"I grew up in Seattle with seven older siblings, so I grew listening to their records, and the first record I learned to play was The Witch by The Sonics, a band from Tacoma, Washington. If you were from Seattle and you loved rock you had to have a Sonics record. I thought it was a song about a real witch - I didn't know it was a song about some guy's bad girlfriend. But the record did change things for me. It was just screaming all the way through, and it left its imprint. It was garage rock, although I didn't know that at the time."

"I probably listen to the National more than any other band, and this record was my way in. I can’t say it’s better than the rest, especially the last few, but it’s got a special place in my heart. If I could ever get sick of listening to it, I would have found out by now. This band takes a while to get into in my opinion, at least it did for me and others I’ve known. Matt Berlinger’s baritone crooning and unorthodox rhythms took a while to open up to me but quickly became a balm to the soul. Try the song Bloodbuzz Ohio."

"I loved listening to comedy albums when I was growing up. This one was produced by George Martin. Sellers used to put on all these accents and do them perfectly. On 'Suddenly It's Folk Song' it's him playing a German anthropologist. [Proceeds to recount entire section of the album verbatim, accents and all] It's just a great record. I loved all those black and white caper movies. The talent on Sellers was just amazing. He was so influential on the Bonzos and the Python people. I picked up on this as a teenager and I know every word of it now. It's perfect. It's extraordinary how funny he is."

"It’s very hard for me to prepare for something like this because I collect non-stop, discover new things every day, and take music very seriously. I hate the technological rip-offs that pass for music formats these days, and go back to vinyl to hear a good record because the sound is always so much fuller. “I don’t even like listening to music in the car. But iIt would be ridiculous not to mention Kate Bush as someone who creates a powerful dreamscape and a great mood, but I also love Traffic, the pop textures of Marc Bolan, and all kinds of techno."

"My main thing for music has always been the radio; that’s where I’ve heard things. Around age 5, when I was getting ready for school, my mum would get us up, and we would have breakfast in the kitchen, and the radio would be on. It would be the BBC Radio 2, which is the easy listening station. So I remember hearing a song called “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot whilst I was having my hair brushed and trying to keep still—because if you moved when you were having your hair brushed in the morning, my mother used to get in a really bad mood."

"There are three reasons why I have to have this Led Zeppelin album included above all the others. They are Heartbreaker, Living, Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman) and Ramble On. They are The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost when it comes to the songs I want to listen to when the sun is out. They’re the holy grail of sunshine listening for me. “Whenever I am in the car and the sun is out, these are the three songs I want to have on. They are the soundtrack to great weather, wherever I am in the world. From LA to Lowestoft"