Scottish music star KT Tunstall has offered a refreshingly candid look into the soundtrack of her life, revealing the songs that shaped her youth, changed her career, and even the one she finds "repugnant" to play in the bedroom.
An 80s Upbringing and Musical Awakening
Growing up during the 1980s, Tunstall's early tastes were defined by the era's pop giants. She cites Wham!, Bros, Madonna, and Bon Jovi as her formative favourites. Her first musical love, however, was sparked by Kim Wilde's performance of 'Kids in America' on Top of the Pops, where she thought Wilde resembled "Marilyn Monroe wearing a leather biker jacket."
Her first album purchase was influenced by a goth friend who persuaded her to use bookshop vouchers, won in a writing competition, to buy Cocteau Twins' 'Heaven Or Las Vegas' from a Dundee store. This eclectic beginning hinted at the broad palette that would later define her own work.
The Songs That Define Moments
Tunstall's playlist is a map of personal milestones and professional challenges. Her go-to karaoke track is George Michael's 'Faith', performed "every time, without fail." For parties, she recalls her clubbing days with Technotronic's 'Pump Up the Jam'.
One of her biggest lyrical challenges was memorising every word of Bob Dylan's 'Tangled Up in Blue' for a tribute performance. "I was playing for a Bob Dylan fanatic audience, so I couldn't get any of them wrong," she admitted, calling it a hard but rewarding task.
Life-changing inspiration came from an unlikely source: Beck's 'Loser' video on MTV. "I didn't think about being a musician. When I saw that... I thought: That's what I want to do," she revealed, crediting it with setting her on her career path.
Personal Tracks and Funeral Plans
Some songs hold more personal, and sometimes painful, resonance. She can no longer listen to her own track 'Throw Me a Rope', originally about an ex-partner. She now mentally dedicates it to her first dog, Millie.
For emotional release, Joni Mitchell's 'The Circle Game', particularly the live version, "absolutely floors" her with its poignant reflection on the passage of time. To shake off morning grogginess, she needs a track that "slaps you in the face," like the Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage'.
In a characteristically honest moment, Tunstall dismissed the idea of having sex to her own music as "repugnant." She also championed owning one's tastes, refusing to label John Farnham's bagpipe-infused 'You're the Voice' a guilty pleasure, simply declaring it a song she loves.
Looking to the future, Tunstall has already selected the song for her final send-off: the Jackson 5's timeless classic 'I Want You Back'. This revelation comes as the 20-year anniversary edition of her seminal debut album, 'Eye to the Telescope', is released, offering fans a chance to revisit the record that launched her career.
