DAVID BOWIE: Ziggy Stardust (PLG) The entry-level Bowie album. I have a 15ft-wide print of Ziggy in my entrance hall. As an indie kid in a 1980s band, there came a time when someone sensible exposed us to Bowie and Velvet Underground. After that we started covering The Jean Genie and Suffragette City.
ELBOW: Leaders Of The Free World (V2) Of the modern bands, I love Elbow because of the humanity they bring. Their songs are structurally simple, delicate and brilliant. I remember hearing the title song in America and jumping up and down. It was something from back home telling it like it was about the Gulf War.
COLDPLAY: A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Parlophone/EMI) People shouldn’t forget how incredible this was, before they became millionaires and married movie stars. It’s an album about self-loathing and the torment of love. If you play the title track and think about recent events, it makes the hairs on your neck stick up. A breathtaking bit of poetry.
CROSBY, STILLS & NASH: Crosby, Stills & Nash (Atlantic) Exquisite. I got really into the 1960s when I realised all music in the late 1980s was rubbish and this heads the pack. The album is so tight and engaging, you don’t miss the fact that for most of it there’s no drums.
LED ZEPPELIN: Physical Graffiti (Atlantic) One to annoy the neighbours. An awesome album I played relentlessly when I was about 18. At that time rock was for girlfriendless idiots with Stonehenge haircuts and denim jackets, misled by awful bands. But go one step back and you stumble on Led Zep.
JIMI HENDRIX: Electric Ladyland (Sony) I think this came from our neighbour. There’s stuff here I’m just getting my head around now, such as the way he makes the guitar talk in Rainy Day, Dream Away. It’s genius. If there’s an open mic blues night, Voodoo Chile is my standard.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
