In the winter of 1981, the British charts were dominated by a sound that felt like a whirlwind from a bygone era. While synth-pop...

It was the golden era of the seven-inch single, a time when life in Britain was measured by the flickering glow of the telly...

It was March 1971, and Britain was, quite frankly, a bit grey. The swinging sixties had faded into a lingering hangover, and the charts...

It was the golden era of the early sixties, a time when the wireless was the beating heart of every British living room and...

It was 1958, and Roy Orbison was staring down the barrel of a life spent in obscurity. After a string of lacklustre performances and...

Picture the scene: it is 1953, the Coronation year, and Britain is brimming with a unique post-war optimism. Families are huddled around their flickering...

It was the summer of 1953, a time of flags, bunting, and a palpable sense of renewed optimism as a young Queen Elizabeth II...

It was the late 1970s, and the air in the British music scene was thick with the restless energy of punk and the growing...

It was the late seventies, a time when the British music press held the gatekeeping power of a king. If you were a punk...

Picture the scene: London, 1971. The air in the studio was thick with the scent of stale tobacco and the restless energy of a...

It was 1969, and the air in the recording studio was thick enough to cut with a knife. To the rest of the world,...

It was 1968, the year of revolution, flared trousers, and that quintessential British charm that only Sir Cliff Richard could provide. We were all...

It is difficult for us to imagine the British music scene today without the chime of a Fender Stratocaster, but back in 1959, the...

It is difficult for us to imagine the grey, post-war landscape of 1950s Britain without picturing the monochromatic television sets that dominated our living...

It was July 1973, and the glitter-drenched streets of Britain were under the spell of a band that defined the decade. Slade were the...

It is difficult to imagine a world where Madonna is anything less than the undisputed Queen of Pop, a woman whose mere presence commands...

It was 1980, and the air in the Polar Music studio in Stockholm felt heavier than usual. For the millions of fans glued to...

It was February 1967, and the Swinging Sixties were in full, technicolour swing. The Rolling Stones, already the bad boys of British rock, were...

Imagine waking up one morning as a jobbing musician, playing local pubs and clubs, and by sunset, you are rehearsing in the inner sanctum...

It is a tale that sounds like local folklore, the sort of story told in a smoky pub or over a Sunday roast. Did...