A post that cropped up on one of my social media feeds, gives us the idea for today's story... and it's not entirely music based, but an interesting one nonetheless. Rhoda Dakar was at the heart of the 2 Tone ska scene of the late 1970s and 80s. She had hits with the all-girl ska band, The Bodysnatchers , who toured with The Selector - and then teamed up with Jerry Dammers in his post The Specials band, handily named The Special AKA . Later on, she released solo work, worke

It's mid autumn, getting chillier and damper, and that can only mean that over the pond, the NFL is getting towards the business end of its season. So, I wondered if we could make a playlist out of it? The two teams I mostly follow (49ers and Chiefs) are both having something of an up and down season, but our official family team - the Denver Broncos - are having a stormer so far and are well on track for the play-offs. So, just in case it all goes wrong, we are running with

So, we say goodbye to one of the more distinctive British drummers of the last 50 years, with the news that Gilson Lavis has died today, aged 74. He is perhaps best known for his work through the late 70s and 80s with Squeeze , before moving across to be at the back of fellow Squeeze alumnus Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra . He was actually born David Leslie Gilson Lavis , in Bedfordshire, back in 1951. He was already an accomplished and well seasoned drummer before

At times it felt like Courtney Love’s infamous relationship with Kurt Cobain was more of a circus sideshow than a marriage built on love. The pair were seemingly drowning in their drug habit, yet somehow trying to raise a small child at the same time. For many fans of Nirvana, it seems that Love has always been very much a persona non grata; a bad influence and possibly the ultimate ruination of Cobain. So, was it as simple as that - is Courtney Love really a manipulative, ta