As I stood watching a very moving performance from the mighty Burt Bacharach in the Iveagh Gardens - designed by the fabulously monikered Ninian Niven - it occurred to me, and not for the first time, that a life well lived is the only sensible policy. The man is in his nineties, and no stranger to a party. Dr McJagger had another birthday this week too, he's out in some enormodome in the Americas as we speak, fresh from the operating table, another (living) martyr to the good times. Sir Robert Plant is also looking well. I speculated again on this hypothesis as I sat under a tree in the splendidly named hamlet of Gumpersberg in central Germany, a fair fräulein by my side, a strong glass of Schmucker in my hand as a defence against the 40 plus degree heat. It's a hard old station.

All things in moderation is the cry in this strange age. Blast and damn to that! Do you want to grow old to look like Cliff Richard or Keith Richards? That's that argument settled, and I've already long lost the battle.

In honour of the continuing quest for the gratification - hey, I'll drink to that! - here's another Golden Hour playlist. We recommend you take it with a glass of something sweet in your favourite chair, although you'll be up out of it swiftly enough once that Luther Vandross number leaps out of the speakers. Don't forget to follow the Hot Press Spotify profile, and hit that Golden Hour heart button. Cheers.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7qBNpo7JhJ66af2flrBwsO?si=dHyyJBBZTieuq2eTnC9gMA