Now we move up to 1982, with John Martyn’s Well Kept Secret. It is a full out pop-jazz album. It’s amazing to think that the guy who made it is the same guy who made London Conversation 15 years earlier. Most people slow down, but not Martyn.

The song I’ve decided to highlight is “Gun Money.” It’s a rocker. And the lyrics are pretty angry. He refers over and over to his “dead end face” and seems to be mocking producers who will give you the sound of a Rolls Royce. But I’m not sure about the phrase “gun money.” Is he talking about the hired guns in the music business? Or is he whining about the high taxes and the fact that in his mid-30s he has nothing? I don’t know. I’m not sure he did either. But it’s quite a song: