I don’t propose to dwell on our sample songs as their meaning is best discerned by those who wear their critic’s hat more consistently than I. One only has to look at the mistakes made by great songwriters to know that they are not an infallible guide to their creations or the wider scene that shapes them.

We cover six decades in a month with seven examples to choose from. That is, if you don’t count the folk rock song Barbed Wire Blues, the country rock song Who Was That at the Drive-in?, the alt-rock of It’s Your Loss, not to mention all the subsets like cowpunk and shockabilly.

It’s helpful to be comprehensive but I don’t think simply articulating a song as rock (or not) serves the same purpose as looking at the assembly. I’ll keep bringing in useful tidbits as we go along.