The Chain is our never-ending list of records, with every new track somehow connected to the last.

On each show, Stuart and Mark will play three records and discuss the connections that link them.

You can suggest the next link in The Chain by using the contact form.

 ***500*** T.REX - 20TH CENTURY BOY
^ 1999 was the end of the 20th century...

499. PRINCE - 1999
^ Prince wears purple...

498. THE PURPLE GANG - GRANNY TAKES A TRIP
^ 'Babooshka' is Russian for Grandmother so....

497. KATE BUSH - BABOOSHKA
^ 'Babooshka' has got 'boo' in it, innit...

496. THE BOO RADLEYS - WAKE UP BOO!
^ From one Wirral band to another...

495. O.M.D. - ELECTRICITY
^ From Michelle Shocked to electric shocks and...

494. MICHELLE SHOCKED - ANCHORAGE
^ Robert Palmer's video for Addicted to Love was once parodied by Michelle Shocked, so...

493. ROBERT PALMER - JOHNNY AND MARY
^ Tony Thompson of Chic was in the Power Station with Robert Palmer, so...

492. CHIC - LE FREAK
^ A song which has its origins in the nightclub Studio 54 is...

491. TOOTS & THE MAYTALS - 54-46 THAT'S MY NUMBER
^ Johnny Cash performed that song at San Quentin prison. This song is also about being in a prison...

490. JOHNNY CASH - A BOY NAMED SUE
^ From one Sue to another...

489. BUDDY HOLLY - PEGGY SUE
^ Peaches' B-side was 'Go Buddy Go'...

488. THE STRANGLERS - PEACHES
^ Little Richard was also known as the Georgia Peach...

487. LITTLE RICHARD - TUTTI FRUTTI
^ A Medina is a type of cocktail. In the film 'Cocktail' the following song was featured...

486. TONE LOC - FUNKY COLD MEDINA
^ One type of funky connects another...

485. LIPPS INC. - FUNKYTOWN
^ Here's a disco track, arguably the last big disco hit...

484. STEREOLAB - FRENCH DISKO ^ From French to French...

483. DEBBIE HARRY - FRENCH KISSIN' (IN THE USA)
^ From kiss to kiss...

482. KISS - CRAZY, CRAZY NIGHTS
^ Pogue is kiss in Irish Gaelic, so...

481. THE POGUES - STREAMS OF WHISKEY
^ Whiskey is a spirit, so...

480. NORMAN GREENBAUM - SPIRIT IN THE SKY
^ Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac was born Peter Allen Greenbaum, so...

479. FLEETWOOD MAC - BLACK MAGIC WOMAN
^ Santana covered The Zombies' 'She's Not There' and also...

478. THE ZOMBIES - SHE'S NOT THERE
^ From one zombie... to many!

477. THE CRANBERRIES - ZOMBIE
^ If you're not very alive you might be undead...

476. THE HOLLIES - I'M ALIVE ^ Graham Nash was once in the Hollies...

475. CROSBY, STILLS & NASH - MARRAKESH EXPRESS
^ The Casbah is Algiers, in North Africa, as is Marrakech...

474. THE CLASH - ROCK THE CASBAH
^ 'Whole Lotta Love' was on Led Zep II, which Glyn Johns produced (although this was disputed by Jimmy Page). Glyn Johns also produced the 1982 album 'Combat Rock' by the Clash, which featured this song...

473. LED ZEPPELIN - WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
^ Early 1990s ITV show Raw Power featured Love In An Elevator in its theme tune. The Top Of The Tops theme was...

472. AEROSMITH - LOVE IN AN ELEVATOR ^ The firm Otis makes lifts...

471. OTIS REDDING - THESE ARMS OF MINE
^ Hands are to be found on the ends of arms...

470. REEF - PLACE YOUR HANDS
^ The band Reef had an album called 'Rides'...

469. T.REX - RIDE A WHITE SWAN
^ Bjork famously wore a dress that looked like a swan... hence...

468. BJORK - IT'S OH SO QUIET
^ Hush now...

467. KULA SHAKER - HUSH
^ From Bill Haley to actress Hayley Mills, and her son Crispian Mills, the frontman of Kula Shaker...

466. BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS - ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
^ From satellites to comets...

465. LOU REED - SATELLITE OF LOVE
^ Sticking with love...

464. GAY DAD - TO EARTH WITH LOVE
^ From one gay to another...

463. OMD - ENOLA GAY
^ B-52 was an aircraft, as was the B-29, a famous example of which was called Enola Gay...

462. THE B-52's - PLANET CLAIRE
^ From the planet Venus to...

461. SHOCKING BLUE - VENUS
^ Also from 1969, and to the Goddess of Love...

460. JUICY LUCY - WHO DO YOU LOVE
^ From one Lucy to another...

459. THE BEATLES - LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
^ From 'the boy with the thorn in his side' to 'the girl with kaleidoscope eyes'...

458. THE SMITHS - THE BOY WITH THE THORN IN HIS SIDE
^ A thorn? In his side? That's got to hurt...

457. JOHNNY CASH - HURT
^ Johnny Cash covered Personal Jesus. From the same album, this cover of a Nine Inch Nails song...

456. DEPECHE MODE - PERSONAL JESUS
^ Peter Gabriel provided the score for the film The Last Temptation of Christ, so...

455. PETER GABRIEL - DON'T GIVE UP
^ Kate Bush joins Peter Gabriel for vocal duties on...

454. IKE & TINA TURNER - NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS
^ From 'I Can' to 'Ike and'! Or from grass to bush...

453. THE MOVE - I CAN HEAR THE GRASS GROW
^ If your ears were working overtime, you might hear the grass growing...

452. XTC - SENSES WORKING OVERTIME
^ Altogether now... "1-2-3-4-5..."

451. MANFRED MANN - 5-4-3-2-1
^ From one man...to another!

450. THE HUMAN LEAGUE - THE MIRROR MAN
^ If you're vain you might look at yourself in the mirror...

449. CARLY SIMON - YOU'RE SO VAIN
^ Are they related? From Paul to....

448. PAUL SIMON - YOU CAN CALL ME AL
^ And one from Al to another...

447. AL GREEN - LET'S STAY TOGETHER
^ From one Green to another...

446. THE LEMON PIPERS - GREEN TAMBOURINE
^ From one tambourine to another...

445. THE BYRDS - MR TAMBOURINE MAN
^ Housemartins are birds....

444. THE HOUSEMARTINS - THINK FOR A MINUTE
^ From one Minute to another...

443. ARETHA FRANKLIN - THINK
^ When Dylan was first signed to Columbia by John Hammond, he was known as 'Hammond's Folly'. Mr Hammond also signed up Aretha...

442. BOB DYLAN - TANGLED UP IN BLUE
^ This Dylan track features the phrase 'keep on keeping on'...

441. THE REDSKINS - KEEP ON KEEPING ON
^ Sticking with the Native American theme...

440. THE SHADOWS - APACHE
^ Native American tribes once used bows and arrows...

439. ABC - POISON ARROW
^ Roll Away The Stone has a bit of dialogue in the middle. So does...

438. MOTT THE HOOPLE - ROLL AWAY THE STONE
^ Thunder Thighs backed Mott The Hoople on this track...

437. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - THUNDER ROAD
^ From Lightning... to Thunder...

436. RICHARD THOMPSON - 1952 VINCENT BLACK LIGHTNING
^ From one Vincent to another...

435. GENE VINCENT - SAY MAMA
^ Alice Cooper's real name is Vincent Furnier...

434. ALICE COOPER - ONLY WOMEN BLEED
^ Alice has played golf with Lloyd (and once apparently introduced this song live saying that "even Lloyd Cole never wrote a song about menstruation"...)

433. LLOYD COLE & THE COMMOTIONS - LOST WEEKEND
^ The first line of the following song talks about a 'lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam'....

432. ELVIS COSTELLO - NEW AMSTERDAM
^ Another connection with Holland...

431. MALCOLM MCLAREN - DOUBLE DUTCH
^ TMBG sang the theme tune to TV show Malcolm In The Middle, so...

430. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL
^ Jason and the Argonauts are mentioned in the lyrics of...

429. XTC - JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
^ From Scritti Politti's album Cupid & Psyche, sticking with Roman/Greek gods...

428. SCRITTI POLITTI - THE WORD GIRL
^ From word to word...

427. CAMEO - WORD UP
^ Glasgow band Gun had a hit when they covered Word Up by Cameo...

426. THE CLASH - TOMMY GUN
^ From Tommy Ramone to...

425. THE RAMONES - BEAT ON THE BRAT
^ And from one beat... to another...

424. THE BEAT - STAND DOWN MARGARET
^ From Maggie...to Margaret...

423. BOB DYLAN - MAGGIE'S FARM
^ Alex James from Blur now lives on a farm... so...

422. BLUR - PARKLIFE
^ The Who's film was called Quadrophenia, which starred Phil Daniels. Who also featured in...

421. THE WHO - 5.15
^ From Ben Folds Five... to Five Fifteen...

420. BEN FOLDS FIVE - BATTLE OF WHO COULD CARE LESS
^ And Champagne Supernova was covered by...

419. OASIS - CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA
^ From the Vauxhall VIVA... to the Vauxhall NOVA by way of...

418. ELVIS PRESLEY - VIVA LAS VEGAS
^ ZZ Top also recorded this song by...

417. ZZ TOP - LEGS
^ If you go barefoot, you can see your legs...

416. ROBERT PARKER - BAREFOOTING
^ Sandie Shaw rarely wore shoes...

415. SANDIE SHAW - HAND IN GLOVE
^ Robert Smith of The Cure and Steven Severin both played in The Banshees and The Glove...

414. THE CURE - THE LOVECATS
^ From cats to cats...

413. THE STRAY CATS - STRAY CAT STRUT
^ Lee Rocker is the bass player in...

412. JOHN LEE HOOKER - BOOM BOOM
^ From Toni Basil, to Basil Brush and his catchphrase...

411. TONI BASIL - MICKEY
^ The Monkees' film 'Head', which was co-written by Jack Nicholson. He appeared in the 1969 film, 'Easy Rider' as did... **(Double link - Mickey Dolenz was the drummer and singer in the Monkees)**

410. THE MONKEES - VALLERI
^ From one Valerie to....

409. THE ZUTONS - VALERIE
^ Mick Ronson played on the previous record. Mark Ronson just recorded "Valerie" with Amy Winehouse so how about the original by...

408. IAN HUNTER - ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY
^ From bus to the 'greyhound bus' mentioned in....

407. JONATHAN RICHMAN - YOU'RE CRAZY FOR TAKING THE BUS
^ Featuring the line "you take the plane, but I'll take the bus", it's...

406. STATUS QUO - PAPER PLANE
^ Sticking with planes...

405. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - SOMEBODY TO LOVE
^ Jefferson Airplane's singer Grace Slick named her daughter China...

404. DAVID BOWIE - CHINA GIRL
^ Fanfare... was the official theme of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. This year the Olympics are in China, so...

403. EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER - FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN
^ From common people to common man...

402. PULP - COMMON PEOPLE
^ Slade School of Art is in London, as is Central St Martin's College of Art and Design. The latter is mentioned in the lyrics of... Christmas Celebrity Chain - Noddy Holder

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Noddy Holder
401. SLADE - MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY
^ You Need Love was written by Willie Dixon. Many of his songs were covered by British groups including The Animals, who had a hit with You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover. Chas Chandler of The Animals managed Slade and gave them their name...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Richard Hawley
400. MUDDY WATERS - YOU NEED LOVE
^ Led Zep used this as the basis for Whole Lotta Love...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - KT Tunstall
399. LED ZEPPELIN - COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
^ From breakdown... to breakdown...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Vashti Bunyan
398. THE ROLLING STONES - 19TH NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
^ The Stones' 19th Nervous Breakdown has always summed up life to Vashti Bunyan...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Simon Aldred aka Cherry Ghost
397. FRANK SINATRA - THAT'S LIFE
^ Kicking a boy would reasonably and most probably incur the wrath of Childline founder Esther Rantzen, who presented the TV series That's Life...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Simon Armitage
396. THE SUNDAYS - I KICKED A BOY
^ The day before Monday is...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Neil Hannon
395. HAPPY MONDAYS - LOOSE FIT
^ From PIL to the album Pills, Thrills & Bellyaches and this track...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Miranda Sawyer
394. PUBLIC IMAGE LTD - THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG
^ The lyrics of the first part of History were taken from William Blake's poem London. Jah Wobble made an album called 'Inspired By William Blake' and he played bass with Public Image...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Nicky Wire
393. THE VERVE - HISTORY
^ From the Nile to the Thames, a river mentioned in the opening verse of History...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Julie Fowlis
392. THE BLUE NILE - TINSELTOWN IN THE RAIN
^ From Joni Mitchell's album Blue, to the Blue Nile...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Kate Walsh
391. JONI MITCHELL - A CASE OF YOU
^ Roy Wood's other band ELO had a hit with Mr. Blue Sky. Joni Mitchell made the album Blue. From it...

Christmas Celebrity Chain - Roy Wood
390. WIZZARD - I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY
^ The first line of Roy's Christmas song is 'When the snowman brings the snow'...

389. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - FIFTEEN FEET OF PURE WHITE SNOW
^ From white lines to white snow...

388. GRANDMASTER FLASH & MELLE MEL - WHITE LINES (DON'T DO IT)
^ What do you get in the middle of the road? White lines....

387. BLACKFOOT SUE - STANDING IN THE ROAD
^ Kev from the Isle of Man owns a Merc. It's broken down, therefore he is....

386. JANIS JOPLIN - MERCEDES BENZ
^ Jim Morrison died aged 27. As did...

385. THE DOORS - L.A. WOMAN
^ And from the La's to L.A.

384. THE LA'S - THERE SHE GOES
^ From Las to La's....

383. COCTEAU TWINS - HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS
^ Massive Attack have on occasion employed the services of Cocteau Twins singer Liz Fraser...

382. MASSIVE ATTACK - UNFINISHED SYMPATHY
^ From one massive to another...

381. MUSE - SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE
^ Stars collapse and create black holes, or something...

380. IAN BROWN - MY STAR
^ Peter Buck of R.E.M. was associated with an air rage incident, as was Ian Brown...

379. R.E.M. - WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY, KENNETH?
^ Radios, frequencies...

378. SELECTER - ON MY RADIO
^ Pauline Black was in Selecter...

377. SUPER FURRY ANIMALS - HERMANN LOVES PAULINE
^ From one Hermann to another...

376. HERMAN'S HERMITS - I'M INTO SOMETHING GOOD
^ Hermann Hesse wrote 'Steppenwolf' the novel... therefore...

375. STEPPENWOLF - BORN TO BE WILD
^ The Weight was heard in the film Easy Rider, as was...

374. THE BAND - THE WEIGHT
^ Nazareth had an album called Malice In Wonderland, and they took their name from a line in The Weight...

373. THE JAM - TOWN CALLED MALICE
^ Another film on the Billy Elliot soundtrack was...

372. T-REX - COSMIC DANCER
^ Lady Stardust was written about Marc Bolan, so...

371. DAVID BOWIE - LADY STARDUST
^ From one Stardust to another...

370. DAVID ESSEX - STARDUST
^ Another great rock film was Stardust...

369. LITTLE RICHARD - THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT
^ 20 Flight Rock features in the film The Girl Can't Help It, so...

368. EDDIE COCHRAN - 20 FLIGHT ROCK
^ After 19 comes 20...

367. STEELY DAN - HEY 19
^ After 18 comes 19...

366. ALICE COOPER - I'M EIGHTEEN
^ John Lydon auditioned for the Pistols by miming to...

365. SEX PISTOLS - PRETTY VACANT
^ Duel... pistols at dawn...

364. PROPANGANDA - DUEL
^ Claudia Brucken made an album called Love And a Million Other Things, so...

363. KRAFTWERK - COMPUTER LOVE
^ Apple Macs are computers, so...

362. FLEETWOOD MAC - RHIANNON
^ John McVie and Mick Fleetwood played on Werewolves of London, and indeed in...

361. WARREN ZEVON - WEREWOLVES OF LONDON
^ Staying with the lupine theme...

360. HOWLING WOLF - SMOKESTACK LIGHTNIN'
^ From one lightning to another...

359. THE LIGHTNING SEEDS - LIFE OF RILEY
^ Vini Reilly is in the Durutti Column... therefore...

358. THE DURUTTI COLUMN - OTIS
^ From one Otis to another...

357. OTIS REDDING - TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS
^ In the film 'Pretty in Pink', one of the characters mimes to the following:

356. PSYCHEDELIC FURS - PRETTY IN PINK
^ From one pink to another...

355. PINK FLOYD - CYMBALINE
^ Richard the Third was a play by Shakespeare. So was...

354. SUPERGRASS - RICHARD III
^ "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" is a mnemonic to remember the colours of a rainbow. Richard of York was also known as Richard the Third....

353. NIRVANA - RAINBOW CHASER
^ Staying with rainbows...

352. RAINBOW - SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE
^ From the other side of the relationship...

351. THE AVALANCHES - SINCE I LEFT YOU
^ Landslides, stuff slipping down hills, avalanches...

350. DIXIE CHICKS- LANDSLIDE
^ A band that named themselves after Dixie Chicken were...

349. LITTLE FEAT- DIXIE CHICKEN
^ Wings are on birds. Chickens are birds.

348. WINGS - LET 'EM IN
^ Phil and Don Everly brothers are given a 'shout-out' by Sir Paul in the following tune:

347. THE EVERLY BROTHERS - ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DREAM
^ Since in rem sleep you remember dreams - most vividly...

346. R.E.M. - ORANGE CRUSH
^ Green Gartside is in Scritti Politti. 'Green' is also the album from which the following song is taken...

345. SCRITTI POLITTI - THE SWEETEST GIRL
^ Aretha Franklin was mentioned in the title of a Scritti Politti song ('Wood Beez: Pray like Aretha Franklin'). So...

344. ARETHA FRANKLIN - NEVER LOVED A MAN
^ Dr Feelgood was also a song recorded by...

343. DR FEELGOOD - ROXETTE
^ From Rox-anne...to....

342. THE POLICE - ROXANNE
^ Roxanne apparently didn't need to put on a red light in her bordello...

341. GOGOL BORDELLO - START WEARING PURPLE
^ Another type of purple is....

340. JEFF BUCKLEY - LILAC WINE
^ Grapes grow on a grapevines and make wine....so....

339. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL - I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
^ Marvin Gaye sang 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine'. So did...

338. MARVIN GAYE - ABRAHAM, MARTIN & JOHN
^ From one type of Martyn...to another...

337. JOHN MARTYN - SOLID AIR
^ From one Air to another...

336. CURVED AIR - BACK STREET LUV
^ From one Back to another...

335. THE O'JAYS - BACK STABBERS
^ Orange juice. Also known as OJ....

334. ORANGE JUICE - RIP IT UP
^ 'Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight' was a line said by The Joker in the film 'Batman'. In France, 'Joker' is a brand of orange juice...therefore...^

333. COSY POWELL - DANCE WITH THE DEVIL
^ Robert Powell was in 'The Detectives'...he shares the same surname as....

332. ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS - WATCHING THE DETECTIVES
^ Looking for clues...well, that's what detectives do isn't it?

331. ROBERT PALMER - LOOKING FOR CLUES
^ Robert Palmer had an album called 'Pressure Drop'..and here's another tune by him.

330. TOOTS & THE MAYTALS - PRESSURE DROP
^ The B-side to 'English Civil War' was 'Pressure Drop'. Also recorded by...

329. THE CLASH - ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
^ Sandy Pearlman produced 'Don't Fear the Reaper', and he also produced:

328. BLUE OYSTER CULT - DON'T FEAR THE REAPER
^ Patti Smith's boyfriend and co-writer of 'Kimberley' was in....

327. PATTI SMITH - KIMBERLEY
^ Patti Smith had an album called 'Horses'. This track is on it:

326. THE ROLLING STONES - WILD HORSES
^ Gram Parsons hung out with the Stones. This song was inspired by him:

325. THE FLYING BURRITO BROS - HOT BURRITO #2
^ Emmylou wrote 'Boulder...' about Gram Parsons. Gram Parsons was in...

324. EMMYLOU HARRIS - BOULDER TO BIRMINGHAM
^ From a rock...to a boulder...

323. VELVET UNDERGROUND - ROCK & ROLL
^ In BBC comedy Little Britain, the characters Lou and Andy take their names from Lou Reed and Andy Warhol, so...

322. DREADZONE - LITTLE BRITAIN
^ Bob Marley had dreadlocks, so...

321. BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - EXODUS
^ Genesis is the first book of the Bible, and Exodus is the second...

320. GENESIS - I KNOW WHAT I LIKE (IN YOUR WARDROBE)
^ The claustrophobic video for Close To Me features a wardrobe being filled with water, so...

319. THE CURE - CLOSE TO ME
^ Robert Smith of The Cure also played for the Banshees...

318. SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - DEAR PRUDENCE
^ From Debbie Harry to Harry Corbett and the Sooty Show, which featured Sue the panda. From Sue to Sioux...

317. BLONDIE - HEART OF GLASS
^ Er... from one type of heart to another...

316. NEIL YOUNG - HEART OF GOLD
^ From one precious metal to another...

315. MERCURY REV - GODDESS ON THE HIWAY
^ From a road... to a highway...

314. ROGER MILLER - KING OF THE ROAD
^ From one Miller to another...

313. STEVE MILLER BAND -THE JOKER
^ Steve Miller is 64. Et voila...

312. THE BEATLES - WHEN I'M 64
^ From 808 to 8 times 8. Which equals 64... so why not...

311. 808 STATE - PACIFIC STATE
^ Bjork has also sung some of the tracks of...

310. BJORK - PLAY DEAD
^ The following tune was on the soundtrack to the film 'Young Americans'...

309. DAVID BOWIE - YOUNG AMERICANS
^ Statue of Liberty is in America. So, naturally....

308. XTC - STATUE OF LIBERTY
^ From white man to a track from their 'White Music' album...

307. THE CLASH - WHITE MAN IN HAMMERSMITH PALAIS
^ Damon Album is in The Good the Bad & the Queen. So is Paul Simenon from the Clash...

306. BLUR - BEETLEBUM
^ From the Beatles, to a beetle...

305. THE BEATLES - BACK IN THE USSR
^ A Russian link:

304. ROBERT WYATT - STALIN WASN'T STALLIN'
^ Or to give Scott Walker's song its official title....The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated To The Neo-Stalinist Regime). Therefore....

303. SCOTT WALKER - THE OLD MAN'S BACK AGAIN
^ Jacques Brel wrote Next, and Scott Walker is a noted interpreter of Brel's songs...

302. SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND - NEXT
^ Alex Harvey almost always wore a stripey jumper! So...

301. THE WHITE STRIPES - SEVEN NATION ARMY
^ Another boy-girl duo and another female drummer: from Karen Carpenter to Meg White...

300. THE CARPENTERS - GOODBYE TO LOVE
^ From a carpenter... to... well...