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The first song I was captivated by
My earliest memory is stepping into a room at preschool where they were playing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. I was captivated by the audio textures, and Lennon shouting: “Full speed ahead!” When it got to the hook, I recall believing: “This must be music!”

The very first 45 I bought
When I was eight years old, I was victorious in a competition at school to pick a brand new vinyl to play at the weekly dance party we had on Friday afternoons. My teacher took me to Woolworths, and I picked out Come Back My Love by Darts. The first single I bought with my own savings was Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney's Wings from a music store in Lancashire. It was topping the charts at the time, and I selected it when my dad noted that it was by a former member of the Beatles.

The song I perform at karaoke
I frankly cannot stand karaoke and dodge it at all costs. But under duress, I’d select Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra.

The track I inexplicably recite each line to
I not long ago discovered that I know virtually the entire lyrical content to The Boy in the Bubble, You Can Call Me Al, and the entire album on Graceland by Paul Simon.

The ideal tune to blast at a gathering
It hinges on the point of the party you are at. For the beginning it would most likely be I Heard It Through the Grapevine by the soul legend. As the party deepens, I’d move on to the Artist, the Stones and Bowie, and when it gets lively, Phat Planet by the electronic act, Born Slippy .NUXX by Underworld, and Ascension by the virtual band, which is an absolute banger.

The track I can not listen to
I strangely detest Mr Brightside by the Las Vegas band.

The ideal song to have sex to
Come Together by the Beatles.

The record that changed my life
When I was 12 and starting to learn the guitar, I’d only listen to 1950s rock and roll, and was fixated on Elvis, the rock pioneer, the killer, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran. Then my childminder brought round Let There Be Rock by AC/DC. It was still rock’n’roll, but it was electrifying rock music. Instantly after he dropped the record on the record player, I was captivated.

The track that motivates me in the AM
What’d I Say in its full glory by Ray Charles.

The track that gets me emotional
All music makes me emotional. The Queen of Soul, The Chairman of the Board, Presley and the Fab Four all stir my emotions because of the harmony and sheer brilliance of the singing. But The Ocean by Richard Hawley hits me hard without fail.

The song I’d like performed at my final send-off
Elvis. If I’m given a cremation, I’ll have Burning Love. If I’m buried, I’ll have Way Down.