🔗 Share this article

The first song I became enamored with
My most primal memory is walking into a room at nursery school where they were blasting Yellow Submarine by the Fab Four. I was mesmerized by the sound effects, and Lennon yelling: “Full speed ahead!” When it reached the chorus, I recall believing: “This must be music!”

The very first 45 I purchased
When I was eight years old, I won a contest at school to pick a brand new vinyl to play at the weekly dance party we had on Friday afternoons. My instructor took me to Woolworths, and I picked out Come Back My Love by Darts. The first record I bought with my own pocket money was Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney's Wings from a record shop in Lancashire. It was topping the charts at the time, and I selected it when my father noted that it was by one of the Beatles.

The track I perform at sing-along
I frankly do not enjoy karaoke and steer clear at all costs. But if forced, I’d go with Summer Wind by Ol' Blue Eyes.

The piece I inexplicably know every lyric to
I recently realised that I know virtually the entire lyrical content to The Boy in the Bubble, You Can Call Me Al, and each track on Graceland by the legendary songwriter.

The ideal track to play at a soirée
It depends on which phase of the party you are at. For the beginning it would likely be I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. As the party deepens, I’d work through the Artist, the Stones and Bowie, and when it really kicks off, Phat Planet by Leftfield, Born Slippy .NUXX by the techno pioneers, and Ascension by Gorillaz, which is an massive track.

The number I can never bear
I for some reason loathe Mr Brightside by the Las Vegas band.

The ideal track to make love to
Come Together by John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

The album that transformed me
When I was twelve and just learning to learn the six-string, I’d only listen to classic rock and roll, and was consumed by The King, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, the New Orleans legend, the glasses-wearing icon and Eddie Cochran. Then my babysitter introduced me to Let There Be Rock by the Australian rockers. It was still guitar music, but it was electrifying rock music. As soon as he dropped the vinyl on the turntable, I was a fan for life.

The song that wakes me in the AM
What’d I Say in its full glory by The Genius.

The song that gets me emotional
Most music makes me emotional. Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and the Fab Four all stir my emotions because of the harmony and utter brilliance of the singing. But The Ocean by Richard Hawley gets me going consistently.

The track I’d like played at my memorial service
Elvis. If I’m given a cremation, I’ll have Burning Love. If I’m laid to rest in the ground, I’ll have Way Down.