It’s perishing cold in our frostbitten London HQ but we warmed our toes around a blazing conversational fire and roasted the following chestnuts …

… “the job of pop records is to be better than the year before”.

… the real reason new music tends to sound the same.

… Johnnie Walker – “his voice was his instrument”.

… The Kinks, The Shangri-Las, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, the Four Tops, the Righteous Brothers and the relentless change and variety of “the annus mirabilis” of the pop single.

… “Netflix rock documentaries are just there to stop the male member of the family cancelling their subscription”.

… the Byrds’ Mr Tambourine Man, a cornerstone of psychedelia and indie rock.

… the drum sound that “kicked open the door to your mind”.

… when novelty was 70 per cent of the appeal.

… the key moment in the career of Peter Waters Dingley was the day he changed his name.

… making records defensively.

… the only current match for the thrill and daily drama of the mid-‘60s pop charts is the Premiere League.

… plus a Lego record-player and birthday guest Andrew Slattery.

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