69: COLIN BLUNSTONE
Say You Don't Mind/ Let Me Come Closer To You
(Epic, 1972)

CERTAIN songs will inevitably have certain unshakeable associations depending on when they happen along in your life, and so it is with the two hit singles which Colin Blunstone bequeathed to the UK charts in 1972.

Every time I hear Say You Don't Mind and its equally lovely chart companion I Don't Believe In Miracles I picture the round blue plastic National Panasonic radio, which looked a bit like the head of Zippy from Rainbow, which my sister bought me for Christmas 1971.

Not a memory of earth-shattering significance, granted, but one which nevertheless brings me a great deal of personal happiness. I would turn on this radio the moment I woke up and lie in bed on freezing school mornings, too warm to face the horror and abject misery of actually getting up but nevertheless consoled by the gentle melancholy of Colin's songs, which always seemed to be playing at that time.

It was always autumn in the early 1970s, brown leaves to match the brown cars and brown clothes, and no one was more autumnal than Colin Blunstone. His unimpeachable work with The Zombies had already proved his worth beyond measure, and now here he was in a big acrylic polo neck and furry jacket, looking reflective against a background of bare trees on beautiful albums such as One Year and Ennismore.

Say You Don't Mind was Colin's interpretation of a 1967 song by Denny Laine, then freshly departed from the mark one Moody Blues. Where the original was a broad, amiable shuffle, Colin's version was pared down to the point where his inimitably breathy vocal was backed solely by a string quartet.

This was a brave if undeniably arresting move, and kudos must go to Chris Gunning for his wonderful string arrangement, which adds a wealth of harmonic colouration and counterpoint to an already airborne melody.

That voice, though, seals the deal. Like Robert Wyatt, Colin Blunstone is gifted with the rare ability to vault clean over your defences and speak directly to your soul. Gratifyingly, his profile seems to be growing by the year after far too long being effectively forgotten. Can you believe that one of Britain's finest vocalists was so disillusioned after the Zombies episode that he briefly gave up music and sold insurance instead?