The first day of July always carries a shadow. 1st July 1916 — the Somme — a day so brutal it still echoes. Nearly 57,500 British casualties before nightfall, 19,000 of them never coming home. The French lost over 1,500. Germany around 6,000. A century later, the numbers still feel obscene and carry a genetic impact we still feel the effect of.
From that solemn ground we step into music — the sublime, the ridiculous, and everything in between. July deserves range.
Nicola Benedetti – Spiegel im Spiegel
Arvo Pärt’s minimalist meditation, played with Benedetti’s trademark stillness. Written in 1978, it’s one of those pieces that seems to suspend time — a single line unfolding like breath, or prayer, or memory.
The Pipes & Drums of The Black Watch – Wha’ Saw the 42nd?
A regimental march with centuries behind it. The 42nd Highlanders — later The Black Watch — carried this tune across continents. It’s brisk, proud, and impossible not to straighten your back to.
Cockney Rejects – Police Car
East End punk at full throttle. Released in 1980, the Rejects were never subtle — and that’s the charm. A raw snapshot of street-level Britain before the decade turned sour.
Didi Dubbeldam & Jan van der Plas – Choo Choo Wa
Pure silliness. A children’s party favourite from the Netherlands that somehow became a global earworm. Proof that music doesn’t always need meaning — sometimes it just needs movement.
Amy MacDonald – Born to Run
MacDonald’s folk-rock energy meets Springsteen’s myth-making title. Not a cover — her own song — but carrying that same restless spirit she’s been bottling since This Is the Life.
John Mayer – Free Fallin’
A gentle, live reimagining of Tom Petty’s classic. Mayer strips it back to open chords and soft phrasing, turning a highway anthem into something closer to confession.
Gary Moore – Still Got The Blues
Moore’s Belfast fire meets American blues tradition. Released in 1990, it’s the track that cemented his reputation beyond hard rock — a slow-burn solo that still floors guitar players.
Randy & The Rainbows – Denise
Early‑60s doo‑wop sunshine. Blondie later reinvented it as Denis, flipping gender and adding French flair, but the original has that unmistakable Brill Building innocence.
Status Quo – Whatever You Want
The Quo at their most Quo. 1979. Denim. Telecasters. A riff that could power a small town. British boogie rock distilled to its purest form.
Al Stewart – The Year of the Cat
A soft-rock travelogue from 1976, wrapped in cinematic storytelling. Stewart’s lyrics wander through markets, strangers, and chance encounters — all carried by that unmistakable sax line.
Taylor Swift – I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
From The Tortured Poets Department. Swift at her most self-aware: glitter, exhaustion, and the pressure to perform even when life is cracking underneath.
Warning – Watching From a Distance
British doom metal at its most desolate. Released in 2006, Warning’s slow, aching chords and Patrick Walker’s vocals create a kind of emotional gravity few bands manage.
