[This is a somewhat grumpy list Ian gave to a local teen magazine a couple of years ago.]

After a lifetime submersed in music it's an impossible task to pick only ten albums as favourites, so in true Spinal Tap fashion I've made it eleven, plus one Ultimate Compilation.

I wish I could include more NZ albums, but while I could name scores of favourite NZ songs, there's no one complete album that qualifies apart from Hello Sailors'.

I wish I could appear hipper and include a few more modern albums, but true classics need time to mature, and the Tyranny of Age means I hear the latest dance album and think "That's all very well, but it sounds like New Order". I hear Coldplay and think "That's all very well, but it sounds like Th' Dudes and U2". I hear the latest hip-hop or rap and think "That's all very well, but didn't Grandmaster Flash do that in a more entertaining fashion in 1983? And why are you so concerned about the size of your dick?" I hear Creed and Pearl Jam and think "That's all very well, but it sounds like Foreigner and Boston". I hear Blink 182 and all those other US college bands and think "That's all very well, but it sounds like Jonathan Richman without the wit."

In no particular order:

The Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers"
After the debacle of Satanic Majesties the Stones came back as The Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World with arguably their three finest albums: Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street. Sticky Fingers was the one Peter Urlich and I mimed, air-guitared and jumped around to back in the early '70s.

Radiohead "OK Computer"
A sublime capture and reconstitution of the history of rock and roll.

Alice Cooper "Billion Dollar Babies"
A classic two guitar, bass and drums band. Not the greatest players, but the greatest riffs, and an attitude that makes Marilyn Manson look like the pussy he is.

Hello Sailor "Hello Sailor"
The musicianship, the style, and the superb and innovative songwriting made these guys local heroes.

The Clash "London Calling"
After three years this band had the attitude, the politics and the music as near to perfection as possible.

Frank Sinatra "Sings the Select Cole Porter"
My mum had this album. "Listen to his phrasing," she said. I had no idea what "phrasing" was, but I guessed she meant the way he glided so effortlessly over the top of those Billy May/Nelson Riddle arrangements.

Ludwig van Beethoven, 6th Symphony "Pastoral"; Vienna Symphony Orchestra; Otto Klemperer, Conducter.
You know how it is: you sit through music period listening to dead white European males, then suddenly something clicks and you GET IT.

Dr John "Desitively Bonaroo"
All these new supposedly RnB artists should be forced to listen to this to discover what "funky" really means. The sassiest, grooviest, poppinest, spiciest record ever made.

The Beatles "Revolver"
For Dave Dobbyn and me this was the Bible on how to write songs, how to record songs, and how to take drugs.

David Bowie "Low"
If Bowie and Eno hadn't teamed up in the shadow of the Berlin Wall to make this, popular music after 1977 would have run a very different course.

Various Artists "This Is The Front Line"
An Island Records reggae compilation from the mid '70s featuring U-Roy, I-Roy, Prince Far-I, the Twinkle Brothers, Althea and Donna. Light a big spliff: this IS the Front Line.

And not forgetting the Ultimate Compilation...
Elvis Costello, The Who, Ry Cooder, Billy Holiday, Cesaria Evora, George Jones, Elvis Presley@Sun Studios, Johnny Cash, Che Fu, Mercury Rev, Erykah Badu, Ron Sexsmith, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the Scavengers/Marching Girls, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Emmylou Harris, Los Lobos, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, the Furies, the Band, the Jam, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, Guy Clark, Hank Wangford, Dusty Springfield, Paul Kelly, Merle Travis, Macy Gray, and a million others...;