London Mayor Sadiq Khan has spoken about his music tastes in a new podcast, with such artists as Sting, Prince and The Clash flying high in his list of favourites.
Khan, who was elected to the mayoral position in May, was the latest special guest on Rough Trade’s ‘On The Record’ podcast, where he spoke about which artists he listened to while growing up in the city.
“Lots of my mates were into the Whams and the Durans and the Spandau Ballets,” Khan said. “I was into The Police because they wrote their own stuff, they played instruments, they had a good sound, a combination of different genres — reggae, pop and rock. They were a British band who had gone to America. They were doing so well then suddenly broke up, which for a young boy was devastating.”
GettyKhan, who picked Sting’s ‘Englishman In New York’ as one of six tracks that the podcast invites guests to put forward as their favourite ever songs, also said he met The Police frontman after a gig when he was 17 and thought he was “a nice guy.”
“I’m still a member of the Sting fan club,” he revealed. “They let you know when he’s playing a concert or there’s an album. They’ve stopped sending posters and badges, which is probably a good idea ‘cos my wife might leave me.”
Khan’s other five song choices were Madness‘ ‘Our House’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’, Florence + The Machine‘s ‘You’ve Got The Love’ and The Clash’s ‘London Calling’. Listen to the podcast below.
The Mayor was a vocal opponent of the controversial September closure of the London nightclub Fabric – it has since announced it will be re-opening next year – and recently appointed a Night Czar to stem threats to the city’s after-hours economy.