It's an odd thing, and we probably should get our physicists - those who love to discuss the uncertainty principle and Schrodinger's cat -in on this.

The 'thing' is that American music so dominates the world that it's come to be a royal pain in the ***. I've been forced to listen to crummy American pop in Iceland, in Paris, and in Prague. Look for 'gypsy music' on YouTube, and you will hear American jazz on traditional instruments.

Yet despite this hegemony, NO AMERICAN EVER ACTUALLY WROTE ANYTHING. Ask a Scotsman, and he will claim everything is Scottish. Ask a Brit, and it's British. Ask an Irishman, and it's Irish.

Baffling!