VARIOUS: James Bond Collection (Deleted)

I had this double LP as a kid and cut an extra groove on it. I used to play the theme from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service over and over and I loved Diamonds Are Forever. I’m a lifelong Bond and John Barry fan, and the music took me to another place.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller (Sony)

I got this one Christmas as a teenager and never stopped playing it. I love all the tracks, even the cheesy The Girl Is Mine, but particularly the title track because I’m a big horror fan. I’m a professional drummer so rhythm – jazz, soul, funk – is important to me. I don’t do indie white music.

LEVEL 42: Live At Wembley (Deleted)

The only British jazz-funk band in the 1980s that were commercially successful as well, but I’m into their raw, funky, instrumental stuff. I loved Mark King’s bass-playing and Love Games, where he does a bass solo, made the hairs prickle on the back of my neck. They were guests on The Fast Show and Mark and I are mates now.

Related articles

SCHOOL DAYS: Stanley Clarke (Sony Jazz)

My most important album, which developed my musical taste. I went on a French exchange in 1983-4 and already had a massive interest in jazz. I was bored senseless in a miserable industrial town, but they had a record player and this album was my saviour. The musicianship is at the apex and it puts me in a happy place.

YELLOWJACKETS: Yellowjackets (Warner)

When I did amateur dramatics, we formed our own jazz-funk band and my musical director said I’d like this. These are amazing musicians at their best. This is melodic jazz not free jazz, which I can’t stand.

AL DI MEOLA: Elegant Gypsy (Columbia)

I love Spanish guitar, and this guy does incredible flamenco-rock fusion. I think he’s sold his fingers to the devil. You get such a variety of time signatures and styles with jazz, and Midnight Tango, for example, is beautiful.