Welcome to the Flytheflag Music section.

If there's one area of modern life where the English excel it's got to be music, particularly pop music. England has probably produced more top quality pop groups, bands and singers per head of population than virtually any other country in the world. The Americans may have started it all off with greats like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry but once the Beatles came along pop music was changed for ever.

This section is intended to be a quick reference point for English music over the last forty or so years. The A-Z guide printed below is limited to pop, blues and rock music and there is no intention to snub the influence of English musicians in other areas of music, for example, classical and jazz. Indeed, if anybody wishes to submit a guide relating to these or other areas of music then we will be only too pleased to consider them for publication. Our guide is purely subjective and clearly we have been unable to feature all the greats. If you wish to submit your own list of, for example, the top ten English (or British) groups or singers of all time get writing and send in your email to info@flytheflag.net.

Anyway here is the FlytheFlag A-Z of English music...

A is for… The Animals. A sixties band from Newcastle featuring the distinctive vocals of Eric Burdon.

B is for…The Beatles. Who else? More superlatives have been written about the Fab Four from Liverpool than any other band in the history of music. The music of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr quite simply changed the world. Even, if you were not one of their biggest fans the chances are you could still reel off at least ten of their song titles and recognise a hundred others. The Beatles were a worldwide musical and social phenomenon and the band members (particularly Lennon and McCartney) became the spokesmen of their generation.

C is for… Clapton. Eric Clapton that is, although we could have chosen his old band Cream also featuring Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. Old Slow Hand as Clapton is known is widely regarded as one of the greatest blues guitarists of his generation. He's not a bad singer-songwriter either.

D is for… Doves. A classy contemporary outfit from the north west of England proving that not all great bands came from the sixties. Their last couple of albums are in danger of becoming classics.

E is for…Electric Light Orchestra. A prolific seventies band that owed its existence to the sixties band the Move featuring Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan and Roy Wood although the latter only lasted a year before going on to form Wizard. Jeff Lynne went on to become one of the great influences of contemporary English music and even found time to join the Travelling Wilburys along with his pals George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison.

F is for…Fleetwood Mac - in their first incarnation that is. Featuring the genius of Peter Green, undoubtedly one of the great exponents of the blues guitar. Featuring also Mick Fleetwood and John and Christine McVie who demonstrated remarkable longevity and adaptability when the band underwent its metamorphosis in the seventies.

G is for…Genesis. One of the greats of stadium rock and part of the aristocracy of English music. Much loved by students in the seventies and equally loved when the band became more centre stream in the eighties and nineties. Both lead singers - Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins- went on to achieve significant solo success and Mike Rutherford achieved success also with Mike and the Mechanics.

H is for…Human League. Phil Oakey and the girls, from Sheffield hit the music scene in the early eighties. Their star burned brightly for a few years only but they became icons of their time. Their most famous hit "Don't you want me?" is even featured in a modern car commercial.

I is for…Idol, Billy Idol that is. The former lead singer of the punk band Generation X moved to the States and became a household name here and there with classics like "White Wedding" and "Rebel Yell".

J is for…The Jam. An excellent three piece punk band featuring Paul Weller who went on to greater things as a much respected soloist and singer songwriter via The Style Council.

K is for…The Kinks. One of the finest bands of the sixties and one of the greatest English bands of all time. Purveyors of quintessentially English pop music featuring the exquisite singing and song writing of the great Ray Davies. Yes, we like the Kinks!

L is for…Led Zeppelin. Now we're rocking! These boys produced seriously powerful rock music on a global scale. Regarded as the founding fathers of heavy rock -later heavy metal. In Robert Plant they had the blue print for a worldwide tribe of long-haired screaming front men. In Jimmy Page they had one of the greatest lead guitarists in the world and though they were loud they could tone it down a bit too when they felt like it.

M is for…Madness. The so-called nutty sound, essential for parties or just as a pick me up when you're feeling down.

N is for…New Order. One of Manchester's finest -and there have been a few from this fine city over the years- featuring the original singing and song writing of Bernard Sumner. Melodic eighties pop although the band are staging something of a twenty first century revival.

O is for Oasis. Another great Manchester band. Ignore the hype and just listen to rock music as it was meant to be. How many better rock albums are there than "Definitely Maybe"? The Gallagher brothers provide a fine blend of skilful song writing and guitar play married to the perfect voice of a genuine rock front man.

P is for…The Police. One of the all-time English greats - even allowing for the fact that one of the trio, Stewart Copeland, is American (so what, Winston Churchill's mother was American too!). This band had it all and though Sting got most of the plaudits, and went on to have a brilliant solo career, Copeland and Andy Summers certainly did their bit in making The Police one of the greatest bands of the seventies and eighties.

Q is for… Queen. One of the biggest bands of the seventies featuring one of music's most colourful and charismatic lead singers, Freddy Mercury. Innovative pop music and some anthemic rock numbers characterised this fine band.

R is for… Rolling Stones, of course! Contemporaries and rivals of the Beatles in the early sixties they just kept (and keep) on going. How do they do it? How old is Mick Jagger? How does he pull so many beautiful women? So many classics from a band simply referred to by many as the greatest rock and roll band of all time.

S is for…Squeeze. Another quintessentially English band who hit the big time in the seventies and kept on going through the excellent song writing skills of Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford. Great lyricists, they never seemed to get the popular acclaim that their exceptional talents demanded and surprisingly appeared to make a more lasting impression across the pond.

T is for…10cc. A hugely successful seventies band from Manchester. Had a string of sharp and often witty hits penned by the two singer song writers Eric Stewart and the improbably named Lol Creme.

U is for…UB40. A mixed-race band from Birmingham they had a string of catchy reggae hits in the eighties. Got their name from the old unemployment claim form.

V is for…Vicious. Sid Vicious that is, ex-guitarist with the Sex Pistols. One of the great exponents of punk rock and a band that said, somewhat bluntly, what many youngsters were feeling in the seventies.

W is for…The Who. What a great band! Started life in the sixties (was there ever a more fertile decade for music?) as multi-talented London mods and like the Rolling Stones seemed to get bigger as time went by. Achieved great musical fame on a world wide scale.

X is for…XTC. Started life in the seventies and had a few hits in that decade and the next. Came from the south-west and were another band with a quintessentially English sound. Never got the recognition that their talented song writers Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding deserved.

Y is for…Yes. Progressive rockers and like Genesis beloved of students in the seventies. Well served by the skilful and flamboyant skills of Rick Wakeman on keyboards.

Z is for…The Zombies. Another sixties band featuring the skills of Rod Argent on keyboard and the angel-like singing of Colin Blunstone on lead vocals.

Well, that's it. As we said earlier it's entirely subjective and some difficult choices had to be made. Still, we hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget, if you want to make your own contribution then send us an email listing your favourite bands and we'll endeavour to publish it.

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