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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
As told to Rich Pelley

‘They milked Heroes to death in 2012’: Bradley Wiggins’s honest playlist

‘I was a real indie kid with flared trousers, always Adidas trainers and a parka or cagoule’ … Bradley Wiggins.
‘I was a real indie kid with flared trousers, always Adidas trainers and a parka or cagoule’ … Bradley Wiggins. Photograph: Gareth Winter

The first song I remember hearing
I loved Michael Jackson when I was eight because I didn’t have any taste, so Bad got my boogie on. Now I can’t stand him.

The first single I bought
My mum took me to Our Price on Kilburn High Road to buy World in Motion by New Order with my pocket money. I was massively into football as a kid, so I just loved John Barnes’s rap.

The best song to play at a party
I’ve loved Arctic Monkeys since the start, so I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor. Their first album was groundbreaking for me. I went to see them at Glastonbury, but from the side of the stage, so I wasn’t in the mud pit with all the peasants.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
Bang Someone Out by Sleaford Mods. They’re niche: very honest, talk about social issues and are lyrically very comedic; there’s nothing else like them. I know Jason [Williamson, singer] a little bit, and he’s just a lovely, lovely bloke – very intelligent. And we shared a similar upbringing.

The song I most recently streamed
Plugged In by Skepta ft Fumez the Engineer. My 17-year-old, Ben, is into it as well, so we share a love of grime.

The song I secretly like but tell everyone I hate
What’s that Queen song where they sing round in the four silhouettes? Bohemian Rhapsody. It wasn’t cool to admit that you liked Queen at one time, but I’ve let my guard down.

The song I can no longer listen to
Heroes by David Bowie, because they milked it to death at the Olympic Games in London in 2012 when anyone won a medal.

The song I wish I’d written
Live Forever by Oasis. I was 14 when Definitely Maybe came out, so it was the anthem to my childhood. I definitely resonated more with Oasis than Blur. I was a real indie kid with flared trousers, always Adidas trainers and a parka or cagoule.

The best song to have sex to
Firestarter by the Prodigy.

The song I can’t help singing
I’ve got a real craving for I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross at the moment. I sing it everywhere: on the tube, everywhere. Maybe I’m trying to tell myself something.

Bradley Wiggins is cycling from Scotland to the Isle of Wight, 25 to 29 April, for the podcast Shoulder to Shoulder: Conversations from the Road in conjunction with Mr Porter Health in Mind and LeBlanq.

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