Dr Feelgood
Album: Taking No Prisoners (with Gypie 1977-1981)
Label: EMI
Tracks: 97
Website: http://www.drfeelgood.org

Don't ask me why, but I remember ending my 15th birthday watching The South Bank Show about Dr Feelgood as a few things clicked into place.

Although I'd thought Milk & Alcohol sounded pretty dangerous a couple of years earlier, I knew it wasn't punk or new wave. Dr Feelgood looked older, but they didn't look like Genesis or Queen or any of those muppets. They sounded a bit like the early Stones, but nowhere near as uptight. I didn't know about Downliners Sect or Pretty Things at that point, but I had heard Chuck Berry and stacks of Stax - they were closer to that. At the time I was in absolute thrall to The Jam and there was clearly some common ground between Brilleaux's mod-infused sharpness and the moody brilliance of the young Weller.

And so began a lifelong affection for the Feelgoods that only deepened when I later discovered the Wilko-era material and was sealed forever when I finally got to see the band in a series of club gigs in the 90s.

I share this because to my utter delight, the DVD that completes this four-CD box contains that South Bank Show, along with TotP appearances, videos and the long-lost Alright Now show. And it's great.

To kickstart the Feelgood feeling I watched the singles videos then delved into the four albums, leaving the live albums and concert DVD for later.

The set is beautifully curated, intelligently annotated and packed with period gems, including tour programmes, Keith Morris' photos, interview excerpts, tour dates and Will Birch's excellent essay.

The music covers the post-Wilko era. Having defined and refined the Feelgoods' sound and style, rather than stifle the band, Wilko's departure actually heralded their most commercially potent phase. John 'Gypie' Mayo took over on guitar and his all guts no glory approach to the instrument served to tighten the band as they pushed their own boundaries in the company of producers Nick Lowe and Richard Gottehrer.

This weren't just rivvum and blooze, this was powerhouse R&B, nut-tight, unreconstructed, a lairy, beery blare that existed apart from trends and clever marketing, loved by those that got it and ignored by everyone else - a band that cared and scared, grown ups you could care about. Flamin' marvellous!

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk