"When I got into psychedelic music in my late teens and early twenties this was one of those songs that left a big impression on me. It’s not a song that would have been on a Nuggets collection or anything, it was quite a big song. It wasn’t a rare find or an unusual one-hit wonder, but the melody in it still blows me away. “It’s very, very British-sounding. There’s something very whimsical about it and there’s a little darkness in there but it’s incredibly uplifting - just the chords, the way it’s played and everything about it. It’s definitely been an inspiration when it comes to writing chord changes for me. “The Zombies have an incredible collection of songs so it’s very hard to choose just one, but apart from ‘Time of the Season’ this is a track where I would’ve been “Wait, how do I know this song?” There’s no pretentiousness to ‘Care of Cell 44’. or any of their songs in fact. There’s something very honest about it. Even though they’re very musically-minded and clever, it’s not distracting to listen to. It leaves you intrigued, more than bewildered. “Some bands get too clever with their chord changes, to the point where they’re not memorable, all of the sections of this song work so well together, but it’s not straight-up. It’s a pop song but there’s definitely some underlying eeriness to it. I don’t know whether it’s just the chords or the way it’s recorded. Maybe it’s something in the reverbs as well - the chambers, they just sound so good"

"I wanted to pick the Pistols or the first Clash record, because they did mean a lot to me, but I’ve had to go with Obsession by UFO, because they were such a huge influence. Def Leppard were on a boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads, and we happened to read a local paper which said that UFO were playing the Ipswich Gaumont, which was a taxi and a bus ride away from where we were parking the boat. We’d yet to play a gig when we saw UFO, and they opened up with three brand new songs, which was very brave: Hot And Ready, Cherry, and (I think) Only You Can Rock Me. And then they went on to do more familiar material, and we were just gobsmacked. The dynamic on stage between Pete Way’s lunacy and Phil Mogg’s attention-grabbing stance in the middle, and then the mad German on the right with his bucket boots and Flying V. It was insanely brilliant. Steve Clarke turned around to me and said, “Right. That’s it. I’m leaving if we don’t start playing shows.” Because all we’d done was rehearse for nine months to try and become relatively good at what we did. That show — and that album — were a massive influence on us, because we were listening to the album all the way through the boating holiday. UFO were and still remain a major influence on us for all sorts of reasons. They were very British, and they had a sense of humour So with the greatest of respect to Never Mind The Bollocks and the first Clash album, I’m going with that one."

"Again, this is a really recent discovery. I was touring with Kevin Morby in America and we were talking about maybe trying to do a cover together at the end of the night. He kept talking about this guy called Bill Fay and kept telling me to listen to this album. He kept at it and eventually said, ""Can I play you Bill Fay, because I don't know why you have never heard of him? This album is like a classic record."" So, Kevin put some songs on and I remember thinking, ""Shit – this is incredible!"" and then to learn that Bill is a British musician and had made an album that is as classic as this record but I had never heard of him was a huge surprise. It wasn't an album that was in the tapestry – like a record by David Bowie that you would have heard of. The songwriting and musicianship on the album is amazing and this seems like a classic story of being dropped by a record label after a second album - this was the second record he'd made. I don't understand how he could have been dropped – you listen to this album and it contains some of the best-written songs ever. There is a song on it called 'I Hear You Calling' which is really poignant and beautiful and arresting. The album as a whole is just perfect – it's an absolute classic and to me it should be a staple in anyone's collection. I'm just glad I finally discovered it and am just sorry it took that long."

"""t’s a movie where I have to stay there, just to get to the bit where Gene Hackman creeps up behind the bigot in the barbers and takes the cut-throat from the barber’s hand and continues the shave. The story is such a big and important story. I was asked recently, along with dozens of other people, to pick one film, by the BFI, to mark the 75th birthday of the British Film Institute. Which film would you leave for succeeding generations? There are many great art films but I chose Mississippi Burning because I figured that I would try to be responsible. I thought I could either be hip or responsible, and actually stick to the brief, and by succeeding generations, I assumed they meant the youth, young people, and I thought: “What’s the biggest issue in the world?” Apart from the way that drugs fuck everybody up, racism is the biggest thing. The newspaper is basically the story of what racism does, whether it’s religious prejudices, or tribal prejudices, or colour prejudice or whatever the fuck it is, but I think it’s the single most destructive element in our world and Mississippi Burning is a beautiful story of great courage. It shows individual and collective courage in that area, about people who took it on in a landmark situation and started to make great change possible. It’s got one of the great cinema performances of all time, not that I’m given to superlatives, despite it being the second time I’ve said that, which is Gene Hackman. I could watch Gene Hackman all day long; he’s one of the people I most admire"