ROBERT PALMER : Music & Style

What music are you currently grooving to?

Ry Cooder's Mambo Sinuendo. You can just let it run. It's like kitsch visits Hawaii. I like Kelly Rowland's album, a lot of Django Reinhardt, and also Mercedes, which I know is pretty old. It's black American R&B with an incredible sound, actually kind of X-rated and vulgar, but the fidelity! I've got a fantastic hi-fi, and my subwoofer doesn't wake up much, but with this one my windows rattle.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

I think you have to have something in your collection for at least seven years before you can be objective about it. So I'll say The Lady Sings The Blues Volume Two by Billie Holiday - I remember the shoes I was wearing when I bought it in 1968! That was something I originally rejected as my parents' music, and it took me years to come back to it.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?

Eight Miles High by The Byrds in Batley in Yorkshire. I think it cost six (shillings) and ninepence, that's the same price as a harmonica. (Discusses with someone else present) Oh no, we reckon four shillings and sixpence.

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be?

(Long pause) Nobody!

What do you sing in the shower?

Lately it's been Roy Orbison's Crying, God Only Knows by the Beach Boys, you know, whatever's present in my mind. It can become very irritating, when you get this melody going around in your head and you realise you're singing a corn flakes advert. But hey! I'm never alone in the shower.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

I don't draw the distinction: every night is Saturday night. So I'd choose Pink, "I'm coming out/So you better get this party started," haha!

And your Sunday morning record?

This past month, I guess, it's been Joe Pass. A virtuoso genius on guitar. I like his interpretations of the standards - they're beautiful, musically, once you get rid of the silly lyrics.