Soundtrack Of My Life: Sharleen Spiteri

The first song I remember hearing

Nancy Sinatra – ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin”

“That was the first record I remember thinking: ‘Woah, what is this?’ I was about six years old and I guess it formed me as a songwriter. It definitely was a moment [for me]. This woman saying exactly what she wanted, exactly what she thought and, ‘Don’t fuck with me because I have my own opinion and I’m sticking to it.’ That really stuck with me.”

The first album I ever bought

Blondie – ‘Parallel Lines’

“It’s an amazing feeling when you’re young and you’ve saved up your money to buy something. I was about 11 years old. I can still see every little bit of that sleeve. I can sing every lyric to that album and I don’t even have to think what the next song is [when I’m playing it]. I’ve listened to it so much. I get so upset with my daughter when she’s listening to music. Let the fucking album play in the order it’s meant to be! It makes me fucking crazy.”

The first gig I went to

Simple Minds at Tiffany’s in Glasgow, 1981/2

“I was underage, about 14, and I went with my big cousin Eddie Spiteri. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Being in a room [with people] that were a bit older than me and just that thrill of knowing I was underage. I thought I was dead cool. [The room] had this energy that everybody was all in it together. You know that thing when the audience starts pulsing and everybody starts jumping? The whole audience was bouncing and I was so fucking short that I couldn’t see! I was getting tussled about by the crowd and I thought: ‘This is brilliant’. I still feel like that when I’m on stage now.”

The album that reminds me of home

Fleetwood Mac – ‘Rumours’

“My dad bought this when he came home from sea [Spiteri’s father was a merchant seaman]. When he did this he’d have a wad of money in his pocket and he’d go out into Glasgow and buy 15 or 20 albums. I remember lying in my bedroom and him blasting ‘Rumours’. And I just thought: ‘I really like this’. I remember wondering what the fuck Mick Fleetwood was wearing on the album cover. He had these nuts hanging down from his trousers? And he was wearing tights? It definitely wasn’t The Clash.”

The song I wish I’d written

Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’

“I remember hearing this for the first time on the radio and thinking ‘Fuck me, that is so good.’ The way Amy squeezed out the words. Or pulled back on certain lyrics and then she would push forward on other ones.”

The song I do at karaoke

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell – ‘You’re All I Need To Get By’

“I love karaoke so much. Not as much as my sister though, which is hysterically funny. She’s married to the guitarist in Texas and whenever there’s a party for the band she says we’re not allowed to do it because we’re professionals. I find it genuinely upsetting.”

The song I can’t get out of my head

Lizzo – ‘About Damn Time’

“I get right into it. My daughter just says, ‘Mum, please stop!’ She’s not one of those rock star kids who’s embarrassed by their parents but she does have those moments when I do really ‘mum’ things. Though she’s going to be 21 soon!”

The song I can no longer listen to

N/A

“I don’t really have this with any song. I think the answer to this question, though, is that even if a song holds a lot of pain for you it’s still a really important song to have in your life. You might not like it right now or for a few years but that pain and that song will be something that forms a certain part of you. You’ll love it again at some point in your life.”

The song that makes me want to dance

Donna Summer – ‘Love’s Unkind’

“Nobody could disagree with this choice. I defy anyone, even someone who says they never dance, not to dance when they put this record on. You can’t help it. It’s one of those songs that starts in your feet and then works its way up your body. Before you know it you’re up out your chair and you’re off!”

The song that makes me cry

Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’

“It cuts every nerve in my body and brings up that big lump in my throat. The truth is that when I’m listening to that song, I’m not even thinking about Amy Winehouse. I’m thinking about me. You imagine yourself singing the words. The bit that is so poignant for me is ‘We only said goodbye with words/I died a hundred times‘. When you love a song it is because it’s your ideas, your memories, your relationships, your letdowns and your disappointments. All those things in your life. All the periods of your life get mashed up and songs touch on lots of different periods and will remind you of certain things and that’s what makes you love a song.”

The song I want played at my funeral

The Rolling Stones – ‘Shine A Light’

“I’ve known this for a million years. When it repeats, ‘Come on up now‘, it’ll almost be like someone’s there saying that to me. The lyrics are amazing: ‘Angels beating all their wings in time/With smiles on their faces and a gleam right in their eyes/Whoa, thought I heard one sigh for you‘. You hope that when you go people are a bit sad but they’re also looking back and thinking, ‘Yeah, that was a good person’.”

Texas’ ‘The Very Best Of 1989 – 2023’ is out June 16 on [PIAS] Recordings. The band will play Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on June 23

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