A 60th birthday celebration spanning 60 tracks over 40 years. Triple CD clamshell boxset with 24 page booklet.

Approx ¼ of the It's unusual to write sales notes in first person, but this is no ordinary compilation.

Very Terry Edwards is a birthday present to myself as much as anything else. When the earliest recording here was made the 18-year old me couldn't comprehend being 60, yet here I am presenting a triple album containing 60 titles recorded between 1979 and 2020, through thick and thin.

And yes - that is me on a camel, in a suit, by the Egyptian pyramids on the front. No digital trickery.

You'd expect an overview of my career to have some odd bedfellows and more than it's share of quirks and foibles, but it's been compiled to flow musically rather than have a chronological narrative.

I immediately break my own rules by starting with The Higsons' earliest release and debut single, but redeem myself by following up with the most recent recordings - two ballads recorded with Paul Cuddeford (Ian Hunter, Holy Holy) in February 2020.

There is more method than madness - groups of songs which follow a theme or genre are found together regardless of when they're from.

Robyn Hitchcock, Eric 'Drew' Feldman, Big Joan and Spleen are pooled, representing Beefheart & Bristol; the Space-Age section boasts Jimi Tenor, Mike Garson and Kimberley Rew; whereas classical cuts by Havering Youth Orchestra and a duet with Seamus Beaghen rub shoulders, nicely distanced from ska/reggae tunes by Rhoda Dakar, Lee Thompson's Ska Orchestra and other sundry members of Madness - plus there's a section on CD3 which is forever punk/post-punk featuring The Nightingales w/Vic Goddard, Serious Drinking, Snuff, Glen Matlock and Gallon Drunk.

Several tracks are previously unreleased, notably the two BBC sessions. Sure, there are many turns not featured here and I've chosen my favourite tracks above more famous ones in many cases but the whole is, ultimately, Very Terry Edwards.

If you miss things I'm on by the likes of Siouxsie, Julian Cope, Madness, Tindersticks, Hot Chip and PJ Harvey (though there's a cracking cover of Medicinals on CD2) I'm sure you can find them quite easily elsewhere.

You never know - I might try it again in 5, 10, 15 years time_ Terry Edwards - Summer 2020.