Further to the thread the other day about losing, borrowing, stealing, and doing all sorts of other things to favourite records, I found myself humming this as I was stuck at the traffic lights on way to work the other day, as I’ve been wont to do for the last 23 years, and musing that I’ve never been able to buy it as I’ve never even seen a copy. I even collared their drummer at a gig once and asked if he knew where I might be able to find a copy and he had no idea either.

Apart from John Peel playing their records at every opportunity, Bob made about as little impression on the pop world as it was possible to get away with but still keep going for a few years, and they were my favourite band. I went to see them whenever they played anywhere within about a 30-mile radius (I’m talking about British roads here), we booked them to play at our local community centre, and I own all of their records except this one. And they are almost all as good as this one, which made number 31 in John Peel’s Festive Fifty (as nominated and voted for by his listeners)—which was about the closest they ever got to recognition.

One of my greatest fanboy experiences was bumping into them at the bar at the Town and Country Club (as it was called then) at a Julian Cope gig and missing the first 2 songs of the second half of the show through being engrossed in conversation with them. I practically had to go and lie down when Dean, their drummer, recognised me and stopped for a chat in the Cabaret tent at Glastonbury a couple of years later.

So, in an attempt to feel less alone, I have two questions for the Hall:

1. Is there a record you would like to own that you have just never managed to find? (I’m talking about one that you’d actually play and listen to, not just for being ridiculously valuable.)
2. Have you ever followed a band whose talent it feels/felt that no-one but you and about 3 other people have been able to recognise? (Getting above number 30 in any chart of any description counts as success, particularly if it involves record sales).

It’s time for a little Dugout Chatter, when Townspeople provide gut answers to a handful of probing questions. You know the drill, right? In case you’re not sure, there’s no right or wrong answers, just honest ones. Today’s Dugout Chatter questions will test the honesty of even the most candid Townspeople. Here goes!

• What’s the coolest record you just missed buying, or walked away from buying only to regret ever since?
• What’s the coolest record you ever lost, or that an old friend once borrowed and never returned (with tremendous regrets to this day, I’m sure)?
• What’s the coolest record you ever broke, not necessarily a record you ever owned?
• What’s the coolest record you’ve regretted selling/trading, before you appreciated how cool it was?
• What’s the coolest record you’ve stolen or failed to return to a library/friend/etc (with tremendous regrets to this day, it goes without saying)?

I look forward to hearing about the ones that got way.