Christine Jardine: 'I came into this world with Elvis singing, I’m going out to Elvis singing'

What was the first record that you ever bought?

It was either Elton John’s Greatest Hits in 1971 or the Bay City Rollers. I think I got the Elton John one as a gift. But I remember going into a record shop and buying the Bay City Rollers because I had been given a record token. I got it from Johnston’s, which was an independent record shop in Clydebank, where I lived. 

What record will always get you on the dance floor?

There’s two. One is Dancing Queen by ABBA and the other is I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. 

It was about five years ago now, we do this Lib Dem disco contest every year, and you have three music choices, and they were two of my three. And I won. There are only three entrants, and it is judged by popular proclamation in the hall, so we try to make sure we have as many Scots in there as possible.  

I have just remembered the other was Maria by Blondie.

What is your karaoke song?

I asked two of my friends about this, and they said ‘don’t be ridiculous, nobody can ever remember’. It’s probably Proud by M People. It was always the joke in the programme Miranda, where she would do an impression of Heather Small. And I quite often sing Maria by Blondie. 

What song was your first dance at your wedding and why?

It was Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are, which wasn’t my original choice. My choice was a Carpenters song, We’ve Only Just Begun, but the band couldn’t play my choice and my husband decided that is what he would like. He dived in before I got the chance to say anything else. 

When I look back now, I think that was actually quite nice. If I was getting married again, God knows what I would choose. 

What songs do you want played at your funeral?

How long have you got? Fleetwood Mac and Don’t Stop. We played that at my husband’s funeral, he and I were both big fans. It’s also slightly political because it was Bill Clinton’s theme tune. I was once asked what my favourite word is, and it is ‘tomorrow’ because tomorrow is an untold story, it’s full of possibilities, and you can always do it tomorrow. I would also have the Beatles, Let It Be. But the one that I would have to have without any question is Elvis Presley’s Now or Never, because that was number one when I was born. I have always said that I came into this world with Elvis singing Now or Never, I’m going out to Elvis singing Now or Never. And if I am allowed one more, Billy Joel’s Piano Man.

What songs/music is guaranteed to make you cry?

Adele’s All I Ask. Always makes me cry, every single time. That and a couple of Paul McCartney songs: The Long and Winding Road is one of them. There is also a song that was a favourite of my mother’s and even just thinking about it now is making me well up. It is by a band called Bread; it’s called Everything I Own. 

What music would you always associate with your childhood?

It’s a song that The Byrds did, Mr Tambourine Man. It’s originally a Bob Dylan song. As a family we used to go on holiday to Easter Ross, a wee place called Portmahomack. I now take my family and we use it as a base. There was a café in Tain called the Chocolate Shop, every year my parents took me in there, and for years it seemed that Mr Tambourine Man was on the jukebox.

What record do you absolutely hate but can’t get out of your head?

Meghan Trainor, All About that Bass. If I hear it or if anybody mentions it, it’s there. I have a friend that mentions it knowing that I won’t be able to get it out of my head.

What record would you be embarrassed to owning up to having in your collection?

This is embarrassing: The Osmonds, Let Me In. I also have The Proud One. But that is the most embarrassing song in my collection. 

What was the last band you went to see and who with?

My sisters have a band called Moneypenny and they got me on stage to sing. But the last band that I paid to see was the Rolling Stones at Murrayfield with my friend.