Music / Interview
Interview: Mike Peters
Mike Peters has been performing and recording on and off with The Alarm for quite some time now, and has also released and toured solo stuff and taken part in a fair few interesting collaborations and projects too. His latest release with the Alarm – Equals – has already harvested a rake of very positive reviews before its official release on June 24th. Oh, and rather than letting cancer knock him back, he’s continued to tour and record and raise shitloads of money to fight that bitch of a disease via his charity Love Hope Strength. And all this whilst supporting his wife since her diagnosis with breast cancer. As a warm up for the album releases he’s doing a tour of record shops and is popping in to the ever splendid and welcoming Longwell Records on Saturday 30th June. It seemed very appropriate to politely request he spend some time with the vinyl enquirer (see findings below) and do pop out to the event, it’s always good to support small indie record shops and Peters is sure to deliver a blinder. It all kicks off at 2:00pm.
What was the first record you ever bought and where did you buy it?
Poppa Joe by The Sweet at Greaves Records.
is needed now More than ever
What was the most recent record you bought and where did you buy it?
Killers, Direct Hits (vinyl edition), at HMV in Manchester.
What record do you stick on the deck to sooth your soul?
I’m partial to Young Americans by David Bowie.
Have you bought a record on the basis of a great single and then been disappointed by the rest of the album? If so, tell us all about it…
I remember being with Paul McGuiness, U2’s manager, at a wedding about 2 months before they released Unforgettable Fire…he asked if I wanted to hear the new U2 record and I said “Yes Please!”. He played me the song Pride on the car stereo, and then pulled out the cassette. When I asked about hearing the rest of the songs he said “You don’t need to hear them – that song Pride IS the album”.
What record do you turn up to maximum to get in to that party mood?
Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack always does the trick for me.
If we had the ability to land you at the recording of one classic LP so you could witness the whole recording process, what would you choose and why?
I wouldn’t mind looking in on Let It Be album (it’s my favourite Beatles album), and I’d love to see them at work even if it was fractious at times.
Ever bought a record solely because you liked the sleeve? If so, what was it and did it delight you or disappoint you?
I bought a lot of those back in the 1970’s from Electrip Records in Rhyl. I remember buying an album by Babe Ruth – First Base, with the cosmic baseball player on the cover…mainly because I also liked Yes and their artist Roger Dean had created the cover. I took it back the next day and said it was scratched.
Oh no, your house is burning down and you can only rescue one record! What would it be and why?
Quadrophenia by The Who… it covers everything.
What’s your favourite record sleeve? Tell us all about it (and whether or not the music gives you as much pleasure as the sleeve).
Quadrophenia. I still look through the book and can see aspects of my own upbringing and all the life and times I have served reflected in the images: “The beach is a place where a man can feel he’s the only soul in the world that’s real”.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
