My Arts: Warren Bradley

What albums couldn't you live without?
Anything by The Jam or Madness. And, yes, I still have all the vinyl. And a record player.

What were the first and the last records that you bought?
The first was God Save The Queen by The Sex Pistols.

Early influences

Did you tell Prince Charles that when you met him?
Ha! Definitely not. The last was a Ray Quinn CD for my daughter, Emily.

What was the first live gig that you went to?
Blondie at Deeside Leisure Centre in 1980.

And the last?
It was one of my mates from the fire station playing in a pub on the Dock Road.

Did you pay to get in?
No, it was free.

"I'm very wary of websites"

What tune is running around your head at the moment?
You Spin Me Round, by Dead or Alive.

What newspapers/magazines do you read?
Just the local stuff.

What word do you most like the sound of?
Goodnight. No matter how busy I am, I always try to be home to say goodnight to my two kids. If I don't, they pull me up about it. I think the word has a lovely sound.

Which website do you visit most often?
Everton FC's and their newsgroups.

Boyhood hero

Do you post comments on there?
No.

Not even under a nom-de-plume?
No, never. I'm very wary of websites.

What do you listen to on the radio?
Radio Merseyside in the morning for the news headlines, but Radio 5 Live, nearly all the rest of the time, for the sport. I never listen to local sports coverage. The national journalists are much more unbiased.

Are you a Sky person or a Freeview box person?
Sky. But I never have time to watch it.

What was the best television programme ever made?
Fawlty Towers. The Germans episode. It really does stand the test of time. It must do: my kids chuckle at it.

"When you are driving a fire engine you see things differently"

What is your best film?
Logan's Run and History of the World Part I. I saw the first at The Abbey Cinerama in Wavertree, it was our local picture house. And the other at the ABC in Lime Street.

What book in childhood made the biggest impression on you?
I always wanted to fly aeroplanes and so loved Biggles. And Enid Blyton.

Even though all the pixies used to get a good hiding for being naughty?
Absolutely! My son read a whole Enid Blyton book to me recently, when I was decorating the hall. It was brilliant.

What book are you currently reading at bedtime?
Council reports, ha, ha, and Graeme Sharpe's autobiography.

Do you go to the theatre?
Would love to go more but I haven't got enough time. I really wanted to be an actor. I was in every school play at the Holt Comprehensive and was in the Everyman Youth Theatre. I grew to love Charles Dickens after playing Mr Pickwick in The Pickwick Papers when I was in junior school.

What are your favourite restaurants?
Owen's at the Childwall Fiveways, and the Shapla in Whitechapel is excellent.

Where do you eat out on council business?
Wherever they take me!

Which living artist or entertainment figure do you most admire?
Laurence Clark, the comedian who has cerebral palsy. My auntie has cerebral palsy too, and they are in regular contact. I would like to see him doing more in Liverpool in culture year.

What is your favourite piece of architecture in Liverpool?
St George's Hall looks stunning from every angle, as does the old nurses' home at Walton hospital. You are high up when you are driving a fire engine around so you see things differently.

Top TV show

What is your least favourite?
The HSBC bank building opposite the Town Hall. It really upset one of the World Heritage people from UNESCO when they were here, standing on the balcony. I shudder every time I look at it.

Who or what makes you laugh?
My wife trying to do the garden and the people I work with at Toxteth fire station. They live in a parallel world.

Any good jokes?
Do you know I can't remember any, despite being surrounded by comedians all day.