"The sound of the band hit me first – when they really kick in on Gloria – then I started reading her lyrics more and got into the whole package. And then it was everything: her delivery, her no-bullshit attitude, the androgynous thing. They were important to me early on because it was kind of our set-up: drums, bass, guitar, keyboard. In that respect, I always thought of Supergrass as being modelled on The Patti Smith Group, though I don’t know if the other boys would agree."

"Talking Book blew me away when I was going through a dry period in my writing. I heard Stevie Wonder and thought that I couldn’t improve on what he’s done, he’s such a genius! I just fell in love with it, it was black soul music from that era, but sounds totally, totally now. One of things he developed was the protection of funk through the electronics of synthesiser, keyboard and singing. I think Sly had a lot to do with influencing Stevie at the time as well."

"I never got into the ‘Celebration Of The Lizard’ stuff, and I’m still not mad on it. In the minibus on early Bunnymen tours we’d play a lot of Doors, and I got into it. I think they wrote some of the best three-minute pop songs ever. Robby Krieger came up with some of their best pop songs. Even though I prefer the Velvets as a group, The Doors are the most perfect and compatible four musicians in the history of time. The stuff they were doing was unbelievable. Even some of the madder stuff I can handle. If you listen to the musicianship, Ray Manzarek’s keyboard playing is so recognisable from just being a bluesy player, and it never gets on your wick. Some keyboard playing you’re like, "oh, fuck off". The band had the best drummer, keyboardist, guitarist and frontman – and it never got muso. Morrison looked incredible. If he was alive today he’d still be just as good, not so mysterious perhaps, but more of an Allen Ginsberg or Nick Nolte, swatting flies from his face on Venice Beach with a bevvy in his hand. He’d still be at it. And therefore, a heroic figure, looking like he’d been up for three weeks growing the world’s largest beard. I love the way ‘Peace Frog’ runs into ‘Blue Sunday’. The singing was incredible. I just don’t understand how The Doors weren’t even bigger."

"There’s so much great stuff in the Song Poems catalogue, but Rod Keith is a favourite of mine. Everybody has their own favourite catalogue, but ‘Little Rug Bug', that song was great. All the songs with Rodd Keith doing the chamberlain thing with a pretend orchestra on a chamberlain are amazing. It’s a keyboard with string samples built into it. It’s like a Melotron. You kind of hear it on ‘Strawberry Fields’ and ‘Flying’ on Magical Mystery Tour. It just has an unreal quality to it, with an orchestra that’s just on some fuckin' weird boogie-woogie drug. It’s like Harry Merry in a way. It just sounds like a malfunctioning pre-set."