Sting has identified Procol Harum’s 1967 single ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ as the song that best captures the psychedelic era. He said its mixture of classical-sounding organ, modern psychedelia and deliberately elusive lyrics draws listeners in, making it an enduring example of the genre.

The musician recalled repeatedly playing the record on a jukebox at an amusement park when he was a teenager, despite not being directly involved in the psychedelic scene. Released in 1967, the song reached number one in the UK for six weeks and became Procol Harum’s defining hit.