Great bopping beats and a fantastic chorus. Lyrical content is Neneh's stalwart, female rivalry.

I went to a fancy dress party as Neneh once. Someone told me I looked more like Martika...

A cool portion of that underated genre, easy soul. Bradford's vocals (a less roaring Shirley Bassey is the nearest comparison I can think of) complement the light arrangement perfectly. Fits in with that whole John Schroeder Orchestra vibe. Sometimes you just want a lovely vocalist singing a nice song.

I always assumed I wouldn't like Millie Jackson. Maybe it was that album cover where she's sitting on the toilet that put me off. Or my assumption that all she sang about was doin' the dirty. Or the fact that EVERY SINGLE TIME you go through a funk / soul section in a second hand record shop there are at least three of her albums taking up residence there (must have made me think that no-one else liked her either). Then I found out about this gem.

Her first single from 1969, it's a pretty ruthless thing; driving down the poor sucker who bashed her affection, and coming out the other side. What marks it out from thousands of others with that content is its catchiness and commitment, and accompaniment by a squealing set-up that barks out the emotion of the song.

Really, really brilliant: somehow, more than the sum of its parts.

Swiss post-punk that really cheers me up. Certainly one of my favourite singles of all time, this. Five women (formerly named the corporate-baiting Kleenex) weave ununderstandable lyrics through a backing as tight as anything The Fall have ever produced. I first heard this in a Brighton record shop 5 or so years ago and nearly ripped it off the turntable in my anxiety to have it for my very own.

From that much maligned genre, eurodisco, comes an amazing story of a young girl moving to the city. She has dreams of dancing and making it under the bright lights, but is confronted only by people who see sexuality in her dancing, not freedom. She is exploited; her ideals ruined.

People think I make too much of the genius of Penny. I can often be heard espousing, at length, her brilliance and analysing her songs (I tend to do the latter in my head - there's only so much friends can take). Penny was pretty famous in Germany and only vaguely so everywhere else, primarily for the disco classic Lady Bump. She is now a sci-fi/fantasy novelist but unfortunately her books have not been translated into English else I'd doubtless find social comment in those as well...