Affirmative

Some things in life pass you by; for whatever reason you don't latch onto them. It's OK. These things happen. It should never be held against you. Well, not in a court of law, anyway. I can think of three straight off the bat: Withnail  and I; Dr. Pepper; Yes.

I know, I can almost hear you shouting at your computer screen now - ''But Withnail is a classic! Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann's performances were off the chart.'' If you say so. Likewise the fizzy drink from Hell. And that bunch of proggers & their Roger bloody Dean album covers. Whoop-de-doo.

And yet, and yet. I do rather like Roundabout. It featured on a playlist I was sent a little while ago and I was quite taken with it. Here it is in full, all 8+ minutes of it. I love everything about it, and I'm especially partial to the acoustic guitar intro, before it goes all mental. You may not agree, of course. That's your prerogative. In which case, as I said at the top of the piece, nobody will hold it against you. Except Jon Anderson, of course. You may, however, like this: it's the pared down radio edit weighing in at a mere 3:28. A mini Roundabout, if you will. I'll get my greatcoat.

     

Yes (official) · Roundabout (Single Edit)

Led Zep VII

Thanks to Peter Grant, their thug in a suit manager, Led Zeppelin never released singles in the UK; he thought it was beneath them. Not so in the States, however; Grant wasn't quite so precious about what his charges released over there by way of 45 RPMs. Their seventh single on the Atlantic label was a delicious slice of cod reggae with John Bonham's drums very much to the fore. I think the reason I like it so much is because their po-faced bass player, John Paul Jones, said publicly, many times, that he hated it; hated the song, particularly hated the title. Get over yerself Jones.

Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er (1973)

It only made No. 20 on the Billboard charts, unlike the album from which it was lifted, 'Houses of the Holy', which sat at No. 1 for weeks on end.