"This is my favourite Smiths track, with ‘How Soon Is Now?’ a close second. Andy and I had a real shared history with The Smiths when we were growing up. We saw them at Maxwell Hall in Salford in 1986, which is remembered as being this legendary gig now, or so I’m told. The thing is, it really was that good - it’s in my top five gigs of all time. I saw them a lot of times, but there was something about that one, the energy was incredible. I think the place was oversold, so there was already a sort of danger in the air, and there was a sense that you were seeing a very special band at the peak of their powers, because it was just after The Queen Is Dead had come out. I can’t think of anything else that sounds like ‘The Headmaster Ritual’. The guitar tuning that Johnny Marr’s using is weird, so there’s this otherworldly feel to the way it sounds, but in terms of what Morrissey is singing about, that was very much rooted in reality; brutality in schools was still a thing during my upbringing and corporal punishment was still around, so this track in particular really resonated with me. I think any time you get one of the greatest lyricists of all time together with one of the greatest guitarists something special’s going to happen, but for me, ‘The Headmaster Ritual’ is probably the top example of what that band could do."

"It’s one of the most influential records ever, on me. I’ve talked about it many times. I always feel duty bound to ram it home, what an amazing achievement to get so much Marxist anger into an album, which is actually really delicately played. People always accuse them of being Smiths copyists but it’s much faster, stuff like ‘Antinature’ and ‘The Well Of Loneliness,’ ‘An MP Speaks’, it’s a seamless album that can grind you into submission, like all good communists should. Brilliant cover as well. Of all my records this is definitely my most played piece of vinyl."

"This reminds me of childhood. It was a US release that took songs from their debut, Three Imaginary Boys, along with singles from the time. I could often hear it coming through the walls of my brother’s room. And that definitely had a big effect on how I remember that period. I don’t know what it was in particular that grabbed my attention; there was just something really enticing and compelling about it. We each had little hi-fi systems in our rooms and when he went out I’d just sort of nick or borrow it, take it into my room along with other stuff like The Smiths and Siouxsie & The Banshees."

"I first encountered Kate Bush through 'Wuthering Heights'. I remember my sister rushed out and bought that single in 1978 so I was very aware of her. The Sex Pistols and Kate Bush were my formative music, not The Smiths and David Bowie, that came later. For me Hounds Of Love is the biggest influence on [Suede's] Dog Man Star. I love the way it's a record of two halves, and the second half is a concept record about fear of drowning. It's an amazing record to listen to really late at night, unsettling and really jarring. I always wanted to make a record that was a concept album but not in an ELP sense. I wanted to make one that had a musical coherence, and wasn't just ten songs stuck together but had this sense of journey, that took the listener to a new world. And that's the impact Hounds Of Love had on Dog Man Star."

"""I bought the first Buzzcocks album on the day it came out. I still have it in its plastic carrier bag. I knew it was going to be good as the Buzzcocks were already great. There was an excitement about being a youngster and liking the Buzzcocks at that time. Again, they were from my town and it was unheard of at that time for a band from Manchester to get the kind of commercial attention the Buzzcocks were attracting. They were on Top Of The Pops and were influencing other bands from around the country. And they sounded like they were from Manchester too. They were clever lyrically and clever musically. Buzzcocks made modern guitar music that was appropriately punky but sounded razor-sharp on the radio in the middle of such a load of mainstream nonsense, which was a great source of pride for many Mancunians. That, coupled with the aesthetic of the band and the way they did their sleeve artwork and the way they dressed, was a very potent combination. Buzzcocks influenced The Smiths massively in the way we approached our record sleeves and our choice of independent record company - because of the Buzzcocks we took on a Mancunian DIY ethic, whilst being in the charts."""