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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
As told to Elle Hunt

‘The song I want played at my funeral? SexyBack’: Lou Sanders’s honest playlist

‘I like big songs that feel quite upbeat’: Lou Sanders.
‘I like big songs that feel quite upbeat’: Lou Sanders. Photograph: Matt Stronge

The song that is my karaoke go-to
I’m really bad at singing, but I’ll have a go anyway. My one is Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship, or I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston. I like big songs that feel quite upbeat, the songs that people love – me singing them, less so.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
Justified & Ancient by the KLF. We sang it when I was in a band 10 years ago. We were called Geoff Leopard and we were really bad. My friend Justine was in it and knows the middle rap really well. She was at some awards do and thought everyone would be really impressed if she launched into the rap. They let her finish and said: please never do that again.

The best song to have sex to
When I first got with my boyfriend, the first or second time we were going back to smooch, as a joke I said: “Alexa, play Barry White.” It was the only sexy music I could think of.

The best song to play at a party
The Spree Wilson cover of Champagne Supernova. Everyone knows Champagne Supernova – it’s just an even more fun version.

The song I want played at my funeral
I don’t think I’d care cos I’ll be somewhere else, having a wonderful time. It’d be good to play something to get a laugh, to cheer everyone up. Maybe like Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack, or It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, just to mix it up.

The song I can’t help singing
I Try by Macy Gray. It’s so good, isn’t it? I was a teenager at the time it came out, getting off with way older men. You look back, like: “Crikey, I don’t know how good some of that was … ” But belting this out in a car, feeling very grownup – that was great.

The song I have to get up to turn off
Anything by R Kelly. It’s a shame, he did do some catchy songs, before he was proven to be a massive, horrible nonce.

The song I tell people is my favourite
I don’t think you can have a “favourite song” and it winds me up when people ask. You can’t have one! Time is evolving, and we are, constantly. My favourite song today is Loving Is Easy by Rex Orange County (feat Benny Sings). It’s so beautiful and mellow, the lyrics are sort of sad but also quite happy. The message is: loving is easy! If Twitter – and the world – could take that message on board, wouldn’t it be a nicer life?!

Lou Sanders’s UK tour, One Word: Wow, begins on 3 March.

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