In the mix-tape thread, I made mention of Graham-at-work. Graham likes to think himself a music fan and knows what he likes. Trouble is that he only really likes what he knows, and we're doing our best to chip away at his occasionally blinkered view of what good music is.

He was a teenager during the punk / disco / new wave era and he's followed his music over the years via the singles chart & Top of the Pops, but he isn't really much of an albums buyer. He'll usually get one once the 3rd or 4th decent single has been released (eg "The Bends") or if it's by someone like R.E.M. who he's previously bought albums by.

We're trying our best to help him learn about generally accepted classic albums and have recently lent him "Ziggy Stardust", "Bat Out Of Hell", "Dark Side Of The Moon" and (believe it or not) "Revolver" & "Sgt Pepper", some of which he can see the fuss about, others of which have fallen on deaf ears.

We've not given up on Pink Floyd (discussing Pink Floyd's impending appearance at Live8, his singles-knowledge-only contribution was "well, once they've played 'Arnold Layne' and 'See Emily Play', they're going to struggle a bit for material aren't they ?") and Led Zeppelin remain a challenge we're working up to (it'll probably be a compilation CD made up from the tracks suggested in the "One Track Mind" thread).

He's usually prepared to listen to most things we give him (Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits has recently been returned - shan't bore you with the details, suffice to say he wasn't very impressed with Dylan's cover of 'Mr Tambourine Man'), although his knowledge of rock history is sometimes a bit wide of the mark - his theory that the Beatles broke up because 'Come Together' only made number 4 in the charts and they couldn't cope with not getting to number 1 any more resulted in me having to be restrained from beating him soundly with a rolled up copy of "Revolution in the Head".

Now I know that it takes all sorts, each to their own, wouldn't it be dull if we all liked the same thing. However, we're struggling with:-

Jimi Hendrix - after he was extensively featured on BBC2's Seven Ages of Rock, Graham couldn't see what the fuss was about. "Just because he apparently invented a new way of playing the guitar, does that mean we have to listen to the resulting racket ? It's like if Vanessa Mae invented a new way of playing the violin, would we all be worshipping her in the same fashion ?"

Bruce Springsteen - "Bruce Springsteen ? If it's not 'Streets of Philadelphia' why are you even bothering to listen to it ?" At which point, amid much spluttering into our lunches, Andy began making a case for 'Thunder Road', to which Graham replied "The only Thunder Road that matters is the one John Travolta drove down in Grease", to which we really had no answer.

Whilst I'm reasonably familiar with them, I don't know enough Hendrix or Springsteen to be able to convey to him why they're worth the bother and where he should start.

Help ? Or is he beyond help ?