MY POP LIFE
THE FAST SHOW AND COLD FEET STAR SHARES HIS LIFELONG MUSICAL OBSESSIONS
STEVE O’BRIEN
Who were your musical heroes growing up?
I loved John Barry as I’m a big Bond fan. There was a 25th anniversary doublegatefold James Bond album and I adored that. I used to listen to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service over and over again. I loved a lot of composers, like Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini and Quincy Jones – he’s done a few soundtracks.
Who were your favourite pop bands as a teenager?
Probably my favourite band growing up was Earth, Wind & Fire, I just adore them. But also Level 42. I love their Live At Wembley album, but particularly enjoy their first stuff, too, like The Early Tapes. Here’s a funny story: Level 42 were guests on The Fast Show on the ‘Anyone fancy a pint?’ sketch, and in the green room at the BBC, Mark King was there. He was restringing his bass and took the old string off and I said, “Can I have it?” and he was like, “What on earth would you want that for?” and I said I was a big fan. So we got chatting and we’ve been friends ever since. I’ve always got a ticket if they come to Manchester. I love bands where they have a high level of musicianship and Mark’s one of the best bass players in the world.