‘I love the whole crooner vibe’: Aston Merrygold’s honest playlist

Aston Merrygold … ‘When Chris Brown comes on, my friends will say: Here he goes, he’s on one’ Photograph: Ben Hards

The first song I remember hearing
Music and Me – from Michael Jackson’s third album of the same name – isn’t one of his best known. But it sticks out as the first song I remember thinking: “Woah! This is a song!” when I was about four or five.

The first record I bought
I got 8701 by Usher from HMV with my hard-earned paper round money that I did from a little local newsagent on my bike along three or four streets in Peterborough. I was very careful that the papers were properly delivered, so I didn’t just chuck them on the doorstep. When my pay went up to £11, I thought: “I’ve made it! I’ve gone past the £10 mark!”