Tony Kanal

“I never had a cool older brother or sister to turn me on to cool music,” says No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal. “I had to discover it for myself.” Calling just before his band’s The Singles 1992-2003 hit stores, the London-born, Orange County-bred Kanal, 33, spun the soundtrack to his far-flung musical upbringing. As an added bonus, Gwen Stefani sat in the background correcting his grammar (“‘Gwen and I,’ not ‘Gwen and me’”) and ticking off her own supposed favorites (“Michael Bolton, Kenny G, Celine Dion”).

 

Photo By Jeff Minton

D. BAD BRAINS I AGAINST I (SST, 1986) "Bad Brains are so underrated. It's weird -- we've worked with people in the reggae world, and nobody knows about them. I Against I doesn't have any actual reggae songs, but, to me, this is their most consistent album. They're doing hardcore stuff, but there are also amazing metal grooves."