The Friday Music Shuffle (6th February 2026)

I’d like to give a warm welcome to my millions of readers to the Friday Music Shuffle. It’s all rather simple, a bit like me really. What happens is this.

I put my music device on shuffle and it selects ten songs from my collection which I listen to in real time. All I ask you to do, dear reader, is to do the same thing. Just click on the song title and listen along. Hopefully, you will find something you like.

Let’s go.

1. Bittersweet Bundle Of Energy by Graham Coxon. From 2004’s lovely Happiness In Magazines, the Blur man borrows at least a little bit from the vibe of Coffee And TV.
2. Kentucky Woman by Neil Diamond. Long before the great man morphed towards the cabaret circuit, 1967 to be precise, Diamond sang with real passion. Nice.
3. Just Feel Better by Santana Feat. Steven Tyler. I can’t abide anything much to do with Tyler but this track, thanks to the enduring genius of Carlos Santana from his 2005 LP All That I Am is rather lovely.
4. Finally Woken by Jem. When I heard her 2004 long player Finally Woken – this is the title track, obvs – I thought the Welsh singer would be massive. What do I know? Good though.
5. Shout by The Beatles. One for the Beatles obsessives, a scratchy version of the Lulu hit from their first Anthology album.
6. Inoculated City by The Clash. Back to 1982 for this track from Combat Rock. Not a classic, but it’s The Clash, innit, so it’s mint.
7. Don’t Listen To The Rumors by Graham Nash. Here Nash reminds us that the 1980s was the worst decade for rock music by a country mile. Despite the presence of a stellar cast of musicians, 1986’s Innocent Eyes is a truly dreadful record, as this wretched song proves. Time to delete from my collection.
8. Got To Be Tough by Toots and the Maytals. Title track of the great man’s final album in 2020 and I just love it.
9. You Don’t Have To Go by The War On Drugs. Absolutely beautiful song from 2017’s A Better Understanding. Such a good band.
10. Tom Boy by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Crikey. This is bad day for Crosby, Stills and Nash in general and Nash in particular. This is a dud from an album full of duds, 1990’s Live It Up.

Not a great shuffle today, it has to be said. This week’s Desert Island Disc is Kentucky Woman by Neil Diamond.

Hope you enjoyed it. Have a good week till next week.