The first song I remember hearing
Kate Bush – ‘Wuthering Heights’
“It would’ve been on the radio and it caught my attention because of how it sounded. Then I saw it on the TV, and it was 50 times more powerful because of how she looked. As a four-year-old I fancied her, but she frightened the shit out of me.”
The first song I fell in love with
ABBA – ‘SOS’
“It sounds unearthly. Their accents – it was like someone pretending to do a pop song, and in doing so creating something entirely unique-sounding. It has a real sadness to it. I didn’t know that it was ABBA when I heard it, I just thought, ‘What the hell was that?'”
The first album I bought
Mike Oldfield – ‘Tubular Bells’
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“I wanted it and I couldn’t afford it. I would’ve been working on the till in Tesco in Bedford and I would’ve been 15 at the time. I remember telling people that I wanted it and they didn’t remember what it was because it wasn’t the name of a band.”
The song that made me want to be in a band
Roxy Music – ‘Ladytron’
“I loved Roxy Music’s first album because it sounded like ideas as opposed to conventional songs. I hadn’t heard anything like that. You could tell people in that band weren’t taught in a conventional way – they approached it as ideas first, and that really struck me as being what they wanted to do.”
The song I can no longer listen to
Nightcrawlers – ‘Push The Feeling On’
“It’s too painful, as it reminds me of my shoes sticking to the floor of a random nightclub, circa 1995, after surfacing at 1.50am, surrounded by strangers, to slowly discover that everyone I know has facked off. And I’ve no money for a bus. It’s an anthem of desolation and despair.”
The song that makes me want to dance
Junior Senior – ‘Move Your Feet’
“I heard it on the radio and imagined what the singer was like. Then I saw them on Jools Holland or something and saw some indie-looking guy and thought, ‘Wow, that’s impressive.’ But the song is great; it’s got that ABC sample. They may be a one-hit wonder, but they didn’t have to do anything else for me after that.”
The song I do at karaoke
Harold Faltermeyer – ‘Axel F’
“I only do karaoke half cut, so this song [an instrumental] would be the best option for everyone concerned. It would also help me to maintain some dignity and prevent me from being saddled with an iPhone reminder.”
The song I can’t get out of my head
Jean-Michel Jarre – ‘Oxygen (Part 4)’
“It’s got to the point where if I hear anything that is a C-note standalone I think it’s going into ‘Oxygene’. When I’m in the street and a taxi hits its horn and I hear a C, then I think it’s going to go [sings ‘Oxygene’ melody].”
The song I wish I’d written
Roxy Music – ‘In Every Dream Home a Heartache’
“it’s original and unconventional and the lyrics is superb. I have no real interest in how people write songs though – we’re all different. I’m as interested as anyone is in how people work, but I don’t analyse anyone else’s techniques.”
The song I want played at my funeral
The Merrymen – ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’
“It would be a terrible joke and you need a joke at a funeral. I want to make a mar, because it’ll be kind of sombre anyway. Especially if it’s before my time.”
This article was originally published in an April 2014 issue of NME