You could be forgiven these days for thinking that the most important thing about music is having access to lots of instruments MIDI'd together, and then turning the sound they make into numbers and performing arithmetical tricks with them. Things were a bit different in the days of Little Richard, when people were using two mikes and single-track recorders. What they did concentrate on was the basics: namely sex, the beat, sassy clothes, outrage and innovation. These days we get most of those, but not the last.

There's nothing more boring than a decrepit old Ted bemoaning the state of modern music, but if there's one thing that we should bear in mind, it's that musical equipment is only the means, it's not the end. You can't call yourself a musician unless you understand the tools that are there for you to use, but equally we've got to make sure that we're using those tools to make something worthwhile — otherwise, we're just making demonstration pieces for the new technology. For this reason it's interesting to find out what was behind those people who originally put the electricity into Rock 'n' Roll. It's said that those who don't understand history are condemned to repeat it. Similarly those who don't understand what music is about will be condemned to play cover versions for the rest of their lives.