The rag tirade

Microsoft man

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I have of late begun to wear the chinos and shirt uniform of the damned you see above (I always had the smug grin). Once you go slacks, you never go back – there's just so much more room to manoeuvre. So in honour of my sartorial demise, this week we present 50 years of songs in 50 minutes about clothes. From Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus to Bellbottoms by the Blues Explosion.
If you can survive the Teutonic vocal style of Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz, the Amon Düül II tune has some pretty moments of classic Kosmiche rock. And, of course, the programme is peppered with a few indispensable classics: Hand in Glove, Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Ants in My Pants. Is that US pants or UK pants?

1. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, Charles Mingus, Mingus, Ah Um, 1959, Columbia
2. Hard Sock Dance, Quincy Jones and his Orchestra, Quintessence, 1961, Impulse!
3. Boot-Leg, Booker T and The MGs, 7", 1965, Stax
4. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, The Kinks, The Kink Kontroversy, 1965, Pye
5. High Fashion Queen, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Burrito Deluxe, 1970, A&M
6. Green Bubble Raincoated Man, Amon Düül II, Wolf City, 1972, United Artists
7. Ants In My Pants, James Brown, 7", 1972, Polydor
8. Blue Jeans And Moonbeams, Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band, Blue Jeans And Moonbeams, 1974, Virgin
9. Tell Me Your Plans, The Shirts, The Shirts, 1978, Harvest
10. I Hate the Universe, The Cravats, Burning Bridges, 7", 1979, Small Wonder
11. Tomorrow Night, Shoes, Present Tense, 1979, Elektra
12. Baggy Trousers, Madness Absolutely, 1980, Stiff
13. Hand In Glove, The Smiths, The Smiths, 1984, Rough Trade
14. T-Shirt Tucked In, Huggy Bear, Our Troubled Youth (split), 1993, Catcall
15. Bellbottoms, The Jon Spenser Blues Explosion, Orange, 1994, Matador