Graeme Thomson

After a night out drinking, two friends conjure up a magical piano riff. But the time’s not right, so for three years it stays “in our back pocket”…

An eight-minute opus in two halves: part blissed-out space ballad, part focused groove: “The lyric just seemed to roll off,” says Jason Pierce

We assemble friends, peers and acolytes to celebrate the 50th birthday of Pink Moon

The old mysterious magic is now aligned to a keen pop sensibility

Tapestry made her a global superstar and broke records around the world – but how do you top an album that defined a generation?

A raw, supercharged blast of punked-up garage rock, recorded live in a tiny studio: “It’s a short, sharp shock on record!” says Captain Sensible

In a hotel on a stormy night, touring with a jazz orchestra, a young Stax songwriter’s thoughts turn to his girlfriend back home in Memphis

James Skelly and Nick Power steer a course through the Wirral band’s turbulent but ultimately triumphant two-decade career

Tacked on the end of New Adventures... this happy-sad-elegy to Hollywood was initially disliked by Stipe, "but turned out to be one of our best songs ever"

Riding high on the momentum of Fisherman’s Blues, in 1989 The Waterboys reconvened at their new spiritual home in Ireland to make the follow-up. Mike Scott’s plan to broaden the sound didn’t quite go to plan, but as a new box-set reveals, Room To Roam was far from a misfire