I still can’t quite believe it started with Cliff Richard.

The germ of an idea that begat the current issue, that is. It was whilst flicking through one of those chart reference books late last year that I noticed that the toothsome tennis fan had released his Move It single in 1958. Back then, perhaps still more remarkably, Sir Clifford was being hailed ‘The English Elvis’. The questionable accuracy of this description notwithstanding, Move It was, and remains, a sprightly, exuberant piece of rock’n’roll.

It was also a hugely significant one. For here, one could argue, was the starting point for popular music in Great Britain. No Cliff, then, no Beatles, Bowie, Smiths, Radiohead et al. Perhaps. Either way, we are now half a century on from this landmark, and that seemed as good a reason as any to mark it.

Bolstering this notion still further, and this year’s Brits nominees aside, British music continues to inspire and excite. Be it Arctic Monkeys or Bat For Lashes, Klaxons or Burial, the best of today’s British music is connected indelibly to the best of yesterday’s British music; so too those rather fine notions of marching to your own beat and following your own rules remain intact.

Our music, both then and now, give us much to admire and celebrate. Hence, 50 Years Of Great British Music, aka the current issue of Q. Of course, trying to encapsulate such an expanse of time and such a cornucopia of significant music is a devilish task, and one guaranteed not to meet with universal approval. We have travelled this road a time or two before. So, what we have tried to do, and hopefully succeeded in doing is to bring together some of the defining flavours of British music, in ways both varied and I think insightful.

A number of key players have kindly written for us about the eras with which they were associated or have expert knowledge – Andrew Loog Oldham, Malcolm McClaren and the Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant among them. Others have reflected on there own bodies of work at length: The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Queen’s Brian May, Elvis Costello, The Prodigy, The Klaxons and, yes indeed, Sir Cliff Richard himself. One and all offer an insight into, and a passion for what it is to make and shape music. For which we thank them.

Obviously, we also couldn’t resist fashioning a large rod for our own backs here. On this occasion, it is made up of Q’s choice of the most notable albums and tracks across each of the last six decades of Great British music, based variously on their influence, their very Britishness or, quite simply, their greatness. I sense that someone, somewhere is already snorting their disagreement with one or more of these choices.

For once, though, you can have your own say on the best of British. For the next couple of weeks, Q and our friends at the nation’s foremost music store HMV are hosting a national vote to select the Best Ever British Album. Vote now, why not, either at Q4music.com or at www.hmv.com. By doing so, you may even get the chance to win the final 50 albums the country’s music fans deem to be the best of British.

As will increasingly be the way with such things, the 50 Years Of Great British Music concept is one that does not just exist to enjoyed (or, yes, disagreed with) online. Throughout this month, you can peruse Q’s 50 Best British Tracks online, download an exclusive interview and live session from The Courteeners' Liam Fray, hear the Great British Music Weekend on Q Radio, watch a month’s worth of Great British Music videos on QTV and, if you’ve been lucky, witness the Stereophonics play an intimate, one-off show at Q The Music Club at London’s The Hospital. Excitingly, our world is getting bigger. We hope you’ll choose to enter it, and use it, in every available way.

Should you need to, you can find details of how to access such things in this month’s issue of Q.

And that’s it for this month. Come March, and by way of demonstrating that Q’s view is an international one, we travel to Argentina and Morocco, share a round with a Ukranian gentleman of some repute, and bring the exclusive account of how one of America’s great bands have rediscovered their mojo. Until then…

PAUL REES – Editor, Q