‘After I had my cat stolen, I would listen to Funkadelic and cry and cry’: Jennifer Herrema’s honest playlist

The first song I fell in love with
Van Halen’s Runnin’ With the Devil. I was five or six and I went to visit my cousin Tommy who was much older. He was on a hockey team and we went to see them practise before the game and they had Runnin’ With the Devil on really loud. I was like: “Wait, what’s this?!”

The song I do at karaoke
You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC. Me and Brian Johnson – my voice has that thing, you know?

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I still remember the full 12-inch version of the Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight – I did it this morning! That’s a record my dad got me. He loved dancing to it.

The song I can no longer listen to
Meet on the Ledge by Fairport Convention. Partly because of the tragedy of Sandy Denny. But also because I listened to it over and over at a really depressing time.

The song that changed my life
When I first heard Lou Reed’s Satellite of Love on the radio it sounded so different and weird to me. It really imprinted on me.

The best song to play at a party
Let It Whip by Dazz Band. The way it starts, it sounds just like the way a party starts.

The song that gets me up in the morning
I listen to the Gap Band’s Gotta Get Up when the roosters are crowing and it’s really early in the morning. It’s a song I can listen to without getting inside my head.

The first single I bought
I had braces on my legs when I was a baby and then later I went with my dad to a shoe shop, Buster Brown, to buy some Mary Janes. I loved those patent leather party shoes. Then my dad went and got me Mary Jane by Rick James. I didn’t know what Mary Jane meant, but my dad did.

The song I want played at my funeral
Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I’m a big fan. The lyrics are gorgeous and it’s appropriate. I don’t think I’m going to die anytime soon.

The best song to have sex to
I never put on music or anything like that. But if I was going to choose something that’s got a chill vibe it would be Memory Motel by the Rolling Stones.

The song that makes me cry
Funkadelic’s I Miss My Baby. My cat Callie was stolen by the post lady and I would listen to that song and cry and cry. She was suspended from the postal service. But I never got my cat back.

Black Bananas’ new album, Bad Bunch, is out on Friday.