You might never have heard of the British folk duo Jane and Barton, but I'm pretty sure you've heard one of their songs a billion times.

In 1983 they released a single which was first credited only to Jane, but later appeared on their LP 'Jane And Barton' as song number two. It became a huge hit (UK charts) when it was covered by a band in 1992, and that version was then sampled by bunch of others, most famously a group of two brothers.

I really loved the cover version (especially on Rave Gener8tor), so when I found this original it felt like finding the holy rave grail.

Jane And Barton - It's A Fine Day
Listen / Buy: GEMM / eBay / Amazon.com

Edward Barton, who wrote the song, is (or was) apparently a rather well known poet and songwriter. In 1989 a cover LP called 'Edward Not Edward' was released, featuring artists like 808 State, The Inspiral Carpets, A Guy Called Gerald, Ruthless Rap Assassins (again, A Guy Called Gerald), and the Jane (from the group). It's funny that none of the bands chose to cover 'It's A Fine Day', which later became their biggest hit and everyone's favorite singalong rave hit.

(Oh, and he wrote some lyrics for 808 State, sang on a A Guy Called Gerald release, wrote an accappella album featuring a bunch of singers, and is rumoured to have appeared on a tv-show in the late 80s playing guitar in Tears for Fears's backing band. Hah!)