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Pete Shelley and that famous second gig on 20th July 1978
Song of the Day: A triple tribute to the sadly departed Pete Shelley, frontman of the foremost Manchester punk band, writer of the perfect, punchy, pithy, witty song, and that distinctive voice of unrequited love
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Christian Fitness aka Andrew Falkous
Song of the Day: “Hard work is a trap.” Continuing the employment theme, an explosion of hilarious, caustic wit and rapier guitar riffs of angry moral decency from Cardiff-based Andrew "Falco" Falkous
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Bas Jan
Song of the Day: “I am not a company but I keep getting these emails.” Continuing the freelance life theme after yesterday’s Toro Y Moi track, two new and witty pop songs from the trio of Serafina Steer, and now Emma Smith, and Rachel Horwood
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Harry Chapin
Song of the Day: Next in the taxi line is this wistfully beautiful 1972 song from the American singer-songwriter’s debut album, Heads & Tales, about a driver who picks up a glamorous woman who turns out to be an old flame
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Dread rocker Lenny Kravitz
Song of the Day: After Arctic Monkeys taxi rank scenes in Sheffield night-life, a double header focusing on the drivers with a dismissive attitude and different attempts to hail them on either side of the pond
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Waiting for a cab? Arctic Monkeys in their early days, with frontman Alex Turner, second from right
Song of the Day: After Jens Lekman’s quiet, contemplative black cab ride, a riot of vivid images and late-night chaos clambering into a taxi in Sheffield with Alex Turner and co from their 2006 debut album
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Jens Lekman
Song of the Day: From Tim Buckley’s driver perspective to one from the customer, this time in the dry humour of the Swedish singer-songwriter who finds it a haven after missing the last tram home
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Pub perfection: Chas Hodges on piano, with Dave Peacock on bass
Song of the Day: Moving from Otis Redding to a rolling rockney number may seem unlikely, but it’s a fitting tribute on the passing of pianist and singer Chas Hodges with this song’s strong melody and seamlessly emotional key changes
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Lead Belly
Song of the Day: Also known as In The Pines, and Black Girl, today we move onto another traditional song variously interpreted, dark and brooding, haunting in its melody, and simmering with suspicion and jealousy
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Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
Song of the Day: At a time when true statesmen are very much needed, and to mark the centenary of the great South African's birth, two great 1980s songs that helped bring his incarceration, and apartheid, to worldwide attention
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Go home, you fuckwit
Song of the Day: To mark the unwelcome visit of the current US president to the UK, two ironic versions of the famous Bob Dylan song that capture the falsehood, narcissism, hypocrisy and divisive racism of the Donald
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My Bloody Valentine in their earlier days
Song of the Day: Another sleep-themed song, not so much evoked by lyrics, but by the extraordinarily loud but also woozy sound of the band headed by Kevin Shields and his innovative tremolo guitar technique
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From the cover of Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan's fourth album (1965)
Song of the Day: Some songs for Independence Day are patriotic, others heavily critical, but this American dream number sees the then great young lyricist capture his country with surreal, vivid, humorous irony
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Fiona Apple
Song of the Day: After Blondie's flirtatious daydreaming song, an entirely different take on the theme in the form of another New Yorker's sexy and deep voice dealing with a difficult ex-relationship returning to and haunt her
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Debbie Harry. Dreaming is free, at least …
Song of the Day: Following Roy Orbison's soaring voice expressing a fragile state of lovelorn dreaming, by contrast a sassier style by the New Yorkers, with Debbie Harry seductively revealing how flirted passion is always free
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Serenely played - Santo and Johnny Farina
Song of the Day: After the surreal, psychedelic layers of Soft Machine, let's move back to gorgeously dreamy 1959 instrumental hit by the Brooklyn brothers, and one of the dreamiest melodies ever written
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Who is Joan of Arc?
Song of the Day: After recent songs about the famous who died at a prematurely young age, four very contrasting numbers about the legendary French military heroine who was burned at the stake age 19 in 1431
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Suede in 1994
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Auteurs track mixing the premature deaths of Lenny Bruce and Rudolph Valentino, two more from the 90s Britpop pioneers about two more stars who died young – Marilyn Monroe and James Dean
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The Facts of Life album artwork
Song of the Day: After James Carr's Dark Street and Van Morrison's Bright Road, let's now travel down the darkly humorous musical highway of the English trio, first from their second album The Facts of Life
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Mattiel
Song of the Day: Today's entry comes from the the singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia, who is a designer by day and a performer by night, and here her rock-pop-soul songs reflect this, making multiple reference to colours
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