Martin McCluskey: I’m not embarrassed by any of my music choices

Martin McCluskey, Labour MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West tells Holyrood about a Lady Gaga-based election night superstition and his love for Aretha Franklin.

What was the first record you ever bought?

I’ve got Hannah, who works for me, sat in the corner and she thinks some of my answers to this are ill-advised, but I’m going to be truthful rather than trying to spin it. It was the Mr Blobby Christmas number one in 1993. I would have been about seven years old and I remember buying it on CD in a now-closed record shop in Greenock.

Important question here: can you remember any of the lyrics?

I think it went something like “Mr Blobby, Mr Blobby, Mr Blobby...” That’s about as much as I can remember. 

Did that record start a lifelong love of music?

I think it’s probably led to a lifelong love of really cheesy music which, as we probably work our way through this interview, you will realise is not an exception. I’m not embarrassed by any of my music choices. Some people think they’re absolutely horrendous, but I think you should listen to what you like. That’s the best rule for music.

What was the first song at your wedding?

I married my husband last November and we’ve just had our first wedding anniversary, but there are two songs I associate with my wedding. Our first dance was The Promise by Tracy Chapman, which is such a beautiful piece of music and the message of the song is so apt for weddings and relationships. But the piece of music that always really reminds me of my wedding is Max Richter’s Spring, which is the piece of music that we walked in to.

Moving from weddings to funerals, what songs do you want at your funeral?

As a third-generation Irish Catholic, this is probably one of the questions that has been overthought the most in my life, but I think I will probably have Nimrod by Elgar because I always think it is a reflective, beautiful piece of music. I was at a funeral a few years ago of a former Labour politician and they played Jerusalem at the end of the funeral. As an anthem for socialism and social democracy, I think that would be an important one for me as well.

What’s your go-to karaoke song?

Mr Brightside would probably be a go-to on the group karaoke mic, but I think if I was asked to do a sort of solo karaoke song it would probably be Aretha Franklin’s Respect. I am never able to do justice to it, unsurprisingly, but I think that’s always a fun one.

What’s the one song you can’t stand?

I’ve got quite a few godchildren and some of them were fans of the Baby Shark phenomenon. That song still plays in a loop in my head, even to this day.

What’s one embarrassing song that you would admit to owning in your personal collection

I don’t think there’s any because I have no embarrassment about my music. Hannah has her head in her hands right now because she told me not to say this, but my Spotify does have a song called New York from a musical that’s just started on Broadway called Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). It is quite embarrassingly bad, but I absolutely love it. I’ve always loved musical theatre.

What songs do you associate with your political wins?

In 2011, when I stood to be the Labour candidate in Inverclyde, I sat until 3am and wrote handwritten letters to members of the constituency Labour Party asking them to vote for me. I had Lady Gaga’s The Edge of Glory on loop all night. I didn’t win that campaign, but it has turned into a weird superstitious thing that on the nights before any polling day I end up having The Edge of Glory blasting out.