10.

Robert Johnson – ‘Crossroad Blues’

He’s a sweet player and singer. I first heard him in 1977 and I really liked him a lot; it reminded me of the energy of the punk rock I was listening to at the time. It was probably the first proper blues stuff I ever heard. I was at art school, this guy there played him and I was the only person who liked it. It seemed to go over everybody else’s heads. Up until then, the blues to me was horrible, ploddy stuff like The Doors and even ‘Red House’ by Hendrix, which I appreciate more now than I did then. I found it boring because it didn’t have a shuffle, like Jimmy Reed does. The reason I like Jimmy Reed is because he sounds like a car with a buckled wheel. When I was in The Headcoats and we’d play a blues song, I’d sometimes get Debbie from The Headcoatees to play drums, because she had less drive. Or I’d try and Bruce to play a bit hamstrung. Girl drummers have always been my favourite drummers.