If you stand a brogue shoe up on its toe, the embossed cap traces out a pattern like the letter W, or a set of wings. In many such shoes, the wings taper off to meet the midsole. This is the sort favoured by city gents or weekend amateurs. But for brogue aficionados, the only acceptable design is when the wings stretch right back to meet at the back of the heel. This is known as the longwing, or the American brogue, although confusingly, the Americans call it the English brogue. Anyway, the style rocks, and has been loved by jazzers, savvy entrepreneurs and teenage moonstompers alike. The daddy of this shoe was the Florsheim Imperial Shell Full Brogue Derby, a classic of its day. The show was made of cordovan, horse hide with a signature look when it started to wear in. Today's equivalent is the Alden Longwing Blucher, available in one of Belfast's upmarket menswear shops. Talk to your bank manager and see if you can prise upwards of £500 for the pleasure. Assuming that funds are challenged, there are alternatives like the Allen Edmonds McNeil or the Loake Royal. The latter has been revived from the Seventies design and is a shiny invitation to get on the good foot.

Back in 1986 I was working near Mornington Crescent in London and I would routinely bump into a publicist called Patrick, who worked by Camden Road. He was an affable chap of Irish descent and he often talked about his friend called Sinead, who was writing songs, making a record and giving birth.

Then one day, he brought me into his office and put a test pressing on the record player. The tune was called 'Troy' and I was transfixed.
A couple of weeks later and I had my first meeting with Sinead O' Connor. She was soft-spoken, but hated Bono with a passion. The hair was cropped, the eyes were piercing and the Doc Martin boots brokered no forgiveness. I thought she was the best. Soon there was a wonderful album that quoted from the Bible and WB Yeats, that referenced Synge and West African dancers, fierce love and a lesbian from Amsterdam.
There were controversial spats and a mind-blowing gig at the Dominion Theatre. You'd meet her sometimes and she was thriving in this new era. Then the second album came out, she went stellar and the distress also increased. I interviewed her around the time of 'My Special Child' and she spoke about her miscarriages. Then I watched her at the Bob Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden in 1992, not long after she had ripped up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. Some of the audience cheered, but the overwhelming sound was of hatred and contempt. I've not heard anything like it since. I sat with her four days later and all she wanted to talk about was revolution.
Anyway, Sinead has a new record coming out, called 'The Wolf Is Getting Married'. The voice is perfection, the emotions are ablaze and the raw, personal ciphers take me back to that first album. In a moment, you forget about the tabloid stories, the erratic times. Listen and behold.

'Crazy To Love You' by Leonard Cohen is a song about the devastating potential of true love. You have to jettison all dignity and self-respect. There's no guarantee that the deal will be requited. Leonard sings it with the parched dismay of someone who has bet everything and may not emerge with a fibre of comfort. The guitar is forlorn, barely involved. The singer tells you about his time in the tower, the relentless decline. Leonard can caress the words when he wants to, with that spectacular baritone. But on this occasion, the words are unadorned, the art all purchased out.
BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM
Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster
Blog: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stuartbailie/
Mondays, ten - midnight

The Dramatics - Since I've Been In Love (Stax)
Zooey Deschanel - Hey Girl (itunes)
Summer Camp - Losing My Mind (Moshi Moshi)
Marianne Faithful - profile
School Of Seven Bells - The Night (Full Time Hobby)
Nick Lowe - Somebody Cares For Me (Proper)
Sweet Lights - Endless Town (Highline)
Mark Lanegan - Harbourview Hospital (4ad)
Sinead O' Connor - The Wolf Is Getting Married (One Little Indian)
School Of Seven Bells - When You Sing (Full Time Hobby)
Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation (Vertigo)
Jane Bradfords - Debris (white)
Liz Green - Bad Medicine (PIAS)
Wilco - Dawned On Me (Dbpm)
David Lyttle - Uncertain steps (Lyte)
Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Pictures (white)
The Five Royals - Think (King)
Craig Finn - Jackson (Full Time Hobby)
Duke Special - Cherry Blossom Girl (Reel To Reel)
Maccabees - Feel To Follow (Fiction)
Shelby Lynne - Even Angels (Everso)
Leonard Cohen - Crazy To Love You (Columbia)
Robert Ellis - Friends Like Those (New West)
Nick Lowe - Stoplight Roses (Proper)
David Lyttle - This Moon Of Ours (Lyte)