Years ago (no prizes for guessing how many years ago), when my friends and I were teenagers who literally lived on ‘She Loves You’ or ‘A Hard Day's Night’, I never thought that one day these songs would be more than my favourite music or that they would even inspire my attempts at academic research. Back in the 1960s, the very thought of studying rock music never crossed my mind – reflections on such a pleasant subject seemed too dry and dull. If I were a boy, I am sure I would have joined a group (apparently I was aware even then that rock was a boy's world. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I never tried to touch the guitar) …