"I feel like everyone has this on their list of songs, because who doesn’t remember hearing this and just being like ‘Wow, I feel so amazing right now!’ I got a tape and it was all different songs - it had Sum 41, Blink-182, Papa Roach, Fred Durst and Nirvana. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ satisfied every single inch of me and it really hit every nerve. It’s the most complete pop song ever, you’re just ‘Oh my god, this is probably the best song ever written.’ “Like the Britney song, it was a perfect song for me. ‘...Baby One More Time’ and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ are perfect pop songs, they’re from completely different worlds, but worlds that are important for a teenager to have a connection to. As an adult it’s still an important connection for me to have, that’s the thing with these magical songs, I feel exactly the same way when I hear ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ now. It’s always satisfying and I never want to turn it off. I’ve heard these songs so many times and they always feel as good. “It’s been a soundtrack to so many times and I also discovered so many of Nirvana’s albums and grew to love them as an adult in a completely different way than as a child. I’ve danced to it in clubs so many times; on tour, before a show, after a show and I’ve played it in the club before shows, so that the audience will hear it. There’s certain songs that I like to play to get people going and this is one of them."

"Anyway, the next one I have to say is Milestones, and that’s just because of the massive impact it had on me in general and by Robert Kramer and John Douglas. Basically, this movie put within me emotions and memories that I never had, and I was feeling them in the theater as if I had them. There’s a scene where John Douglas is playing – I think he’s playing the saxophone, and the other guy is doing some ceramics, and it’s just such a happy moment, and it’s so small. But in that moment, I’m just with them 100%, and then there’s a birth in the movie, and the birth, you’re feeling elated. Not because it’s a beautiful thing in the world, but because you’re feeling the kind of coming in of a new life as these parents. And there’s just something about the cinematography, the people, and the characters, and the colors of it all. It’s an amazing movie. And I remember watching it being like, “OK, you can do this to an audience.” That was mind-blowing."

"It all started with us on the bus with a few guitars just singing the melody to what became 'The Jean Genie', but it was just naïve and silly. Then, a week later, Bowie came and said: 'Alright, I've finished that one!' And it was of course nowhere near what we had been singing lyrically, but the feel was there. It was one of those nods to good time rock & roll from the early days, spanning from the blues days right into the future. Although it was a very simple song, the lyrics were almost like a rap before rap came out, just with a blues rock backing. He was rapping about the weird scenes we were hanging out in in New York at the time. It just seemed to sum up a whole few years of the 1970s for us. There was weirdness in there, things you couldn't understand, sex, drugs and rock & roll are all in that song. It was, again, David going ahead and churning out a hit. And that one was a first take – that's what's on the record."

"She's so dirty. The rhymes by themselves are incredible, like “He called why I ain't beeped him, well I thought your ass was still sleeping”, it's so good. She was ahead of her time. There's always been sex, like Donna Summer just moaning on a record, but Kim was definitely filthy. And amazing. It was hella sexual but I don't think people give her props. I mean the album after that, The Notorious K.I.M, I almost put that instead. Her rhymes are unparalleled, she is such a fucking good rapper. She is incredible! And I don't think her sexuality overshadows her because it's so out there. The rhymes are about sex and that's what people are thinking, but it's just shockingly good. It is about sex and she is a woman and she is here, but just the rhymes are so incredible. They're fucking phenomenal. I think everyone respects Lil' Kim, but I think every woman artist is underrated. Honestly, aside from the big pop stars, if you are an artist or a producer or a writer, for the most part, you probably aren't going to get the respect that you deserve."

"I just love the songs on this. I’m not into the whole religious aspect of the band but I’ve been a fan since I saw them on Top Of The Pops doing ‘Fire’. The reason that I picked this over Achtung Baby - which is one of my favourite U2 albums from my favourite period of U2 – is that it’s just a massive album for me. When I get time to have a quiet moment on my own, I could sit and play all the songs off this on an acoustic guitar for ages. They’re just great. You don’t like it? I don’t give a fuck! Everyone that I’ve ever known – EVER KNOWN – apart from my wife – hates them. Me and my wife love them. It wasn’t the reason we got married… But everyone else I have ever met from my earliest memory in Manchester to right now talking to you has gone, 'They are fucking shit. They are what’s wrong with music.' For me it’s about the songwriting. If I could write a song like ‘Running To Stand Still’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’ by Pink Floyd then I could die happy with never writing another song again."