The first song I remember hearing
Elton John â âBennie And The Jetsâ
âWhen my parents would have dinner parties there were certain albums they would play on the record player that I feel very attached to. âGoodbye Yellow Brick Roadâ by Elton John was one of them. Most specifically, the song âBennie And The Jetsâ. The whole album, besides âJamaica Jerk-Offâ, which needs to go and jump in the ocean, and âCrocodile Rockâ â Iâm not mad about it â itâs all killer, no filler. Two duff tracks on an otherwise masterpiece.â
The first song I fell in love with
The Four Tops â âYou Keep Running Awayâ
âMy parents had a cassette tape: âThe Greatest Hits Of The Four Topsâ. I didnât know who The Four Tops were but there was a song called âYou Keep Running Awayâ â and I could not stop listening to it, to the point where my mum came in and said âjust stop itâ. Iâd finish the song, rewind it and hit play. My son is on the autism spectrum and I look back at that and think âthat is such a maddening, repetitive thing as a childâ. I was obsessed with it.”
The first album I ever bought
Billy Joel â âThe Bridgeâ
âIt was the late â80s. It wasnât sweet spot Billy Joel anymore, but itâs still a good album. Itâs got a duet with Ray Charles on it. I remember playing it on holidays â I think it punches above its weight in my mind because of that particular summer holiday where I couldnât stop listening to it. I donât think itâs a great album â donât tell Billy Joel I said that, the manâs a genius.â
The first gig I saw
Midnight Oil at Newcastle International Sports Centre, Australia, 1990
âThere was an earthquake in Newcastle [Australia], where I grew up, and they had an earthquake relief [concert]. All these Australian bands signed up to do it for free to raise money. Midnight Oil was the headline act and I was really into them. I was in high school. It was a really frightening experience because there wasnât enough security and there was a real crush towards the front. It couldâve got bad and I was too young to be there, I donât know why my parents let me go. I was 13 and there was so much drugs and alcohol around and it went on all day. I remember being very frightened, I was so anxious just being in a crowd that size.â
The song that reminds me of home
Hall & Oates â âSara Smileâ
âMy mum was really into yacht rock, so whenever I hear Hall & Oates, The Doobie Brothers or Steely Dan, it’s real comfort music for me. When Iâm really anxious and overwhelmed I do tend to reach for those sort of acts.”
The song I wish Iâd written
Antonio Carlos Jobim â âWaters Of March (Aguas De Marco)’
âI have no aspirations as a songwriter [but] itâs just the most beautiful song. Itâs really emotional. Itâs a song that whenever I hear it, I do get a bit choked up. Itâs a bunch of snapshots of life but the poetry of it is incredible. One-line sentences that, if you are going to describe life â floorplans, a shot in the night, a fox in the brush, the sound of the wind â itâs like a thousand snapshots of life and itâs really moving.â
The song I do at karaoke
Young MC â âBust A Moveâ
âOften the song you want to do at karaoke, you start doing it and you go: âI cannot vocally do this, I am so out of my depth here.â The song I find impresses people is âBust A Moveâ, just because I know the lyrics to all the verses.â
The song I can no longer listen to
Anything by Michael Jackson
âI was given âOff The Wallâ for an early-ish birthday, and I could not stop listening to it â it was like crack cocaine. I donât really know what to do because I still love it, but Iâm listening to it and loving it going [cringes â referring to Jackson‘s child sexual abuse allegations]. But Iâm gonna have to chuck out a lot of fucking records if Iâm gonna do that⊠all those rock gods and their underage girls. It feels like there is a slight bullshit hypocrisy in me going âoh, I wonât listen to âOff The Wallâ’ â and then Iâll be okay with an Elvis Presley song. When he married Priscilla she was underage… Itâs a bit curly. There is something that feels rather selective about our judgement of Michael Jackson above the white artists, dare I say.â
The song I canât get out of my head
Ugly Duckling â âA Little Sambaâ
âI think it was on a Mastercard advert and Usain Bolt was in it, when everyone was obsessed during those Olympics where he was just everywhere. I downloaded it and my kids listened to it non-stop, to the point where I was like: âPlease, I will give you five pounds if you stop listening to that song.â
‘Frayed’ series two returns to Sky Max and streaming service NOW from Feb 23
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