Nine Questions

Robyn Hitchcock

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First with the highly influential Soft Boys, then with backing band the Egyptians, and currently solo, Robyn Hitchcock has been writing and performing music professionally for nearly 30 years. Though he lives in London, Hitchcock and his wife, artist Michele Noach, have recently spent several months in Tucson to "dry out" (weather-wise, not rehab), so Hitchcock could do some recording at WaveLab studios for a new album, and so Noach could show her art (currently hanging in the lobby of Hotel Congress). Noach's responses to Nine Questions will appear in these pages next week; here are Hitchcock's answers.

What was the first concert you ever saw?

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, Lulu, Freddy and the Dreamers at the Albert Hall, 1964.

What CDs are in your changer right now?

Neutral Milk Hotel.

How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?

100 LPs, 1,000 CDs, 10,000 cassettes.

Do you download music, and if so, legally?

Are you kidding? I only bought a Discman last year.

What was the first album you owned?

An LP by The Goons (British radio comedy show from the '50s with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers).

What song would you like played at your funeral?

"Wolfpack" by Syd Barrett.

Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

Philly soul circa 1974--"Rock Your Baby," by George McCrae, "The Hustle" by Van McCoy.

What band or artist changed your life, and how?

Bob Dylan with Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. Those records sent me through the exit from my childhood and onto a course that has pretty much been a straight line since then.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Revolver by The Beatles. What's yours?