Sweet and Lowe
Cruel to be Kind by Nick Lowe was the first song that I remember being aware of. I have a vivid recollection of hearing it on the radio when I was tiny and pestering my mum to buy it for me. I played this and the Mary Poppins soundtrack obsessively. I’m still a massive fan of Lowe’s work, and he also produced albums for Elvis Costello, who is probably my favourite artist.
Girls just wanna have fun
Advertisement
The movie Grease was a massive part of my childhood: we used to watch it at slumber parties along with The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Dirty Dancing. Even though we were young and utterly inexperienced you could tell a lot about how a girl was going to turn out by whether she identified with the virginal Sandra Dee or the slutty Rizzo. I’m afraid I was in the latter camp.
If you can stand the heat
Advertisement
The Kitchens of Distinction were the first band that I saw live. Their song The Third Time We Opened the Capsule transports me back to being an early teenager, discovering indie music and going to sweaty little rooms with a lot of other people dressed in black. I don’t remember any of their faces because we spent the whole time staring at our shoes.
She wants him
Advertisement
I didn’t know which Elvis Costello track to pick, but I was blown away by I Want You when I first heard it, and it still sends shivers through me because it’s so dark and lovely. I used to work as a researcher on Richard & Judy, and I booked him to appear. He was delightful and I was utterly thrilled to meet him.
In sickness and in health
I met one of my best friends at a My Bloody Valentine gig at the Town and Country Club in Kentish Town, London. She was being sick, so I held her hair back for her and we’re still firm friends to this day. That’s how girls bond. I so desperately wanted to be Belinda from MBV when I was a teenager — either her or Kim Deal from the Pixies.
Advertisement
Private dance
I like to put on Sly and the Family Stone’s If You Want Me to Stay before a gig and dance around to it. I do what I think are some very funky moves, though I always make sure I’m alone in the dressing room just in case I’m not the slinky mover I picture in my head.
Advertisement
Mission statement
I’ve found Billie Jo Spears’s Put a Little Love in your Heart inspirational while writing my new show, The Good Life. It encapsulates the message that I’m trying to spread through my comedy — let’s all be a little bit nicer to each other.
Lucy Porter performs The Good Life at the Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh (www.lucyporter.info), until Aug 28