Come In, Come Out Of The Rain.

The quality of pop music in Britain goes through a pretty regular cycle; a zenith when Scottish bands are the best in the world, and a nadir when they are not.

It's pretty easy to cite examples and case histories. Bay City Rollers invent glam pop. Skids invent punk. Big Country invent cliff-top rock, then sell it on for stadium use. Cocteau Twins invent shoegazing. Jesus and Mary Chain re-invent punk. Lloyd Cole takes cultural literacy to the 7-inch single. Glasgow en masse creates celtic blue-boy soul. Primal Scream invent ravedancebluesrockthing. Franz Ferdinand re-cast the lot as their own. Any obs? Answer came there none.

I have recently discovered the fantastic website The Great Jock 'n' Roll Single, which aims to build an authoritative chart of the best 75 scottish singles of all time. There's a discussion forum that tries to sort out questions that have floored many a pub music fan; when did the Simple Minds get to be so pish? John Martyn - better with or without legs?

It is clearly written by obsessives, but remains accessible and is especially good if you share the authors' tastes; late 1980's soul-flecked pop from Glasgow. So Blue Nile, Big Dish, and Postcard Records get the lion's share of the plaudits. But for me, it's still Sam and Dan, The River Detectives, sounding fresh as ever, the celtic Everly Brothers with the Springsteen heart.

I would heartily recommend that you go there and take a flip through the best jukebox in the world.

Andrew Mishmash