We ran our metal detector over this week’s rugged rock and roll terrain and dug deep when it beeped. Among those prime locations …

… the secret of Top Gear’s golden age.

… is Bob Dylan a “cold weather concept”?

… why Holger Czukay’s ‘Movies’ is a pivotal record.

… Daryl Hall’s restraining order on John Oates: inter-band fall-out scales brave new heights.

… the ground-breaking ingredient in ‘He’s Gonna Step On You Again’ by John Kongos.

… why Joni Mitchell, Lee Perry and Pink Floyd were early pioneers of sampling.

… the night some loon climbed the scaffolding above the E Street Band.

… pre-McLaren theft of the Burundi Beat.

… the irksome mob rule of the internet: “all bands are now sacred and anyone who says different is a heretic”.

… when an album cover is a “lifestyle statement”.

… plus birthday guests Kevin Walsh and Simon Poulter and best of this year’s rock books.

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