When I first heard Roy Orbison I dismissed him as an old crooner singing overwrought ballads of no relevance to me with my cool musical tastes.

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When I first saw and heard Fontaines D.C. they were the most exciting new guitar band I’d seen in decades. I wasn’t the biggest fan of their second album but Dave Clarke’s remix transforms the song into a dancefloor banger.

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When I first heard this joyful celebration of Africa and freedom, on a mixtape made by Polly Harvey, I thought it must be by an African group. In fact it’s an entirely home-grown affair – a collaboration between the British neo-soul collective Sault and the British singer Michael Kiwanuka.

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Even though The Velvet Underground are my favourite band I think I’ve only listened to their fifth album once. Maybe not even once. Until now.

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I can’t pretend I was an early adopter of hip-hop and I can’t remember whether I heard this landmark song when it came out in 1983.

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This is, and always has been since I first heard it, my favourite song of all time. It’s just perfect in its simplicity: wistful, dreamy, mournful and melancholic.

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This sweaty, soulful, stripped-back take on one of Jimi’s biggest tunes is by his first group – a few years after he left.

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Patti Smith’s Horses – my favourite record for much of my life – plays a part in a couple of key scenes in Wim Wenders’ wonderful film Perfect Days.

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If acid house was the first truly underground music scene to come along since the early days of punk rock, then jungle was its natural successor.

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Once seen, you’ll never get this video out of your mind. Especially this, Chris Cunningham’s full ten-and-a-half minute version of Windowlicker by Aphex Twin.

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