"I was obsessed with this record from the first time I heard it. Everything about Joe Meek's story is fascinating. The way he worked, the way he lived. As a producer, he turned down the Beatles, saying "The Merseybeat sound is going nowhere." This record was made in 1960 and it's berserk. It captures a time when space exploration was an international agenda. 'Telstar' had captured the mood when the first satellites went up; this record went a lot further, imagining an entire planet beyond our solar system. It's an artist you know doing a record that's so far from what you thought they were capable of: "Really, this is the same person?" I just got obsessed with it. I only had a taped version of it which, to me, isn't like actually having the record. I was in Japan a few years later, before it was reissued, and I found a bootleg copy there at great expense. It's almost like an early hauntological recording; it's very crude but incredibly evocative. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened to Joe Meek had his story turned out differently…"

"I got dragged to this by some young relatives in Greece after a frustrating day in an immigration office thanks to Brexit. I hadn’t seen the first three installments and the film was dubbed in Greek, which hindered my grasp to some degree, only it turned out to be one of my most memorable experiences in a cinema and a lot of that was down to the uninhibited audience. I saw the film in the same open-air cinema (on the outskirts of Athens) where I saw “Dirty Dancing” over 30 years ago, which was even wilder with the beyond capacity audience who went crazy when the film’s climactic dance erupted. Though not reaching the euphoric audience chaos of the latter film, “Toy Story 4” was a timely reminder of how valuable and downright memorable a communal cinema experience is. I was completely swept up in the highs and lows of the film and never imagined that the fate of a single-use plastic item could reduce adults to tears. It was funny, scary and heavy on the heart in places. I actually bought it on DVD hoping to repeat the experience."

"I love Roy Wood. Once again, we're talking about songs. He couldn't be constrained; he had to be different. He wouldn't just grow his hair and look like a troll, he'd dye it purple. He'd always take things one step too far. We worked with him, playing at Irving Plaza in New York, and we told him we'd had a hit with 'California Man'. "Well, I want to do my version." Hell, do our version! Roy was obtuse, while Jeff Lynne was more of a rocksteady kind of guy, which I think is why Jeff ended up being more successful, because they're both talented beyond belief. Two guys from Birmingham: "Let's work together!" The next day: "Maybe not such a great idea!" Because Roy would want to have 80 saxophonists, and they'd have to be girls. The difference between Roy and Jeff is that Jeff would want to have a band who could get out there every weekend. Roy's his own worst enemy: he's the most underappreciated of the pop geniuses, but not by me. But if he were any more successful he'd never talk to me."