I was too young in the 60's to remember it in real time, although my household was filled with a collection of 60's icons like the soundtrack to Hair and Superstar and I guess these are my earliest recollections of popular music. My Father was a multi-instrumentalist musician who was always playing some form of brass or woodwind instrument but his style was always showbands of the 50's so Acker Bilk and Bert Kaempfert were more often on the turntable than not whilst fighting for attention with his love of heavy classics. We learnt as kids that classical music was to be appreciated equidistant between stereo hi-fi speakers spaced at 6 feet intervals and definitely not to be spoken over!

Having grown up through the 70's I remember the end of the Beatles era being played over the radio to be replaced by lollipop pop music with the emergence of ABBA and the European disco sound. The 80's was my seminal era, commencing work in and on radio, playing cheesy ballads, the lost era of newly solo artists like Glenn Frey and Lindsay Buckingham and of course the emergence of New Romantics  in Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and my first ever live concert; Culture Club!

However the only era I find I revisit on a regular basis is the 90's. I guess by then I was well established in my recording career, I had developed my own ear and appreciation of music and to my mind the 90's represented a radical departure from overly produced, substance-shy dross and what emerged was raw, unpretentious and often introverted experiments in reinterpreting musical genres.

The rise and rise of bands like Radiohead that then inspired the likes of Cold Play, Muse and Doves from the UK, the US saw the emergence of Nirvana, Beck and later rough and raw talents such as Jack White with the White Stripes. Bands came out of nowhere and produced Albums of the Year like Gomez with Liquid Skin. Throwback styles mixed the new 90's sound with influences of the 70's and we got the unique sound of Placebo. It was the era that reignited peoples passion for music festivals and for the first time a generation was able to see all their favourite artists together over 1, 2 and 3 day events.

I am sure in time we will look back fondly on emerging styles from the turn of the new century, but for me now the 90's still sounds as fresh and exciting as it did at the time and many of the artists have gone on to mature and flourish and develop their own unique styles still further. A new Placebo CD is automatically added to my collection as is my complete history of Muse, Radiohead, Augie March, and Ben Folds.

A swag of different styles was allowed to emerge and we gained Kings of Leon, The Verve, a new form of punk with Green Day, Sound Garden, Silverchair and Pearl Jam spring-boarding out the beginnings of Grunge with their dark but insightful musings.

Tori Amos, R.E.M, Nine Inch Nails even Nick Cave made the 90's their own and it is fantastic that they are all still with us and still creating great art 20 years on.

In my quieter moments the collection of Portishead with the amazing and unique voice of Beth Gibbons registers "most played" on my ipod and nothing can surpass the "life changing" release of Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain (I know - it scrapes in as a 2000 release)

Fortunately my work dictates that I am always across what is happening "now" in music, but my fear is at the moment we are back in the land of disposable mass produced pop with artists who are big on hype and low on original talent, but hopefully the next revolution is just around the corner and we can rediscover our love for the art that is music - all over again.