The Shock Of The Old

I was recently watching the re-runs of TOTP from 1976 and the OGWT 'best of' on BBC4 wondering at what point - and why - records of quality become suddenly untouchable. A key historical divide was, of course, punk's Year Zero of 1977 that relegated almost all early 70s 'rock' (though not reggae, please note) beyond the pale. But there have also been subtler trends largely based on perceptions of 'selling out' or mainstreaming in which core fans excoriate their former heroes and heroines. The once powerful printed music press was particular fond of fanning these flames.

As a tangent to this, it is worth noting that Bowie (see above) was cool and smart - and confusing - enough to be one of the few to avoid this. More on him later.

Anyway, the real point of all this blah is that musical purdah can allow a delicious rediscovery of many fine songs later. Dire Straits (gasp), in their early pomp, crafted a sort of white, West London Blues that is, perhaps, counterintuitively very close to Springsteen's white, Jersey Blues evolving at about the same time. Both are lovely. This discredited gem even shares a title with the Boss and features his piano player: 'Tunnel Of Love' (1980)