Even if I was really prolific - which I'm not - I think I'd always put at least a couple of covers on my record. I think it's a sort of healthy thing to do. It shows that you're not totally self-obsessed.

In the '70s, you had to come up with an album every year whether you were ready or not.

When somebody like Elvis Costello comes along, anybody can make a good record with him.

I loved Christmas. We had a really great time. But there wasn't - it was all - you had to be happy with, you know, an orange and a couple of walnuts, you know, in your stocking.

I like being a big fish in a small pond. I'm not interested in a huge audience because it brings headaches.

I knew how the suits used to talk about the artists, with barely concealed contempt. So I knew what was waiting for me round the corner. Because I wasn't one of those very unusual people like Neil Diamond or Elton John, whose careers just seem to span the decades. I knew I wasn't one of them.

As long as my body holds out, I'll be grooving when I'm 70, and not some sort of horrible spectacle.