Mike Batt ‘Zero Zero’ (Epic, 1982)

The love affair started with ‘Flaming Desire’. The single got played on the radio at least once, possibly more, and had me swooning with its propulsive rhythms, swirling synths and croonerish vocal – a weirder version of Blancmange, Yazoo on speed.

My introduction to Wes Anderson’s ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou’ began when a friend passed me the film, newly-released on DVD. “You are going to love this,” he said, excitedly.

Born on a transatlantic flight layover in 1959, from the moment he took his first breath there was always going to be something a little different about Nick Nicely.

Back in the olden days, many music journalists had a nice sideline penning biogs, frothy one-pagers extolling the virtues of a major label’s next big thing. The money was more than you’d earn writing a cover feature, so understandably competition was fierce.