What’s a hidden gem or underrated song you love?

Not the most cheerful of songs, but it's a great track, and, sadly, it's as relevant now as it was back in 1978.

What’s a song that grew on you over time?

This gives me the chance to share my Nick Cave joke.

"Take a little walk to the edge of town Go across the tracks Where the viaduct looms, Like a bird of doom As it shifts and cracks Where secrets lie in the border fires,
 in the humming wires Hey man, you know
 you’re never coming back Past this square, past the bridge,
 past the mills, past the stacks On a gathering storm comes
 a tall handsome man"

Nick Cave. Good at songs, rubbish at giving directions.

What’s your favorite deep cut from an album?

A jaunty tune with a bleak-as-a-northern-winter lyric

What song makes you feel like you're in a different country?

I went to see this band at what used to be called the Town and Country Club, in Kentish Town

Both the band and the audience made me feel like I was in Paris, or somewhere further South.

They played this song twice. As far as I can make out it's about a fly called Zobi ...but don't let that put you off.

Share a song you feel was ahead of its time.

Anything from the Sun Sessions really

What’s the last song you discovered and loved instantly?

I like the line "I'm working late...because I'm a singer"

How do you discover new music, and what’s the latest gem you’ve found?

It's a mixture of collaborations, compilations, algorithms, books and websites, and podcasts, and the occasional Shazam.

This song is a case in point. I'm not sure how I originally heard of Lisa O'Neill, but I played her LP, then lost touch a bit, and then saw her sing with the Pogues. Then I saw that an old punk rock school chum had picked this as his favourite record of last year (here...and I listened more carefully to this particular song.

imho, it's a masterpiece

What is a song that feels like home to you?

Johnny Cash was the sound of my childhood, and he's followed me through adulthood into what I'm starting to think of as my old age.

A bit of trivia...Rock Island Line an American song, but Billy Bragg says that Johnny Cash adopted a change to the words that comes from East Ham's Lonnie Donegan.

What’s the first song you’d play at a party?

Just because of the title really, and these words

Wailers still be there The Jam, The Dammed, The Clash Wailers still be there Dr. Feelgood too, ooh No boring old farts No boring old farts No boring old farts will be there

Yeah, it's the punky reggae party And it's tonight Punky reggae party And it's alright

What song do you associate with the current season?

My first thought was the Sisters of Mercy's LP 'Floodland' because that's what my bit of the Shire turns into at this time of year...but instead I've gone for something equally Goth-y and very appropriate to the season