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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
As told to Rich Pelley

‘You’re not from Leeds if you don’t join in with I Predict a Riot’: Maisie Adam’s honest playlist

Maisie Adams
Maisie Adams … ‘If a man doesn’t sing along to Ricky Martin in the throes of passion, you should leave.’ Photograph: JMEnternational/Getty Images


The first song I remember hearing
I remember making my mum watch me creep around to the quiet bits, then stomp around to the chorus of It’s Oh So Quiet by Björk.

The first single I bought
I’d heard Bad Babysitter by Princess Superstar and the High & Mighty on the radio, but I didn’t know who sang it. So Mum took me to Virgin Megastore in Leeds, flagged down this spotty teenager and sang: “And I’m bad babysitter, got my boyfriend in your shower / Woo! I’m makin’ six buck an hour.” I was mortified.

The song that I do at karaoke
People go big at karaoke, so there needs to be somebody who takes it down to the emotional corners. So I do Jolene by Dolly Parton every time, ever so seriously.

The song I stream the most
I’ve loved Miles Kane since the Last Shadow Puppets. His new album, Change the Show, is brilliant. Never Get Tired of Dancing With You is my fiance’s and my new favourite because it perfectly encapsulates someone who fully gets you on the dancefloor.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys. Favourite Worst Nightmare is full of fast-paced, lyrically brilliant songs, even if my friends and I failed to take in the innuendo at the time. We just liked that he managed to cram so many big words into such short songs.

The song I wish I’d written
The Tony Bennett version of The Way You Look Tonight makes me cry every time. I don’t how a human being can convey love so well.

The song I secretly like that I tell everyone I hate
Anything by N-Dubz, but I immediately go to Strong Again, for some awful reason. N-Dubz were big when I was at school. I now realise this is absolutely not rapping about your struggles, but you can’t take it away – they made some bangers. I’d be mortified if I was singing out loud, but it’s in my headphones more than you’d think.

The song I can no longer listen to
I worked in FatFace for five years. They played nothing but acoustic, white-dude-on-guitar music. So I can’t listen to Only Love by Ben Howard without thinking of folding clothes and saying: “Would you like your receipt in the bag?”

The best song to have sex to
She Bangs by Ricky Martin. I hasten to add if a man doesn’t sing along in the throes of passion, you should leave.

The song I can’t help singing
Kaiser Chiefs are local Leeds lads, and I Predict a Riot is played before every Leeds game. You’re not from Leeds if you don’t join in.

The song I want played at my funeral
If I die before my fiance, I want Champagne Supernova by Oasis, because he hates Oasis and I love them and you can’t kick off at a funeral. If he’s really annoyed, he can come and join me, caught beneath the landslide, in a champagne supernova in the sky.

Maisie’s current tour, Buzzed, continues to 16 March.

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