1. Joni Mitchell
"All I Want"
(from Reprise LP Blue)
A diamond from the days when Alanis was just a twinkle in Satan's eye
"This is the first track that go me into doing any of this, when I was 18. It was the first time I ever sat down and thought, 'Christ, man. Music can be this simple, this good, this straightforward.' It really inspired me, and not an awful lot does. And she's still doing it--which is annoying. I wish she'd dry up!"
2. Adam and the Ants
Prince Charming
(CBS album)
Theatrical, tribal pop from the Eighties' eyeliner king
"I bought this when I was seven or eight, and I didn't even have a record player, so I'd go around to my granddad's house to play it on his. I only picked it up 'cos the sleeve was an advent calendar with all these bits you pulled out. I liked the look, too--we'd all go to school and put white lines across our noses with chalk. Yes, chalk!"
3. Madonna
"Crazy for You"
(Geffen single)
Slinky ballad from Madonna's infinitely preferable pre-crusty era
"It reminds me of when I was 12 and in love with this girl, Catrina Burns. I would sit listening to this every night, crying myself to sleep. I was so in love, but man, she was dissing me. It was one of the first times in my life when I was like, 'That person, I'm gonna have her no matter what!' And it was true! I got her in the end. We got each other."
4. Travis
"All I Want To Do Is Rock"
(Independiente single)
The Beatles
"Help"
(EMI single)
A timeless classic...and something by the Beatles
"They're similar! Really! Both songs start with everything coming in at once, and it just gives you a fright. And they both start with the letter h: hey and help. Sometimes, when you go into a record shop and you're at the listening post, there's so much music with so much introduction to it, but these just come right in. There's clicks on the album version of 'All I Wanna,' though, 'cos we wanted to start our career with four clicks!"
5. The Annie soundtrack
"Tomorrow"
(CBS album)
Uplifting screeching from the world's famous fictional orphan
"It's a brilliant song, and it's just true, isn't it? 'The sun will come up tomorrow.' Whoever wrote this song, well done, big man. If songwriters wrote some f***ing decent songs, you might get more things liket his today, completely laden with with innocence, but underneath, there's this tremendous melancholy. F*** all this indie kids! Hymns, musicals, and Beatles tracks--those are the songs which shape you."
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1. David Bowie
"The Bewlay Brothers"
(from RCA album Hunky Dory)
Classic pre-Ziggy track from today's drum 'n' bass godfather
"Hunky Dory was the first album I ever listened to all the way through. I was only eight years old, and it was a bit of a lifechanger. And this was the first song that ever scared the shit out of me--I was absolutely terrified by it! But it was probably the main thing that got me into music. It's just f***ing magic!"
2. Suede
"The Drowners"
(Nude single)
Debut single from pop's flashboys
"Suede were the second band I ever fell in love with, after the Beatles. Frannie came round my house one morning to pick me up on the way to art school, and he put this tape on. I thought it sounded just like Adam and the Ants, and I was enchanted from the first f***ing hit of the drums."
3. The Band
"Up in Cripple Creek"
(from Capitol album The Band)
Bluesy workout courtesy of Bob Dylan's one-time backing band
"It's quite a serious choice, I suppose. This reminds me of Big Neil from our band. I was the last person to join Travis, and when that happened, they were all really into this, especially Neil. It's the first American piece of music I ever really liked. I'm very guilty of being into white British bands, and I've tried to educate myself, but this immediately struck every chord for me."
4. The Smiths
"There Is a Light that Never Goes Out"
(from Rough Trade album The Queen Is Dead)
Morrissey at his doomed romantic best
"I missed out on the Smiths the first time round; I never heard them 'til after they split. But I nicked Frannie's copy of Hatful of Hollow and thought it was tremendous. Then a friend made up some tapes, and when I heard this, I thought it was probably the most beautiful, romantic, tragic song I'd ever heard. Just perfect. If you're gonna make a gesture, why not make it big."
5. Oasis
"Live Forever"
(Creation single)
Their immortal, epic third single
"I'm not f***ing grateful for f*** all, man! But it's one of those songs that sounds like it's been around forever, a wonderful song. The second I heard it, I thought, 'That is the greatest band in the world.' And I thought, 'How f***ing cheeky is that, putting John Lennon's old house on the sleeve?' Until I heard it. Then I thought, 'No, you have every right to that cheek!'"
6. Mark Eitzel
"Blue and Grey Shirt"
(Warners single)
Sorrowful lament from the ex-American Music Club genius
"It's a very sweet song of loss, and I think loss is what makes people greater. Mark Eitzel, however depressive he may be, writes the occasional very beautiful song, and this is one of them. He can drink like a f***er, as well! I like a good drinker!"
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Fran and Dougie from TRAVIS select classic cuts from their poptastic past.
