goto=mr hopkinson

Sometimes, sometimes there's a man - I won't say a hero, 'cause what's a hero? - but sometimes there's a man who, well, he's the man for his time and place, he fits right in there.

And I'm talking about Mr Hopkinson here. Before you rack your brains (geography teacher? next door neighbour?), you probably don't know Mr Hopkinson. In fact, I don't even know Mr Hopkinson. I do, however, know his computer. Personality-wise, Mr Hopkinson's computer is up there with the greats: Deep Blue with his taunting of Kasparov; HAL "I'm sorry, I can't do that Dave" 9000; you get the picture. Isaac Asimov ventured robots approaching humanity many years ago, but did he predict the heart and soul which Mr Hopkinson's computer pours into his music? Unlikely.

For a start, Isaac Asimov was probably more used to high-class muttonchop trimming than the original 'Fake Plastic Trees', let alone Mr Hopkinson's computer's cover version. Obviously, I'm familiar with the 'head's version, but it took a Spoilt Victorian Child to refer me to Mr Hopkinson's computer's rendition of the track. More can be found on MySpace, including a very funky Fool's Gold.