50 Years of Great British Music in Q

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January 30, 2008

Still can’t quite believe it started with Cliff Richard.

The germ of an idea that begat the current issue, that is. It was whilst flicking through one of those chart reference books late last year that I noticed that the toothsome tennis fan had released his Move It single in 1958. Back then, perhaps still more remarkably, Sir Clifford was being hailed ‘The English Elvis’. The questionable accuracy of this description notwithstanding, Move It was, and remains, a sprightly, exuberant piece of rock’n’roll.

It was also a hugely significant one. For here, one could argue, was the starting point for popular music in Great Britain. No Cliff, then, no Beatles, Bowie, Smiths, Radiohead et al. Perhaps. Either way, we are now half a century on from this landmark, and that seemed as good a reason as any to mark it.

Bolstering this notion still further, and this year’s Brits nominees aside, British music continues to inspire and excite. Be it Arctic Monkeys or Bat For Lashes, Klaxons or Burial, the best of today’s British music is connected indelibly to the best of yesterday’s British music; so too those rather fine notions of marching to your own beat and following your own rules remain intact……

For full article visit Q online