This article is from the October 2013 issue of Total Politics

Rainbow Rising by Rainbow. I used to go to a rock club in Brighton called The Hungry Years, and they regularly played three tracks from the album. Tarot Woman jogs a particular memory!

The first record I bought

Rory Gallagher by Rory Gallagher and Savoy Brown’s Street Corner Talking, both at the same time. Third album was Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality as my taste got heavier.

My favourite record

Avenged Sevenfold’s Nightmare. It would have been one from Stone Sour, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple or Iron Maiden – there are well over a 100 that almost made it as my favourite – but when I went to see Stone Sour two years ago, Avenged Sevenfold were co-headlining and the show they put on blew me away.

What I play if I’ve had a bad day

That would be Shinedown’s Amaryllis. Who says the devil has all the best tunes? This Christian rock band is superb, and I can’t wait for their show in London later this year.

The most political record I own

Something for Nothing off Rush’s album 2112. The whole of 2112 is fairly political.

The most recent record bought or downloaded

The full CD of In This Moment by Blood. Although special mention must go to Collibus, the winners of my special award for Rock The House 2013. Their track Dead Inside is the latest single-track addition to my iPod.