The kind of talk that seemed important until you discover girls

Enjoyed the How To Buy guide to Steve Winwood albums [MOJO 313], though a bit nonplussed

by the conclusion that Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, one of Traffic’s distinctly mixed later albums, was elected number one.

Two overlooked albums that should have been in there are Traffic’s second, Traffic, for the funkiest track they ever recorded, Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring, the spookily tripped-out 40,000 Headmen and the sweepingly melancholic No Time To Live. And also Traffic’s third: the often overlooked Last Exit. Side one is a bit of a contractual-obligation mish-mash, though the instrumental interplay on Shanghai Noodle Factory is totally brilliant. However, side two’s live side has some of Winwood’s most exciting singing and playing on record. The version of Feelin’ Good on there is so impassioned and uplifting it once moved my father to rush in, haul the album off the player and hurl it across the room!

Alastair Dougall, Haywards Heath