Soundtrack Of My Life: Scott Mills

The first song I remember hearing

Bucks Fizz – ‘The Land Of Make Believe’

“I grew up in a very pop household – there’s nothing cool in my collection. This used to be on the radio all the time. I believe it was the follow-up to their Eurovision-winning song. It used to quite scare me. It’s supposed to sound magical and it’s got lyrics about Superman, but at the end there’s a really weird nursery rhyme by a child. My mum says I used to run upstairs.”

The first song I fell in love with

Stevie Wonder – ‘Isn’t She Lovely’

“My mum was big into Stevie. I know it’s become a little bit of a cliché when you want to say something nice about a lady but I think the words are perfect. The production on it is still brilliant, it’s kinda timeless and it’s a feel-good song.”

The first album I bought

Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’

“By this time I was pretending to be on Radio 1 in my bedroom. I would do a show every day, just for my mum, there were no other listeners. I taped the jingles off the radio, I had two record decks, all I didn’t have was a microphone so it was just me shouting. I got this album for Christmas on vinyl. Since I’d been doing so many shows on fake Radio 1 I then had to get it again next Christmas because I’d worn it out.”

The first gig I went to

Eternal at Manchester G-Mex, early ’90s

“I was quite late going to gigs, not many people came to Southampton back in the day. The first gig I ever went to was when I was working at a radio station in Manchester – you’d think it’s gonna be The Stone Roses or The Happy Mondays. No, it’s Eternal at the G-Mex. I got free tickets from the radio station, and that blew my mind. A guy called Danny Matthews said ‘you wanna go and see Eternal tonight?’ and they were massive at the time. I was like ‘yeah, yeah, how much do I owe you?’ and he said, ‘no, it’s free’ and I couldn’t get my head round it.”

The song that reminds me of home

Paul Young – ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)’

“My dad in particular was obsessed with ‘No Parlez’, the album. It reminds me of car journeys and it would be on in the house the whole time. Paul Young did have an amazing voice and it’s easy to forget now but that album was huge, such a big seller.”

The song I wish I’d written

Britney Spears – ‘…Baby One More Time’

“I think it began a new era of pop that went on for a couple of decades afterwards. I honestly think it’s the best debut single of all time.”

The song I do at karaoke

George Michael – ‘Faith’

“Every year they have the Radio 1 Christmas party, where all the DJs get together, and one year they decided to do it in a bowling alley where there’s a bar and a karaoke room. Me and Annie Mac did ‘Faith’ and I’ll be honest, it was a winner, although it probably wasn’t as good as I remember because drinking was involved. Then my friend who I’d taken along was sick in one of the bowling alleys, which prevented Pete Tong from bowling. It was a good night.”

The song I can’t get out of my head

‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’, from Encanto

“I do the Radio 1 chart show so I am the only person that has to play this on the radio because it was Number One for seven weeks. This song is a pop mystery to me. I’m not a child so that probably goes a long way to explain why I don’t get it. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote it, is incredible, but I believe they have a formula for writing these songs which is like catnip for children, it’s like drugs.”

The song I can no longer listen to

Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes – ‘(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life’

“I’ve been in radio since I was 16 and I worked at a lot of commercial radio stations that were like ‘the best of the ‘80s, ‘90s and now!’ Then before I was on Radio 1 I was on the launch of Heart. All of those stations play this song and they generally play it out of the news and it fills me with dread. Even how it fades in – “nooow I’ve…” – I just can’t bear it.”

The song I want played at my funeral

Christina Perri – ‘A Thousand Years’

“I thought no-one played that at their funeral, they’re all playing ‘My Way’ or whatever, but I looked it up and it’s in the top 20 most played songs at a funeral. It says it all, it’s a little bit uplifting, it’s not too sad, but it is a bit sad.”

Scott Mills plays Rattler Fest in Penhallow, Truro on April 23