Nick Drake tonight. A name that didn't register at all in the U.S. and barely registered in the UK until after his untimely death, the music of Nick Drake has created a huge renaissance in recent years. His all-too-few albums have been reissued, documentaries have been made about him, tributes have sprung up all over the world. And for a singer-songwriter who couldn't get arrested when he was alive, that is all something of an irony.

Tonight it's a track from his debut album for Island Records in 1969. Five Leaves Left first arrived on the scene to lukewarm reviews and promising, but not overwhelming sales. Saturday Sun ends the album, and in typical Nick Drake style, ends it on a note of melancholy.

An auspicious beginning. But at the time it didn't seem so.

I think, for a lot of people, Sparks is one of those "guilty pleasure" bands. You like them a lot, you've always liked them a lot, but you don't really know why.

Catchy, hook-laden, quirky, theatrical - a lot of words you could use to describe the music of the Mael Brothers. In a perpetual state of reinvention is another description. Having gone through the slog of establishing themselves from the late 60's to the early 70's, they became massive in Europe, briefly settling in London, where they signed with Island Records and their fortunes promptly changed with the release ofKimono My House. The album that took what was often described as a "band with an acquired taste" into a Powerpop Tour de Force in 1974, and established them as a band to be reckoned with for the rest of the decade.

Tonight it's Something For The Girl With Everything from their follow-up album Propaganda. Not a terribly familiar track if you don't own the album, but certainly one that shows them off nicely.

If you don't already know Sparks, here's a chance to get acquainted with some Rock history.

(Traffic - at the turning point)

After their first breakup in 1969, with Steve Winwood going off to the legendary and short-lived Blind Faith, Traffic reunited in 1970 and turned out one of the milestone albums of the 70's. John Barleycorn Must Die was a huge change in direction for Traffic. With Dave Mason departing in 1968, the Pop influence they had come to be known for had been taken over by a mature, musically adventuresome outfit. Now a three-piece, with Chris Wood still on sax and flute and Jim Capaldi still on drums and percussion, this tighter unit achieved greater strides in their musical direction, melding Jazz into the mix. John Barleycorn was a critical and commercial success and established Traffic as one of the major bands coming out of the 60's into the new decade.

This track is actually two songs. Glad and Freedom Rider were always played together as one song anyway. So rather than break the flow, I've joined them together and present them just as you would have heard them if you had this album on your turntable at home . . .and it was 1970. And it was Saturday Night. And you were staring off into space. And you were preoccupied. And it was dark. And you didn't want to break the mood. And you've been trying to get him/her to your place all month.

Forty years later, it still sounds fresh.

(Ultravox - in 1979 they dropped the ! and it went on from there)

Reading reports that Ultravox have gotten back together, albeit for a "one-off tour" reminded me that they went through several incarnations before arriving at where they are now.

Tonight's track, Quiet Men is from incarnation Number 2 where they dropped the Punk mantle and warmed in the direction of Techno. The result was Systems of Romance, a milestone album (although it didn't do all that well at the time) produced by German Electronica-wizard, the late (and much lamented) Conny Plank, it announced a decided direction change.

Sadly, this incarnation didn't last all that long as they were dropped by their label Island shortly thereafter and the band was left adrift until Midge Ure came on the scene and it became Incarnation Number 3.

Incarnation Number 3 is probably what most people remember of Ultravox. But that middle point, where they were finding their direction and they were trying new things, to me was the most exciting.

But then, I'm a big fan of the process anyway - so pay no attention to me.