Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
This goes back to when I was in music college and I grabbed a book about him off the shelf and it kept going on about Born to Run [the album]. So eventually I bought the album from the old Hairy Records shop for about £3.99 and I just thought 'Whoa!' It just sounded so big - the album as a whole but in particular the title track. After hearing Dancing in the Dark and Born in the USA (which I didn't like and wasn't that into) this song and that album really spoke to me.
Supergrass - Time
The whole Britpop era was a very interesting time for me. You had like a couple of tiers of bands. The big bands were obviously Oasis, Blur and Pulp and then you had the second tier which was you're Dodgy's and maybe you're Suede. Supergrass kind of fell into the second tier as well and I always thought they were a very underrated band. The first album I Should Coco is brilliant. This song's got a great groove to it as well. I saw them on their last tour last year and I was pretty sad to see them split up.
Ottis Redding - Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
When I first started playing music I was playing old soul records on bass, or songs of the Blues Brothers movie. I've always loved soul music; Motown, Stax, Atlantic etc. This son is a bit of an obvious tune but I just love the song, and I've covered it a few times in some of the sets I've done. It's one of those songs where I just get into a certain modd and I could listen to it for hours.
10cc - The Things We Do For Love
10cc are one of those groups that no one really talks about too much, in my opinion they were a very underrated group when they were going. This is the song I would take to a desert island if I had to choose just one. It's quite a middle of the road number but it is just a great pop record. This is why it has influenced me because that's what I've been trying to do with my stuff - trying to write really good pop songs. Look at it this way - if you can write a 2/3 minute song that is really catchy then that is usually the start of good things to come. This song has a great introductio, great verses - fantastic!
Simon & Garfunkel - Save the Life of My Child
This songs of the album Bok Ends. I could've chosen something more famous from Simon & Garfunkel but I really do think this track is ahead of its time. Paul Simon is a great lyrical writer but I also think that he was very much into the studio situation side of things. He seemed always into experimenting with new sounds and different styles of music. This is the most experimental song off the album and it probably is their best album they ever did. It's all about alienation and being cut off from the rest of the world and that's something that I could connect with straight away at the time.
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
Being from Liverpool, I'm a huge Beatles fan and it's quite hard to pick just one their songs. If I had to I'd pick A Hard Day's Night. It's my favourite album of theirs, the whole album is brilliant and the first track is just fantastic. I remember when I was a kid at Christmas and wtaching the film on video. That song though, from that might chord at the beginning of the track to the arpeggios on the guitar at the end. I think it is the most exuberant track they ever did. It's got so much energy, so much enthusiasm and the whole album reflects that.
The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
I wish I'd wrote that song. In actual fact, apart fro Pet Sounds and some of their earlier hits I've never really got into the Beach Boys that much - never really been a massive fan but the harmonies in this song are simply unbeatable. I wish I could have created a song like that which is based around all those different harmonies. Brian Wilson definately has a gift for that sort of thing - this track is 3 and a half minutes of genius - and I do not use that word lightly.
The Police - Spirits in the Material World
Having started out as a bass player, I've always had a thing for really strong basslines. The Police are one of my favourites because of this, you can always hear it in their songs. The album Ghost in the Machine is especially true of this. Sting's a really great bass player. I mean even though it isn't really fashionable to like Sting at all, during The Police he was really on form. He's never got any better than the stuff he did with him. Although on the flipside, I suppose it is quite fashionable to like The Police now! Personally though I've always been really into the power trio format and this song I guess reflects that.
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
I've always been a big Bob Dylan fan, he was one of the first guys I really started following. My uncle was a huge Dylan fan, and when I started listening to him he lent me all his records so that was cool. That album in particular really struck out to me.
Neil Young - Down By the River
I have to pick a Neil Young track. This song is off his second album, and it's the first album he did with Crazy Horse [Neil Young's backing band]. It's an epic track, a 10-minute guitar epic! It's only 2 chords, just E minor and A but the way that it's so simple you wouldn't believe it, I think a 2-year old could come up with it but it's the way he does it. He does ballad stuff as well of course but I've chosen this track because I never get tired of hearing the guitar solo. Half the song is a one-note guitar-solo!
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