The first single I bought
Blockbuster by the Sweet in 1973 from Soundtrack Records on Cathcart Road in Glasgow age 11 or 12, after seeing them on Top of the Pops. I loved all the Sweet singles after that.
The song I do at karaoke
I don’t think I’ve ever done karaoke. I hate hearing people murder songs. If I had to do it, I’d do You’re the One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Primal Scream used to do it in soundchecks in the 80s.
The song that I inexplicably know every lyric to
The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy, because I’ve heard it so many times, like anything off the first Clash album, or anything off the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks. I guess the lyrics you know best are from the albums and singles that you bought when you were a teenager because you didn’t have many records.
The best song to play at a party
I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Gladys Knight & the Pips. It was produced by Norman Whitfield who also produced the Marvin Gaye version. The Gladys version is really fast and funky and high energy, so good for early on in the night when everybody’s had a few. The Marvin version is for when it’s getting towards dawn and there’s only a few stragglers left.
The song I can no longer listen to
God Save the King. It was written to celebrate the Duke of Cumberland crushing Bonnie Prince Charlie, which led to the Highland clearances. It’s the sixth verse that gets me in particular: “Lord grant that Marshal Wade / May by thy mighty aid / Victory bring / May he sedition hush / And like a torrent rush / Rebellious Scots to crush / God save the King!” It makes me sick.
The song I secretly like, but tell everyone I hate
As a friend of mine once said: there is no pleasure for the guilty. I absolutely love We Don’t Talk Anymore by Cliff Richard. I think Primal Scream could do a great cover version of it.
The best song to have sex to
Love Comes in Spurts by Richard Hell and the Voidoids. What I loved about punk was that it was completely anti-romance. Before, all we had was singer-songwriters singing about their breakups and all that crap. When I was teenager, I didn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, but still knew it was a lot of soppy shite. I loved the fact that the punk bands didn’t have love songs. Love Comes in Spurts is so direct, unromantic, matter of fact and anti-hippy – I think it’s great.
The song that gets me up in the morning
Police sirens and birdsong.
The song that makes me cry
Generally, I cry at the beauty that somebody would write a lyric about their fellow human beings. It’s not because I’m sentimental, it’s more about the act of creation. Jersey Girl by Tom Waits always gets me.
The song that changed my life
God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols got me into punk. It felt such a fuck-you to British society at the time of the jubilee when all these poor people were having street parties celebrating the royal family. It was just disgusting. The fact that the Pistols mocked the idea of having a royal family and attacked the British state was wonderful. That act of cultural sedition led me to discover I could be a creative person. I’ve lived a creative life as a result.
The song I want played in my funeral
Is That All There Is? by Cristina.
Primal Scream tour the UK in March and April 2025. Their new album Come Ahead is out now. See tix.to/PrimalScream
