Benny Hill meets dancehall

Joe writes: Every summer, London's Choice FM used to playlist reggae and that was where I first heard Sorry If I Hurt Your Feelings by Tenor Fly tune in I think 1996. Great lyric, great melody, an amusingly Benny Hill-esque backing track... it should have been huge.



Which reminds me of the time the Benny Hill theme became the dancehall beat du jour. My favourite take on it was of course Lady Saw's excellent Jealous.

Jimmy Webb's Ivor Award

Phil writes: This recognition of his great songwriting has meant several TV and radio interviews, plus an appearance on Jools with Rumer:



I love this song of his:



And this (though not the best audio quality):

The First Thing You See by Bruno Charles

Joe writes: This is pretty, by new artist Bruno Charles, really good singer, guitar player and songwriter

Janis Joplin and Bessie Smith

Phil writes: A contestant on 'The Voice' was told by Tom Jones that she reminded him of Janis Joplin. She later admitted that she hadn't heard of Janis. But she's only 17 so has some excuse. For anyone else who hasn't heard of her  -  and there will be such people out there  -  here she is. First, the amazing song she really made her own:



She could perform lesser material equally successfully, making it memorable:



Janis herself was compared, undertandably, with the legendary Bessie Smith. So here's Bessie:

Lost classic: First Kiss by Lovatux

Joe writes: There was a lot wrong with Lovatux, not least their name. They signed a record deal and got nowhere in about 1997. But First Kiss, the demo that got them signed, was pretty near perfect.

this was the best song I heard at Great Escape Festival

Joe writes: It's an old Cornish folk song, Little Eyes, performed by Cornish band Crowns

Ray Charles - Georgia on my mind

Phil writes: This blew me away when I first heard it many years ago. Somewhere out there there'll be people who've never heard it. They're in for a treat:

Hollow Talk by Choir of Young Believers - the theme to the BBC4's The Bridge

Joe writes: Thanks to Fiona for telling me about this one. Nice YouTube clip as well.