5 Songs I Love w/ Dave Hero

Following the release of his latest cinematic release for 'Erotic City', we caught up

Dave Hero to find out more about what influences his superb sound. If you enjoy Hero's picks, be sure to check out the thrilling video at the end of the article!

Do It Clean - Echo and the Bunnymen

I was living in a council flat in London when I heard this coming through the thin wall of the next bedroom. It sounded like a great Doors track that I never heard. I immediately ran next door and asked my flat mate who it was. So began decades of devotion to the Bunnymen. I liked their album “Heaven Up Here” so much that I used to get up an hour earlier than my family so that I could listen to the whole LP before I went to work.

Let It Be - the Beatles 

I first heard this on a jukebox in Spain and thought it was a bit sentimental and religious. However, something amazing happened half-way through and I kept going back to the jukebox to play that part again and again. The magical section was the guitar solo – one of George Harrison’s finest. It was then that I realized that I wanted to play electric guitar for the rest of my life and the next truly magical moment was plugging in a Fender, in my living room in Dublin.

Living in Paradise/Movin’ On in Glory - Passion Machine

This one is hard to find but it comes from an amazing musical staged in Dublin called “Drowning” about an inner-city Dublin kid lost in his life. The lyrics, vocal, bass and brass arrangement are almost perfect. The song and the show it came from should have so much more success but, hey, that’s life.

Badge - Cream

This is from the “classic rock” file though I never get tired of hearing it. Nonsense lyrics and a predictable chord sequence but then you get a magical jangling bridge stolen from the Beatles and a guitar solo from Eric Clapton - he has probably never played better. Listening to his playing is often for me like drinking a great cup of coffee. I feel lucky being able to listen and enjoy it so much as it sends me skywards every time.

I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses

Ah, the rumbling of machinery, the rolling bass, the echo-driven jangly guitar, the big drumbeat and then the song really kicks off with a killer riff.  Then we get a vocal that is ten feet tall. What an opener. What is he singing about? Is it God, salvation, idolatry? This song totally blew me away when I first heard it and it still does today. The album it came from is an all-time classic. 

Erotic City - Dave Hero