Madonna – True Blue
I was a massive Madonna fan, certainly in the '80s and into the '90s. At some point I kinda fell off but I love the first, like, five records. I just love good pop music and I thought she wrote great pop songs in the '80s, so this was right up my alley. Our agent, John Jackson, took [Anthrax bassist] Frankie Bello and I to see Madonna at Wembley Stadium in the summer of '87 and it was fucking incredible. I was a big Madonna fan. I still am. There are amazing pop songs on this record. Not all music is for all people, I understand that. There's plenty of crap I hate but for some reason Madonna moved me and not just because I thought she was hot but because I actually loved her songs. When I say I love pop music, I'm a bit of a dick about it because I don't love all pop music. For some reason, I connected with Madonna. I really felt the songwriting was great on this record.



Has it influenced your own songwriting?



No. Not at all. Just strictly, I like to listen to it. 'Live To Tell' is a fucking great song, 'Papa Don't Preach', 'Open Your Heart', 'La Isla Bonita', the whole record is just filled with great pop songs.



Have you met her?



Yeah, many times actually. In the early '90s I got to hang out with her a few times. She was very nice. She's super cool.