"There’s a story behind this song. My parents were divorced and when I was little and I’d go to visit my Dad, out of state in Florida. We lived in Michigan, I was really young and I remember flying all by myself with the captain's hat, the wings and all that. My Dad turned me onto this song. He was super hip, super cool and way into music, and I think that’s where I get it from. He showed me Devo, and I was ten because that record was out in 1980. I thought ‘What? These guys are goofy...’ but by the end of my next trip to his I was loving it. I don’t know why I liked ""Girl U Want"", but it had this bizarre and cool edge to it. I think sonically it was a big deal to me too, it sounded weird and processed, it wasn't like Rock and Roll, it was that New Wave thing and I liked the sound of it. It’s hard to talk about these songs. I’m trying to make sense of the feelings I have about them, but they’re elusive feelings. People might not think of these songs as huge, monumental songs but I like the fact they’re fun and they disguise themselves as silly, almost comedic songs. But dude, that shit is for real and Devo’s songs are for real. ""Girl U Want"" blew my mind and continues to blow my mind thirty-five years later"

"This was also in the same house, and the second song that made me cry was on this album. I think it may have been 'Bedtime For Toys': it was a song about how some children didn't get any toys, and made me really sad that actually some children didn't get any toys at Christmas. It seems quite silly now, but it had that effect. Also, his version of 'Ave Maria'. It's an amazing album. It's not a particularly known album though. I had lunch years ago with Nona Hendryx and Vicki Wickham. They're very knowledgeable about Motown, as Vicki had produced Ready Steady Go! and was instrumental in bringing over the Motown sound - and even still calls him 'Little Stevie Wonder' - and they weren't even aware of the album. It just reminds me of a time when I was playing other people's records. My dad was a big country & western fan into Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. There were also six or seven albums by Yma Sumac, which were very bizarre and had amazing covers, and I would think ""who is this?"". I think he may have got them through Reader's Digest or something. They were quite exotic things. And also there were singles like The Monkees' 'Daydream Believer' and 'Everlasting Love' by The Love Affair and '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay' by Otis Redding. These were already there in the house, and it wasn't until..."

"I love Tom Lehrer, I love a lot of writers of funny songs. I like Noël Coward, I like Flanders and Swann and Tom Lehrer is probably the best and funniest. Incredibly intelligent man and he's well aware of the idiocy of what he's doing. Each song lasts for about 1 minute 45 seconds, because it's like, "Here's the joke, go!", it's really good. I think I was about 26 or 27 when I first heard him. I think it might have been 'The Elements', when he set the list of elements to the Gilbert and Sullivan tune, 'I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General' is the original from The Pirates Of Penzance - I like Gilbert and Sullivan as well! I think I also liked the idea of one man and a piano, being a bit of an entertainer. I finally got up the nerve to do that myself, five or six years ago, and it's been jolly good fun. I was nervous about it, but knew it was a good time to do it. I had a few songs off that album (Bang Goes The Knighthood) that were suited to it. I did have to do an awful lot of practice to get up to standard on the piano, because I did grade one piano, and then gave up - I'm really completely untutored. So I have a bizarre technique, but it gets me through."