Mark Moore – Influences

A Giorgio Moroder production. Pure bliss in a futuristic, electronic disco style. Not only did this track influence me but I’m guessing New Order had a good listen before making Blue Monday.

Saw this on telly as a teen and was slightly fascinated by Siouxsie Sioux and Johhny Rotten. A few weeks later in one of those ‘Oh what’s the bloody point’ moments of gloom I listened to Patti Smith, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones and had an epiphany caused solely by the music and lyrics. I felt alive again and became a fully fledged punk rocker. It honestly changed my life. ‘You’re not a punk rocker. You’re an individual just like us,’ said the punkettes who adopted me, so we never actually used the ‘P’ word. All these years later I still feel like I’m a punk rocker.

Ecstasy, Acid, Sleaze. Let’s put our ecstasy dealer on the record. Soft Cell had it all. A role model for all pop bands.

New wave meets electro/rap as Rusty Egan from mythical New Romantic club The Blitz meets Afrika Bambaataa from the Zulu Nation. Breaking down genres and mashing it up. Made me want to spin on my head.

Who wants to die for art? John Waters movies and superstar Divine made me realise I wasn’t alone with my twisted sense of humour when I was a teenager. Watch Divine as Dawn Davenport opening her stage show to an adoring public.

How sexy is this record? And they didn’t even bother to put the vocals in. I would play this on my walkman whenever I visited New York back in the day, just as I was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan in a taxi, with all the skyscrapers and lights welcoming me to an adventure playground. Definitely one of the many sounds of the long gone, old New York.

I first saw this on the Woodstock film on TV and it blew my mind. The clothes! The hair! The sound of that bass! Multi racial; girls and boys making an incredible noise and they looked liked they were from out of space. This is how a band should be.

I could spend all day putting in house records that we know and love but thought I’d shine a light on something that remains largely forgotten. This was a big end of the nighter for me when I played at Pyramid in Heaven back in 1987. Every time I hear it I get transported back to those amazing nights just before the Acid House Explosion that was to come.

I never get tired of this classic no matter how many times I hear it. Goosebumps every time. I adore a Norman Whitfield psychedelic soul production. He also produced Rose Royce ‘Is It Love That You’re After’ which was sampled by some ne’re-do-well.

A huge inspiration. It was great to have Philip remix my track Hey Music Lover. I took him out to a rave and we both got on one. He loved it.