Mark Gerber sat down with Joey Watson on Out of the Box to spin some formative tunes and chat about his wild ride from life as a North Sea-hopping Dutch boy, to life as an Aus-based musician, dj, actor, model, and promoter, to life as founder and boss of Sydney cultural institution the Oxford Art Factory. Hear the songs below and read a bit about why Mark chose them, then hear the whole chat here.

• She Loves You – The Beatles

The earliest memory that I have of knowing the meaning of a song sung in English. Myself, along with all my dutch, and later on my Danish friends, were mighty proud to be able to sing (scream) along with the words whenever it came on the radio.

• Bouree – Jethro Tull

First album I ever bought as a Dutch boy living in a small rural Danish town. Bought the cassette for my tiny Phillips, mono playback only cassette player – a very treasured present from my parents on my 10th birthday.

• Dog Breath, In The Year Of The Plague – Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention

This song incorporates everything – doo wop, rock n roll, modern jazz, latin music, opera, sampling, classical… the Mothers captured everything I wanted to project as a teenager wanting to be different.

• Baby’s On Fire – Brian Eno

This song to me is one of the most powerful ever, a beat driven uber sonic punk rock n roll song. This album let the world know why Eno left Roxy, and boy am I glad he did.

• Tropical Hot Dog Night – Captain Beefheart & His Magical Band

I chose this song because of its beautiful Cuban/Latin New Orleans style rhythms, clashing against that Beefheart blues style. I also choose it for its wording, BH was a master wordsmith – “Tropical Hot Dog Night, like two Flamingos in Fruit Fight”

• Planet Rock – Afrika Bambaataa

The combination of Kraftwerk and electronic drum rhythms that sound like they come from an African planet from outer space.  The intro rap leading into “Yeahhhhh just hit me” to me is still one of the most powerfully unique intros to any piece of music.

• Lakmé, Act I: Sous le dôme épais (Flower Duet)

Matching visuals to music can have a profound effect, a kind of doubling of emotions. After a screening of the arthouse movie “Last Exit to Brooklyn” [which featured “Flower Duet”], I knew that I had to find out who wrote it and what it was called.

• Last Goodbye – Jeff Buckley

I was lucky to chat to [Jeff Buckley] at the Pacific Blue Room on the corner of South Dowling and Oxford… he was a gentle soul who loved being around people, as I do. I chose this song because it resonates with countless millions of people around the world, including me, who have experienced the pain of losing love.

• Feel Good Inc – Gorillaz

[While DJing at Q Bar] I’d drop Feel Good Inc in the middle of peak time on the dance floor, which was somewhere around 4 or 5am. Yeah we could party till the sun came up in those days. I got the reputation of being the rock and roll house music DJ, fucking with people’s expectations.

• As Tears Go By – Marianne Faithful

Being hitched to Mick Jagger must have been a struggle, coping with it would have been hard for a 17 year old, perhaps that’s what drove [Marianne Faithful] to addiction? I’m glad she’s a survivor, I feel like a survivor more and more, time having taken its toll on so many friends.

• The Dustbowl – Everything But The Girl

Tracy [Thorn]’s voice to me is absolutely sublime, it’s like pure velvet to the soul. I chose this song because it’s short, sweet and to the point in every respect. It’s them by themselves, no accompaniment, just them. A pure gem.

Catch Out Of The Box with Joey Watson every Thursday at 12 midday.