MUSIC MY SIX BEST ALBUMS

FEARGAL SHARKEY

FEARGAL SHARKEY, 58, was lead singer of The Undertones who had hits with Teenage Kicks and My Perfect Cousin. As a solo artist, he reached No 1 in 1985 with A Good Heart. He is promoting Salute, an alternative talent competition for aspiring music-makers. Entries close on May 8. See salutemusic.uk MARVIN GAYE: What’s Going on (Tamla) I heard this when I was 12 or 13 and it was a big awakening. A singer’s job is to give listeners an emotional bond with the story and by God could Gaye do that.

I have a son who went through a Darkness phase but he heard a track from this in the car one day and said: “That’s really good.” I said: “Well done, son, you’ve arrived.” RAMONES: Ramones (Rhino) Boy, did this have an impact on a young Irishman. I realised anybody could get out there and make an utterly fantastic noise. Listening to that opening chord of Blitzkrieg Bop, I still find it difficult not to reach for the volume and drive everyone crazy. CAROLE KING: Tapestry (Ode/Epic/Legacy) Probably the world’s greatest living songwriter. If any of us wrote one tenth of those songs, we could pass on to the next life incredibly happy. VAN MORRISON: Moondance (Rhino) With the opening chords of Into The Mystic and that line, “We were born before the wind”, Van’s got me right there. I can still sit in quiet awe at these songs. I’ve always been fascinated by people who are driven by an instinctive urge to do it their way, like it or not. KRAFTWERK: Trans-Europe Express (EMI) This drew me into electronic music and the fact that you could create music without banging things. It inspired any amount of phenomenal electronic music through the 1980s. They deserve applause for pushing the boundaries. ABBA: Gold (Universal) I was working for the record company that released this [Polydor at the time]. Growing up in the mid-1970s, Abba wasn’t on my radar but 20 years later I realised the extraordinary ability those guys had as songwriters.

I don’t think you could go to a nightclub anywhere and not fill the dance floor to Dancing Queen.