Peaches En Regalia is the perfect radio theme tune. It’s instrumental music of indeterminable genre, of unspecified length and quite undemanding of the listener. It could be the background music for a speaker introducing a programme on the fine arts, history, politics or religion. For those potentially serious subjects it would set a light-hearted tone, inviting the listeners to sit back in their armchairs and prepare to be entertained as well as educated. In fact, it would be the perfect introduction to the Crotchety Man radio show, if such a thing was ever to come about.

Peaches is a single taken from Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats album of 1969. Zappa’s use of the then advanced recording technique of multi-tracking and messing about with the tape speeds makes it hard to unravel the instrumentation at first. It is basically a piece for keyboards and horns that swings along like an early nineteenth century dandy out for a foppish stroll. But, listen carefully, and you will hear flutes, saxophones and clarinets singing the jolly tune while processed bass guitar and percussion provide effortless momentum.

Whenever I hear Peaches En Regalia it makes me smile. This is feel-good music at its very best. If Lily the Pink‘s medicinal compound isn’t working for you, if you’re feeling glum and Don’t Worry, Be Happy doesn’t pick you up, if the fates are against you today and Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life fails to sooth your angst, try the Peaches En Regalia. That will do the trick. I give you my personal guarantee.