The first song I fell in love with
I’ve got two older brothers and an older sister. My sister played the grooves out of Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell. When I got my chance, I’d put on I Wan’na Be like You from The Jungle Book.
The song I do at karaoke
Tale As Old As Time from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, even though it’s a duet. My daughter Emilie is 33, but when she’s home, we’ll watch a Disney film together. She turns into a five-year-old, I turn into a young dad and it’s just lovely.
The first single I bought
I was 10 and went into this clothes shop in Ashton called Slaters that sold school uniforms, because my dad had given me money to buy a pair of jeans. They had a little record booth and said I could choose a free single. I was intimidated by the older kids, so said: “I’ll have whatever’s No 1,” which just happened to be an incredible record: I Feel Love by Donna Summer.
The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
Certainly not my own! Never Gonna Give You Up has become ingrained to the point it’s ridiculous. But there have been moments where I’ve stepped out of my own body.
The best song to play at a party
Absolutely everybody will dance to Dancing Queen by Abba if you play it at the right moment, from small kids, teenagers, people in their 20s right the way through to the grannies and granddads.
The song that make me cry
Ridley Scott uses Vide Cor Meum by Patrick Cassidy, which is inspired by Dante’s La Vita Nuova, in Kingdom of Heaven. When the king dies, I have to hold it together not to cry.
The song I can no longer listen to
I Should Be So Lucky by Kylie Minogue, because apparently when you slow it down to 33rpm, it sounds like me. Even I nearly believed it was me when I first heard it. To clarify: I definitely did not sing the Kylie version of I Should Be So Lucky.
The song that changed my life
I play drums in a midlife crisis rock band, the Luddites. We do everything from the Sex Pistols to the Clash and Blink 182. Times Like These by Foo Fighters is a favourite. Performing Never Going to Give you up with Foo Fighters was definitely a euphoric moment.
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The song that gets me up in the morning
I like to go for a long walk in the morning, and I’m a big Biffy Clyro fan. I’ll put on the Only Revolutions album, and by the time it gets to Bubbles, I’ll be really powering.
The best song to have sex to
Anything by Marvin Gaye. Nothing by Rick Astley.
The song I want played in my funeral
I should say There Is a Light That Never Goes out by the Smiths because I got to sing it with Blossoms when we did our Smiths set at Glastonbury. But I don’t want to be the one responsible for the picking.
Rick Astley plays Henley festival on Friday.