Beret? Check.

Beard? Check.

Bongos? Check and check.

OK cats, time to explore the life beatific. Get ready to move your bodhi, shake your (dharma) bum, untether your inner Maynard G Krebs and hit the road to Hipsville, capital of the state of Nirvana, calling at North Beach, Venice Beach, Newquay beach, Greenwich Village, Soho and the Latin Quarter of gay Paree.

And to guide you on your trip, we’ve pulled together a collection of some of the coolest kooks ever to slick down a lick and deliver a stanza bonanza.

Now, over to your Uncle Jack who’s just itchin’ to set the scene….

1 Jack Kerouac-Fantasy:The Early History Of Bop

2 Dizzy Gillespie-Salt Peanuts

3 Lord Buckley-The Train

4 Eden Ahbez-The Wanderer

5 Ken Nordine-Spectrum

6 Eddy Arnold-Hep Cat Boogie

7 The Champs-Beatnik

8 Harry Partch-The Letter

9 Ken Colyer’s Skiffle Group-downbound Train

10 The Vipers Skiffle Group-don’t You Rock Me Dadddy-o

11 Humphrey Lyttelton & His Band-Bad Penny Blues

12 Adam Faith-The Beat Girl Song

13 Brian Fahey-Street Of A Thousand Bongo’s

14 Rikky Baron-Angry Young Man

15 Christopher Logue / Tony Kinsey-Lithe Girl, Brown Girl

16 Cleo Laine-Let’s Slip Away

17 Eric The Beatnik-Beatnik philosophy

18 Davy Graham & Alexis Korner-3/4 A.D

19 Wizz Jones-Hard Times In Newquay

20 The Pines-Espresso

21 The Enchanters-Cafe Bohemian

22 Virginia Vee-Le Temps De La Boheme

23 Serge Gainsbourg-Requim Pour Un Twisteur

24 King Timothy-Gerrard Street

25 Lyn Cornell-African Waltz

26 Kenny Graham-Soho At Dawn

27 Local Counsellor-Beatniks In Newquay

28 Louis Armstrong-Beat Generation