The last Saturday of April 1972. I’m upstairs in my bedroom with a portable black and white TV, ready for England versus West Germany, live on BBC 1. Mum and Dad are downstairs, watching…

Concert poster courtesy of Steve Crocker. To the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, Miles Davis never ran the voodoo down Fargate, not even in a silent way. John Coltrane never rolled his cool ‘trane…

After band practice we adjourn for a few pints in The Beehive. Charlie is on flying form: "We're gonna be called The Box", he declares, his moustache flecked with creamy Guinness spume, "and people can…