Q – I was wondering how you select a running order for your albums? It is a difficult choice I am sure!
A – I think this may have been addressed before but the answer is short so here goes – I want the first song to represent the whole record, somehow or other and I also want it to make the listener want to hear more. That’s not asking much, is it? From then on it’s just a question of what goes well after what one song might make another seem slow if they were juxtaposed, so one must keep them separated – it is trial and error, basically. Some songs seem ideal to close records, like ‘Are you ready to be heartbroken?’. Occasionally I ‘ll have a song I want to be first but I can’t make it work, like Rolodex incident – that’s why I put it last. And finally there are times when I just don’t know and someone like my old A&R man Dave Bates pipes in – he suggested ‘Trigger Happy’ which hadn’t occurred to me, but it is perfect. On the other hand he was insistent on Morning is Broken and I still prefer Love YOu So What… I think the humour in Bad Vibes is often missed (my fault mainly), but I think it would have been more easily seen if the record didn’t open with a 7 minute dirge.