MARY BLACK

folk-pop singer

“When I was growing up as a kid, we had no gramophone, but I bought a seven-inch single by the Monkees when I was around 10 or 11 or 12, I suppose, around that time.

“But on a more serious level in my teens I was listening to albums by Billie Holiday, Fairport Convention (featuring Sandy Denny), Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt. A lot of American singers, actually, now that I think about it. And Aretha Franklin, too.

“But Sandy Denny was my hero really when I was in my teens, so she was the one that I was listening to very closely. And I think that she would have been my first serious investment in a record.”