Traditionally, a tall, fat man is chosen to fulfill the role.

Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World (Samba) from Rei Momo (Luaka Bop, 1989)

Aah, good ol' David Byrne. Although his origins are something of a tongue twister: David Byrne born in Dumbarton, he is arguably the coolest man boxing out of that part of the world, (although Asa Hartford runs a close second). Now Byrne is the figurehead darling of New New Wave, an icon to everyone from The Arcade Fire to Maximo Park and a gaggle of twenty-something bands inbetween, all of them plundering the timeless punk-funk of his erstwhile outfit Talking Heads, his place in musical history undoubtedly rescued from cult status. Plus that whole Big Suit thing in Stop Making Sense was brilliant, and as a very impressionable 12 year old, that's where my love affair with the man began. I could go on about how amazing David Byrne is all the livelong day and how it wouldn't be foolish to step out right now and buy everything he's ever touched, from his many collaborations with the likes of Eno and Tharp to the delightfully quirky semi-musical True Stories, but I won't. But you should still get out there and stock up. Seriously.

As groundbreaking and just plain tops as the Heads were, there's very little to be said about them that you probably don't know already, or can be found elsewhere on websites infinitely hipper than this. This leaves a lot of hidden gems resting in his sadly overlooked solo work and in particular his first solo outing proper: 1989's Rei Momo.

Translating as "King of the Carnival", this whirlwind tour of South American musical styles is pretty much a joy from start to finish, but was somewhat doomed by being a million miles away from what people expected (despite half-hearted seeds of a Latin sound in the Heads' last complete album Naked) and dismissed by some as a Graceland wannabe.

The stand-out track and today's choice is Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World (Samba), a track which features a truly phenemonal backing performance from Kirsty MacColl which, particularly at the song's emphatic finale, will make the hairs on your neck stand on end.

As well as knowing his way around an ill-fitting suit, David Byrne is also a very funny and intelligent fellow, and his regularly updated journal is a fiercely wry take on the world and knocks many other social commentators into a cocked hat. So there.