Mark Ellen was this week’s guest for ‘Back to Mine’ with Tom Dunne.

Ellen began his career writing for the NME before going on to become the editor of Smash Hits and launching Q and Mojo magazines. He has just released his memoir ‘Rock Stars Stole my Life’.

“Music has always been the soundtrack to my life,” Ellen said.

For Ellen’s first song choice, he played ‘The Hole in the Ground’ by Bernard Cribbins.

Growing up with parents of rather conservative musical tastes, Ellen and his siblings would play The Kinks to the horror of their father. He always thought that particular band were up to no good, and whatever they were doing, they were doing it ‘all day and all of the night’.

Ellen, unsurprisingly therefore, chose ‘All Day and All of the Night’ by the Kinks as his second song.

As a child, Ellen had a battery operated record player which meant he could bring it outdoors to play his music. The moment he realized he could listen to songs wherever he wanted and whenever he wanted was a defining episode in his passion for music. 

For his final song, Ellen chose ‘Lazy Sunday Afternoon’ by the Small Faces.