31 songs that changed my life

In a new collection of essays writer Nick Hornby reveals the 31 songs that have provided a soundtrack to his life. So we asked music fans, including authors, musicians and artists what song is guaranteed to make their spine tingle Kirsty de Garis The Observer, Sunday 19 January 2003 1. J.G. BALLARD - novelist The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy When I was a young child in Shanghai, during the Thirties, I was given a gramophone and that one record. I loathed it until I was about 50. Now I could listen to it forever. The song holds all the mystery and magic of childhood, and I can't get enough of it! 2. PAUL MORLEY - rock journalist Being Boiled by the Human League I remember hearing 'Being Boiled' by the Human League about a quarter of a century ago - a mix up of glam Sheffield steel, Dali melt, Fausty distortion, Meek DIY sound effects, dinky Kraftwerk electronics and the deadest of pans (it advocated a ban on the cruel abuse of silk worms) and Johnny Rotten dismissed the group as 'trendy hippies'. I felt that this was the sound of the future, and hoped that by, say, the year 2003, songs like this were filling the charts. In some ways that prediction might be coming true. 3. JOSEPH O'CONNOR - novelist Big Brother Theme Music by Oakenfold and Grey I'd prefer if I actually liked the song that had the deepest effect on me because, objectively, I can't stand it. But Big Brother began on the night my son was born, and somehow the tune got mixed up in my consciousness with the happiness of becoming a father. I really wish this bit of my soundtrack was by Elvis Costello or Bessie Smith. But when I hear those grimly portentous synthesiser chords, I can't help but feel an ache of helpless love. 4. GURINDER CHADHA - director, Bend it like Beckham Gangsters by The Special AKA I saw the Specials on the first two tone tour and they and their music blew me away. It was a time when second-generation Asian and black kids were not putting up with what their parents had, but at the same time the NF and BNP were rising steadily and this idea of black and white singing together drawing from old ska sounds, reggae and punk was liberating as a soundtrack to my political awakenings at that time. 5. JONATHAN WILKES - star of The Rocky Horror Show Angels by Robbie Williams My most memorable song is also my favourite song and is by my best mate. My memory of it is the feeling I got standing backstage and watching 125,000 people singing back to him; it just sent shivers down my spine. Every time I see him on tour and he sings it the reaction is always amazing. 6. MARK WALLINGER - artist Madame George by Van Morrison The sense of desire and loss expressed in this song is so sad because it dares one to try to hear it again as if for the first time. It describes our exile from our past. Radical, allusive, heartbreaking, and the ultimate three-chord trick. 7. NEIL SPENCER - writer What's So Good About Goodbye? by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles When Bob Dylan dubbed Smokey Robinson 'America's greatest living poet' he was only half fooling. Robinson's lyrical dexterity equalled that of a previous generation's maestros such as Cole Porter, and framed romance in less knowing, more idealistic terms. The Beatles, Stones and Costello were among many who covered and took inspiration from songs like this heart-acher and its dazzling falsetto vocals. 8. JEAN PIERRE - cashier at Tower Records, Piccadilly Circus Imagine by John Lennon

I know it's a clich, but I love this song simply for Lennon's vision of the world: What he thought the world should be like. As soon as I heard it, it had an enormous effect on me. It's one I never tire of listening to. And I listen to music absolutely all day! 9. GEOFF TRAVIS - founder of Rough Trade This Charming Man by The Smiths I was fortunate enough to be in the studio when this track was recorded. It's one of the most sublime songs. A great thing about it is there is a stop in the record: I love that. It shows supreme confidence to have silence in the middle of a song, and it increases the drama of the track. This song slides down your sensibilities. And the first line is a wonderful Oscar Wilde moment. 10. TOBY LITT - novelist Whispering Pines by The Band Sitting in a tiny white Lancia, surrounded by fog, in the car park at Calais, having just missed our ferry, 18 hours after setting out from the South of France, at least four very-near-death incidents behind us, my best friend, J, put on 'Whispering Pines' by The Band. 11. JAMIE BYNG - publisher, Canongate Books We People (Who are Darker then Blue) by Curtis Mayfield Depends when and where, but a record that never fails to knock me sideways physically and emotionally is this one. Recorded live in 1970 this combines sublime vocals, searching lyrics and many melodic moods. Same could be said of Stevie Wonder's 'As'. Both anthems. Two geniuses. 12. STEVE SUTHERLAND - editorial director, NME Mr Tambourine Man by The Byrds I heard this on a transistor radio in 1965. I was nine. Even today when I hear the opening chords chime I'm instantly transported back to that place and I can see the sunlight pouring through the window. It sounded - and still sounds - like the language of handsome, golden gods. I didn't understand a word of it, and I still don't, but I knew that it meant there was another life out there beyond my parents' understanding, a luxurious, lawless life of glamorous freedom, and I knew I wanted a part of it. I still do. 13. NORMAN JAY - DJ Living For the City by Stevie Wonder I love the story this song tells about a small-town black kid in America, moving to the city, and all the trials and tribulations that go with it. I bought the single after hearing it on the radio. It's a truly harrowing tale, unforgettable, that is just as relevant today as it was in the early Seventies. 14. BARNEY HOSKYNS - editorial director www.rocksbackpages.com That's the Way Love Turned Out For Me by James Carr James Carr's soul ballad is one I return to again and again. I think he was the greatest soul singer of them all. The song is about harrowing loss, a deep resignation to suffering, and he uses wonderful metaphors throughout, about doors closing. It seems to work as a companion for one, when in a blue funk, pain and gloom. I can listen to this song and relive that perfect expression of hopelessness. 15. IAN RANKIN - crime writer Midnight Rambler by The Rolling Stones I have chosen this from my favourite Rolling Stones album: I'm obsessed with them, and have used many titles of their songs as titles for my short stories and novels. 'Midnight Rambler' was the first time I'd ever heard a rock group sing about a serial killer - it's about the Boston Strangler. It was the end of the Sixties, and when The Beatles were singing 'All you Need is Love', The Stones, who were a good, liberal, rock group, were a bit more realistic. 16. CARLOS ACOSTA - dancer Te Doy Una Cancin (I give you a song) by Silvio Rodrguez It's a very romantic song that I grew up with in Cuba. Every time I hear it it reminds me of those years when I was a student in Pinar del Rio with a group of composers, musicians and painters, living together and playing football. Just guitar and voice, a very simple song. The language is great. He's a symbol in Latin America but it's all the memories that come with that song.