The Actor's Candid Playlist: From Early Favorites to Unexplained Dislikes
The first song I was captivated by
My most primal memory is stepping into a room at kindergarten where they were blasting Yellow Submarine by the Fab Four. I was captivated by the sonic landscape, and Lennon yelling: “Full speed ahead!” When it arrived at the refrain, I remember thinking: “This must be music!”
The very first record I acquired
When I was eight years old, I won a competition at school to choose a brand new vinyl to play at the weekly dance party we had on Friday afternoons. My instructor took me to Woolworths, and I picked out Come Back My Love by Darts. The first record I bought with my own savings was Mull of Kintyre by Wings from a music store in Lancashire. It was topping the charts at the time, and I chose it when my dad noted that it was by one of the Beatles.
The song I do at sing-along
I honestly actively avoid public singing and dodge it at all costs. But under duress, I’d choose Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra.
The track I inexplicably remember every lyric to
I not long ago discovered that I can recall virtually all the lyrics to The Boy in the Bubble, You Can Call Me Al, and the entire album on Graceland by the legendary songwriter.
The ideal tune to play at a party
It hinges on the point of the event you are at. At the start it would likely be I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. As the party deepens, I’d work through the Artist, the Stones and Bowie, and when it really kicks off, Phat Planet by Leftfield, Born Slippy .NUXX by Underworld, and Ascension by Gorillaz, which is an undeniable hit.
The track I can no longer bear
I for some reason detest Mr Brightside by the Las Vegas band.
The ideal piece to have sex to
Come Together by John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
The record that changed my life
When I was twelve and starting to study the six-string, I’d only listen to 1950s rock ’n’roll, and was fixated on Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, the New Orleans legend, the glasses-wearing icon and Eddie Cochran. Then my childminder brought round Let There Be Rock by the Australian rockers. It was still rock’n’roll, but it was electrifying rock ’n’roll. Instantly after he dropped the vinyl on the turntable, I was a fan for life.
The song that motivates me in the AM
What’d I Say in its full glory by The Genius.
The song that makes me cry
Most music makes me emotional. Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and the Fab Four all bring a tear to my eye because of the harmony and pure beauty of the singing. But The Ocean by the Sheffield crooner gets me going consistently.
The song I’d like performed at my memorial service
The King. If I’m cremated, I’ll have Burning Love. If I’m laid to rest in the ground, I’ll have Way Down.
