractors.

Eclipsed by most of the nonsense going on at the Grammys—Honestly, people actually like Daft Punk?—were two good country music wins.

Related to my This Englishman’s top five country music albums of 2013, Alex sent me a link to this, on YouTube, Grady Smith’s ‘Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013.’

This time last year I didn’t feel much like sharing, so went without a run down of top country music albums of 2012. Looking back now, that was probably a wise choice as the musical year seemed epitomised by Lionel Ritchie, yes ‘that’ Lionel Ritchie’s truly, truly terrible Tuskegee. No link because, ‘Sail On!’

I have been meaning to establish a new backup regime at Stuff for months. But unlike some of the other things I’ve been doing, sorting out backup isn’t sexy, isn’t exciting: so it lay whimpering for attention on my to-do list.

Despite owning several iPods including a 60Gb that contains my entire music collection, all six Star Wars movies and a multitude of other files, the new iPod Shuffle is such a thing of beauty that I just had to have one.

Early one mornin’ while makin’ the rounds I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down I went right home and I went to bed I stuck that lovin’.44 beneath my head Got up next mornin’ and I grabbed that gun Took a shot of cocaine and away I run Made a good…

It’s time to tell the remaining untold stories from Arno Zimmerman. Unfortunately not all of Arno’s attempts at domain name acquisition were successful, but thanks to everyone concerned for being great fun to play with.

I often feel blue wishing I was old enough to have seen the blues greats play. Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, T. Bone Walker and BB King are rarely far away from iTunes for more than a few days.

Explaining about the difference in northern British accents, a conversation metaphorically headed up the M6 motorway, through the inevitable roadworks to Manchester.

Released today, Paul Weller’s new album As Is Now isn’t the return to form which I expected. It’s better. A tour-de-force! Weller at his most spectacular for almost ten years.

It was announced yesterday that one of the most influential artists of the British 1960’s art movement, Patrick Caulfied, died on Thursday.

Malarkey: I’m trying to decide between an iPod and a nano. Do you have a 4Gb nano in stock? Apple Eddie: No way. Sorry man, they’re like, hot right now. We could be waiting like days for those.

Anyone’round here not realise I’m a big fan of Paul Weller? Thought not. Well, the Modfather has a new single released today and without so much as a pre-listen, it’s arrived by vintage Lambretta and straight into iTunes.

In 1649 to St. George’s Hill A ragged band they called the Diggers came to show the people’s will They defied the landlords, they defied the laws They were the dispossessed reclaiming what was theirs.

School music teacher: (To class) Who would like to learn a musical instrument? Teacher: What instrument would you like to learn?

Lights going out and a kick in the balls. That’s Entertainment. A police car and a screaming siren A pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete A baby wailing and stray dog howling The screech of brakes and lamp light blinking That’s Entertainment.

Don MacLean may have sung it before in American Pie, but today surely must be the day the music died. Well perhaps died is too severe, but today for me must be the day that popular music reached an all time low.

I’ve been passed the baton by John Oxton in a new musical pass the parcel, so I thought I’d use this to explore the depths of my record collection. 9.65Gb on my PC laptop. (Oh how I’m looking forward transfering it to my (soon to be arriving) iBook.)

When I was working (on my own) in the studio between Christmas and New Year, I played the Live Aid DVD which the guys bought me for my birthday.

It’s funny how you build up a mental people before you meet them. So this weekend was going to be interesting as a band of Brit Pack bloggers, accompanied by their roadies and groupies, met up in London for art, beer and a bit of a chin wag.