Recently, I whiled away an evening by taking Garry Mulholland's excellent book "This Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco" down from the shelf and reading as much as my tired eyes could take in one sitting. While I did so, I played as many of the records he mentioned as I could put my hands on (i.e. whatever I could find on my iPod). After a couple of hours, I realised I had only managed to get as far as listening to the entries he chooses for the years 1977 and 1978. It's incredible how many great singles were released over the winter of '77/'78. The book is a real treasure, it has me gagging to track down singles I haven't heard, and re-discovering singles I'd neglected to listen to for a long time. There are (rare) occasions where I don't think he writes enough on a single (his treatment of Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" is a bit lazy, but I suppose I should be happy he chose to include it at all). One of the best things about the book is the reproductions of single sleeves inside. The author is obviously passionate about artwork as well as the records in question, so the thrill of pop oozes from every page. If you haven't read it, make it a Christmas present for someone and have a sneaky read of it yourself. His follow-up book, "Fear of Music", which follows a similar format, and applies it to 261 (?) albums is also worth a look, but not as good as "This Is Uncool". One small gripe: this is a book about "important" singles, which necesserily neglects the detritus that makes pop music so exciting and ridiculous. So no mention of "The Lone Ranger" by Quantum Jump, or Haysi Fantayzee's "John Wayne Is Big Leggy". Maybe some of the best singles just defy any kind of logic you could try and apply to them.
