I read numerous books - loads in fact - and, as I always do when recording a historical project, immersed myself into the subject matter. I spent many hours at Henry's old homes, such as Hampton Court, and visiting the Tower of London. I read no other books during that period.
I fail to see the issue that will shock the people of this great country of ours into some decisive action.
I asked for a guitar when I was 8 years old for Christmas. I have no idea why. I never had any guitar heroes. I still don't. But there must have been something in me because I've been playing for 30 years.
We read our own political content into The Clash, and they accepted it.
I think one of the great moments of my life was when I could write musician on my passport.
We had offers to go everywhere and we could have done them. But what would have been the point? We were tired. We had worked hard and needed a break before we got stale. We spent six months at home and writing songs.
I never bought the commercial thing, at any stage of the game.
Now everybody's got a crazy notion of their own. Some like to mix up with a crowd, some like to be alone. It's no one elses' business as far as I can see, but every time that I go out the people stare at me, with me little ukulele in me hand.
As a songwriter, I was influenced by David Bowie - a great writer. A class above everybody in so many ways. Lennon and McCartney, of course. Class stuff. David Cousins was my favorite lyricist.
I know I have a very self-destructive tendency since my mother died, I have got to be honest.
I have my family; I'm never alone.
I open events for museums and I do charity work and photography.
I have never had another job and I don't have a mortgage.
I have never once celebrated a Valentine's Day as a romantic holiday. For me, it's another opportunity to tell my kids or whoever how much I love them. I hang pink crepe paper and make heart-shaped pancakes!
I thinks it really interesting how they throw the world music samples in there. I often wonder what it would be like to do something like that, but use my lyrics and my kind of style.
I'm quite obviously not the world's most handsome man - I'm the second world's most handsome man!
The music industry is in such poor shape; it's in a really bad way, and a lot of people in the industry are very depressed.
The music technology scene is changing so fast it's hard to keep up.
To rally every black sheep is my goal.
I think a certain amount of anger has been a fuel of mine, if you want - but also some sort of sadness, and plain mischief, of course.
It's a petty thing, but I wouldn't join the Scouts when I was a kid, 'cause you had to swear allegiance to the queen. I'm just not a royalist. I think it's idiotic, a hereditary principle.
I love Gibsons, and Nationals, too. There's something magical about them.
Coltrane would do what you'd get a Roland Pro Tools module to do but with a group of jazz musicians.
I feel like I'm always having to justify why I haven't kept in touch with anyone from the old days in Stoke-on-Trent, but I'm like that with anybody. I don't let anybody in. I just rely on myself.
I hate the rock music tradition. I can't bear it!
I've been lucky to listen to lots of different types of music.
My dad's my best mate, and he always will be.
I just managed to convince my grandmother that it was a worth while that was something to do, you know, and when I did finally get the guitar, it didn't seem that difficult to me, to be able to make a good noise out of it.
I would say New York, Chicago, Memphis, and Los Angeles were my favorites.
You'll find so many of the guitarists from the '60s will all say Lonnie Donegan was the influence.
I'm a punk rocker. I don't do Christian.
Anyone that thinks 'pop' is a dirty word is living in the '90s.
When I'm up on stage, I don't think about anything except the song I'm singing. Anyway, the majority of my audience is female, and I can't think that many of them want to see me a French maid outfit somehow!
Like Russell, I enjoy the fact that when I'm playing solo, if I want to do something completely spontaneous, I don't have to worry about how I'm going to cue the other musicians, or if it's something that's rehearsed.
Everything changes and, somewhere along the line, I'm changing with it.
I was half asleep lying there writing this lyric in my head at about 3:30 in the morning. I woke Steve up with this idea and then we went into the living room where there was a little upright piano and finished the song. I wonder where that piano is now?
