2 hours ago
3
The first single I bought
I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats from Sounds Nice on Birtley High Street, when I was in my teens. I know it was about a school shooting, but at the time, I thought: I have a visceral reaction to Mondays as well.
The first song I fell in love with
Still in Love With You from Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous album. I was learning to play drums and Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy’s drummer, used to do this wonderful shuffle beat because it’s a relatively slow track, and his playing is beautiful. I still play the drums. I’ve never stopped being a musician.
The song I secretly like
There’s a couple of Eagles tracks, like Desperado, mainly for that bit where Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski gets in the cab and says: “I hate the fuckin’ Eagles, man!” I probably shouldn’t say that because as well as sessioning with a band called Groove Train, who are great, I’ve just been asked to play percussion for the Bootleg Eagles.
The song I do karaoke
The Royal Mile and Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty and Take the Money and Run by the Steve Miller Band are just about in my range. But I’m not a regular karaoke-er, man.
The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I was sat in the park listening to some music and China in Your Hand by T’Pau and I Want to Be Free by Toyah Willcox came on. I mustn’t have heard them for 30 years and I still remembered the lyrics. I’ve just got that sort of brain. I’m the same with telephone numbers. I can still remember my mates’ mams and dads’ telephone numbers.
The song that changed my life
John Bonham’s drums on When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin are nothing short of epic. Apparently they recorded them in a stairwell. That changed my life because I then wanted to be John Bonham.
The song I can no longer listen to
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack because it reminds me of lost love.
The song that gets me up in the morning
Gimme Some Lovin’ by the Spencer Davis Group.
The best song to play at a party
Ain’t Nobody by Rufus and Chaka Khan, because it’s great.
after newsletter promotion
The song that makes me cry
On the Wire by Troy Cassar-Daley is a narrative of losing your way, your sense of place and home and just living on the wire. It’s about love and comfort and fundamentally a reflection of how lonely the modern world can be.
The best song to motorcycle to
Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. What a track to have in your head when you’re speeding.
The Hairy Bikers: Our Family Favourites is available from the Guardian Bookshop.
