The hi-fi department in Harrods' in London was a good place to be in the 80s as a teenager- the staff were always putting on different, interesting music to test out various bits of high-end stereo kit (normally Bang and Olufsen, which looked so cool but inevitably sounded a bit sterile). One time a big Technics stack was on test, the top end model, pre-amp, graphic equaliser, the lot- everything to make 80s man, with big hair and probably shoulder pads, feel like he was getting all the bells, whistles and flashing lights that money can buy.

And they put this on. As a teenager with less than a fiver in my pocket, I was stuck. My brain said "I need this now", my pocket said this was unlikely. I abandoned my sister, who may have been listening to Tubular Bells from a Bang and Olufsen system (the staff were not all that eclectic) and went to and bought the cassette of Shades (which has one of the coolest covers of any album) from the record department, a move which I have never regretted in the slightest, despite the fact that it reduced my worldly wealth to a few coins.

And this is the song on the album that does it for me- a few minutes of utter bliss. I now seem to have it on cassette, vinyl. CD (and the Best Of) and I still never tire of hearing it. Excellent stuff.

And in case anyone is thinking that a Harrods' customer should have little pity, I wound up working there a few years later. Not something I'd advise- terrible place, and the staff discount still only takes things down to a price slightly above the rest of the marketplace. Not wise. But for my exposure to J.J.Cale, I do it all again like a shot.