Picture the scene.

It's a corporate day out at Chester Races today. I'm there, with a bunch of colleagues, and a raft of clients and contacts. Now bear in mind I work for a major firm of accountants (I know, I know) so you can imagine the general demographic. A lot of professional, middle aged, middle class white males with a sprinkling of ladies.

One guest stands out from the crowd. Powder blue suit - think Miami Vice and you'll get the picture. Suit sleeves rolled up. Tangerine skin. Spiky, streaked peroxide hair that is slightly longer than a man of his age should be sporting.

Nice bloke though. Had a quick chat with him in the Champagne pavilion, and we shared a glass or two. Neither of us having any luck with the horses.

Went back to a couple of my colleagues, who mentioned my conversation with the 'Def Leppard bloke'. Which I took as shorthand for 'bloke who looks like he might have once played with an '80s hair metal band from Sheffield'.

But they said "No Paul, he is 'THE Def Leppard bloke'".

And a closer look confirmed that it was, indeed, Joe Elliot of Leppard infamy.

Now given that I have a bit of a reputation at work for being 'the bloke who knows far more about popular music than is strictly necessary for a man of his age', you might understand that this was a bit of a blow to my assiduously-acquired reputation.

In my defence, this was the last place I would have expected Joe (I can call him that now, us being mates and all) to appear, but my credibility is now shot to pieces.

Has anyone else failed to identify famous rock stars in incongruous surroundings?

Enjoyed the 'cover version' thread this week, and it got me thinking about those songs that have been covered so well that the cover version has become the 'definitive' version.

I joke about John Fogerty covering a Status Quo song at Glastonbury last year, and whilst it's not a 'great' cover, I think there's no doubt that (possibly due to Live Aid) 'Rockin' All Over The World' is thought of by most people as a Quo classic rather than a song by him out of Creedence.

Others?

Obvious ones are:

All Along The Watchtower - Jimi rather than Bobby
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley rather than Laughing Len
Respect - Aretha rather than Otis

Any more for any more?

Having hung around here for a good while now, I would suggest that our collective tastes encompass, but also extend some distance beyond, the mainstream. Yes, we love Richard Thompson, Supertramp and Gilbert O'Sullivan, but we also enjoy fishing in some of the shallower pools of rock history.

Which set me to thinking - how obscure can we get? Is there one of us listening to something that no other Word blogger has ever heard before?

So I set this challenge. Name the most obscure item in your (physical) music collection. Not downloads - I'm talking physical product you have parted with hard cash for.

If no reader can respond saying - yes, I know that lot and I also enjoy their art - then you win.

My entry - a Norwich band from 1985. I give you...

'Gee Mr Tracy', and their seminal mini album 'Shoot the Sherbert, Herbert, Straight From the Fridge, Pops'

Home to such gems as:

The Day the Shoes Bit Back
You Make my House Shine
Gosh There, Pops Say! You're a Gasseroonie

I firmly believe that, outside of family and close friends, I am the only person in the world who parted with hard cash for this disc.

Is that the case? Do you know these people?

Or can you out-obscure me with your own favourites?

The gauntlet is thrown down.

...I struggle with this.

I have just reorganised my genres in iTunes and, to be honest, it's a bit of a pig's breakfast.

I now have 86 genres in place.

Some of them you would actually recognise as 'genres' - reggae, country, easy listening etc.

However I also have some artists who 'rise above' genres so that they are genres of their own - Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello for instance. Here I include solo outings (so The Beatles genre includes Lennon, Harrison etc solo), 'tribute' albums and different groupings (so the 'Costello' genre includes Attractions, Imposters, Burt Bacharach etc).

You with me so far? Good.

I then have a few 'city' groupings - New York, Liverpool, Manchester etc...

And some quite specific genres as well....

American Soft Rock
'70s/'80s Scottish Indie
Tattoo'd American Boys

All in all, a bit of a bugger's muddle.

Part of me is thinking that actually, there's only one genre - music - but that's a bit of a cop-out really.

Am I alone in struggling with this, or is there an elegant solution that I'm missing?

There's been a lot of discussion recently about the changing economic model that record companies and artists are experiencing.

I am talking (in very oversimplistic terms) about the switch in value from recorded output to live performance - from a time when tours were a 'loss leader' for the new album, to the position where live performance is where artists make their money and recordings are things 'done for the fans'.

Is this not a good thing?

Put more philosophically - where is the art? Is it in the live performance, or is it in the studio recording? Does it have to be one or the other?

I am all for my favourite artists making as much money from their art as they can, from wherever they can. But all things being equal, I do like the thought that they have to *really* earn their corn from getting up on stage and playing their instruments (be they guitars or sequencers), rather than poncing about in the studio for months on end.

What do others think?

I'm going. Are you?

Crowded House
Nick Lowe
Toots and the Maytals
KT Tunstall
Beverley Knight
Half Man Half Biscuit
10cc
Eric Bibb

and of course The Love Trousers.

Be there or be somewhere else.

We've probably skirted around this subject for a while - but now I think it's time to nail colours firmly to the mast.

For me, the greatest song ever written is 'Dark End of the Street' by Dan Penn and Chips Moman (not Spooner Oldham, I discover to my surprise).

I would love to say that I discovered this song through the original James Carr version - but no, I first heard it watching 'The Commitments'. But never mind, I've heard many versions since and have to say as good as James Carr's reading is, I love both versions I have that are sung by Dan Penn himself even more..

I have to say there are personal resonances - as there must always be with songs that are so important personally - but even without such things, I believe the song is a masterpiece.

So there you have it. The greatest song ever.

Dark End of the Street.

What other contenders do we have (one only, please) for the greatest song ever?

..for whatever reason, I am often accused by my better half of listening to 'miserable' music.

This normally means one of the following:

Joy Division
The Smiths
Leonard Cohen
Lou Reed (especially Berlin)

All of it somewhat glum, I admit.

However I would suggest that the most miserable piece of music ever committed to vinyl was recorded by a small Irishman in a flat cap. And shorts.

Not only had the poor lad been jilted, and was contemplating suicide, but he had the time to reflect upon the sad demise of his poor old Dad and Mum...

"Now looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul,
Couldn’t understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally"

Was a sadder song ever recorded?

Been thinking about this ever since responding to the 'radio' blog. And the thought is...if less of us are listening to music radio these days, where do we hear (or hear about) the new stuff? Or do we just listen to the same old, same old?

Back in the day, there were probably three things that encouraged me to buy stuff by 'new' artists:

- by hearing something round at my mates.
- by watching Top of the Pops.
- by hearing it on Radio - One, primarily, or maybe Luxembourg.

In other words, I never bought anything without hearing it first.

Nowadays, I'm introduced to new stuff pretty much as follows:

- reading about it in Word (or Mojo, or Uncut. Rarely Q.)
- reading about it on blogs like this one.
- taking a complete flyer on something in the shop.
- downloading something that catches my eye (often on eMusic).
- my son telling me I might like something.
- seeing a band live (as support, or at a festival).

Only one of these typically involves me hearing the actual music before parting with the readies.

Strangely, I'm probably more open to new stuff now than I ever was, although admittedly I have a few more bob to spare, so I can risk taking a flyer on new stuff.

And maybe stranger still, I'm rarely disappointed with my investigations of the new/unheard.

Yet I do find this vaguely troubling. Ultimately music should be listened to, not read about.

Is this typical? Is it, indeed, right and proper?

Another thing that annoys me.

Those songs where, for no apparent reason, the band decide to drop a lump in the middle that bears no relation to what's gone before or what follows.

Different key, different time signature, different tune entirely. Could be a different band for all I know.

Serial offenders:

10cc. They did it with both I'm not in Love (the 'big boys don't cry' bit) and I'm Mandy, Fly Me (the 'massed acoustic guitar strumming' bit)

Macca. I give you Live and Let Die (the lairy bit in the middle) and Band on the Run. Also A Day in the Life, if I'm feeling particularly grumpy.

And Zep did it with the silly orgasmic bit in the middle of Whole Lotta Love.

I can cope with it in a proggy context, where you have to expect the odd bit of (f)artiness in the midst of a 24 minute epic.

It's the fannying around within a three minute pop song that ticks me off.

What do others think?

Will soon be upon us again. Whilst I detected a prevalence of naysayers in the recent 'Rock Virgin' thread I suspect there are more than a few regular festival goers perusing these ramblings.

So here's the thing. Whilst I shall be joining the queue for Glasto(nbury) again this year, I fancy spreading my wings a bit more this summer. I am far too long in the tooth for the likes of Reading, V, T etc, but I'm thinking certainly that Latitude and Cornbury might be worth a dabble.

Any other thoughts?

If it helps, I shall definitely be camping, and I shall almost certainly be going by myself (I like to follow my own agenda rather than the groups, and I like to make friends when I get there. Plus the GLW would rather stick pins in her eyes than wallow in the mud). My tastes are wide enough to accommodate virtually all musical options.

All suggestions gratefully received.

Listening to Creedence the other day got me thinking about brothers in rock and their general inability to get on with each other.

The Fogertys had their falling outs, as did the Finns, the Everlys and the Gallaghers. Not sure about the Allmans.

The only brothers I can think of who seem to have got through a sizeable career without a major to-do are Malcolm and Angus Young.

So what about other brothers (or sisters) in rock? How strong are the ties that bind?

Listening to the iPod today when 'Idaho' by the BoDeans came on, and I idly got to thinking - there's millions of songs with the names of US states in them - have I got the set?

So back home, and to the search function in iTunes, to find that my collection only covers 29 of the 50 states. Which is a bit shabby, really.

So over to the readership - how can I best fill these gaps?

The 'missing' states are:

Alaska
Connecticut
Delaware (and don't be suggesting any Perry Como...)
Maine
Maryland
Minnesota
Missouri (surprised by this one)
Nevada (and this)
New Hampshire (not by this)
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Utah
Washington (all 'Washington's' refer to D.C.)
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Kansas is a bit of a cheat, as all my songs relate to the city rather than the state, as do most of my New York songs (although New York, New York saved the day)

And the winners? No surprises really. NY top with 62 entries (but mostly city rather than state), California next with 29, Georgia with 19 and Texas with 13. No other state broke 10. (These numbers are not 'unique' songs - they do include 'swaps' and covers.)

So come on, where are all the songs about Rhode Island?

And yes, I do appreciate there is something very OCD about the above...

I know the impending death of the record shop has been blogged to death recently, but I feel I must share this with the readership.

No names, but you will know which chain I am talking about.

Visited my local emporium on Friday lunchtime, as is my wont - no shopping list, just the intention to break up the day and browse idly for a while.

To my delight however, the entire works of Creedence Clearwater Revival were piled up in the special offers - all at three quid a pop. Various other old favourites for the same price. Pretenders, Johnny Clarke...and the Albertos for a quid!

Suitably laden, I stood in the queue to pay, and listened to the assistant discussing the relative merits of early- and late-period Tom Waits. My turn to pay, and got into a chat about the reasons Mardi Gras was so poor compared to the earlier Creedence albums.

So sad, that what used to be the norm is now so unusual, but a joy to know that there are still people working in record shops with enthusiasm and genuine love for the 'product' they are selling - and that there are chains and stores still willing to employ them.

The sun is shining and all is well in the world.

Listening to iPod in the car today and it threw up (almost literally, you might argue) Pictures of an Exhibition by ELP. And I was struck by the hugely profound, but completely meaningless, lyric at the climax, which as I'm sure you all know, goes:

"There's no end to my life, no beginning to my death..... Death is life!"

Any other fond examples of grandiose philosophical claptrap out there for our consideration and bemusement? I'm not after gibberish (Jon Anderson, I'm looking at you here) or poor lyrics or rhymes, just the 'big statements about life' that on close (or even cursory) inspection turn out to be complete and utter bobbins.

And I mean this in a completely non-ironic way, but I'm sat here listening to the Carpenters, thinking that for a brother/sister MOR tune, and in the knowledge of what eventually happened to Karen Carpenter, this tune has as much emotion tied up in it as anything that Joy Division produced?

And the guitar break is to die for.

Just been listening to the Stones doing 'Little Queenie' on the ace boot 'LIVEr than you'll ever be' with its 'Meanwhile, I'm Still Thinking' hook.

Now here's the thing.

Somewhere in the depths of my music collection, I KNOW I've got another song, by another artist, who sing 'meanwhile, I'm still thinking' once (and only once) at the end of the song (which is not Little Queenie), just as it starts fading.

Can I remember the song?

Can I buggery.

I suspect the song is '70's vintage, by another English band, but that could be completely wrong.

Any thoughts?

Virtual pint to the kind soul who can jog my ageing memory cells.