Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

'How Soon Is Now?' went through a mind-boggling number of drafts before its release - including the inevitable 'middle-aged male author displays his record collection' draft.

Common sense prevailed and any hint of hipster dad-ism was ruthlessly pruned, but there's still a lot of music in the finished book.

So much so, in fact, that I had prepared a playlist of music featured in and related to the book (then lost it when I changed streaming service - I'll get back to it eventually...). You'll find some more detail on the topic of music here, but I thought it might be fun to list some of the acts still mentioned in the book.

The Smiths are there, of course, and Morrissey gets a personal mention - with varying degrees of enthusiasm - several times. Then there are Sarah Records darlings The Sea Urchins, whose 'Pristine Christine' 7in remains a shining pinnacle of indie jangle-pop, and a brief mention of Tindersticks (their song 'Cherry Blossoms' is one of the most bleakly beautiful things I've ever heard).

A student union jukebox offers us REM, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Jackie Wilson and a pivotal appearance by the mighty 5 Star. Elsewhere, there are mentions of Jimmy Shand, Sparks, The Fall, The Woodentops, Urge Overkill and The Bluetones, as well as Cocteau Twins, The Wedding Present, New Order and Deee-Lite. There might be more, but you'll have to find them.

My only regret is that I never managed to find a spot for my enduring underdog favourites, Kitchens of Distinction. Maybe in the next book...