It’s been a lovely morning, and I’m just resting after lunch with a glass of Château Pontet Bagatelle La Rosée de Bagatelle 2008, Coteaux d’Aix en Provence (£9.99 from Great Northern Wine). Provence rose can be something of an overpriced disappointment, but this one, with its floral peach melba flavours and hint of pine is really tasty stuff. And I’m sipping it while listening to Johnny Clegg, a move prompted this morning by a shopping trip to Rochdale. I have to confess that Rochdale isn’t one of the UK’s beauty spots, although I’ve heard (not sure where) that the town hall was one of Hitler’s favourite buildings, and that as a result, the town was never bombed in the war.

Rochdale is the birthplace of a number of famous folk – stars such as, er, Gracie Fields, Anna Friel and Bill Oddie. And also Johnny Clegg, aka Le Zoulou Blanc, a man whose music provided both soundtrack and inspisation for the last years of the apartheid era in South Africa. He was never big in the UK, unlike In France where at the hieght of his popularity in 1988, Michael Jackson was forced to cancel a show in Lyon as it clashed with a gig by Johnny as his band Savuka. I’ve been mourning the passing of the late great Jacko by listening to several of his most infectious tracks, but today, prompted by my foray to the birthplace of The Co-op, I’m dosing up on Johnny Clegg. If you’ve never listened to him, two of the best songs are Impi…

…and Asimbonanga…

Enjoy…