Amanda Lear ‘Sweet Revenge’ (Ariola, 1978)

Given the world we live in now, you might think an album called ‘Messy Century’ would be a prescient political statement.

For some reason, at the tail end of last year, the song ‘So Alive’ got lodged in my head.

Parliament-Funkadelic. Underground Resistance. Wu-Tang. When you’re thinking about the great musical collectives of the past 50 years, your mind may not jump to the Japanese outfit Geinoh Yamashirogumi. 

Side-projects can be a complicated affair, particularly if you’re a fan of the precursory band. Acolytes find themselves talking up a lesser-known record they might not actually like very much, but a perceived obligation of support results in them writing cheques their misplaced loyalty can’t cash.

Robert Palmer passed away in 2003 at the shockingly young age of 54. A massively underrated artist who wrote and produced so many great songs, the fact that he died without much comment or celebration of his life was a crying shame.