The Actor's Honest Musical Selections: Starting with Childhood Loves to Unexplained Aversions

The first tune I became enamored with
My earliest memory is walking into a room at kindergarten where they were blasting Yellow Submarine by the Fab Four. I was enthralled by the sonic landscape, and John Lennon yelling: “Full speed ahead!” When it got to the chorus, I distinctly thought: “This must be music!”

The very first 45 I purchased
When I was eight, I was victorious in a competition at school to pick a brand new vinyl to play at the mini disco we had on Fridays. My instructor took me to Woolworths, and I chose Come Back My Love by the group Darts. The first single I purchased with my own savings was Mull of Kintyre by Wings from a record shop in Colne. It was topping the charts at the time, and I chose it when my dad mentioned that it was by one of the Beatles.

The track I sing at sing-along
I candidly actively avoid karaoke and dodge it at all costs. But under duress, I’d select Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra.

The song I inexplicably know all the words to
I not long ago realised that I know pretty much every word to The Boy in the Bubble, You Can Call Me Al, and every song on Graceland by Paul Simon.

The perfect tune to blast at a soirée
It depends on the point of the evening you are at. For the beginning it would probably be I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. As the night wears on, I’d move on to Prince, the Stones and David Bowie, and when it gets lively, Phat Planet by Leftfield, Born Slippy .NUXX by Underworld, and Ascension by the virtual band, which is an massive track.

The number I can not listen to
I for some reason cannot stand Mr Brightside by the Las Vegas band.

The best piece to make love to
Come Together by the Beatles.

The album that transformed me
When I was 12 and beginning to learn the six-string, I’d only listen to 1950s rock ’n’roll, and was consumed by The King, the rock pioneer, the killer, the New Orleans legend, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran. Then my childminder introduced me to Let There Be Rock by the Australian rockers. It was still guitar music, but it was powerful rock ’n’roll. The moment he put the vinyl on the record player, I was a fan for life.

The track that wakes me in the AM
What’d I Say in its full glory by Ray Charles.

The song that makes me cry
All music makes me moved. The Queen of Soul, The Chairman of the Board, Elvis and the Fab Four all bring a tear to my eye because of the melody and pure perfection of the singing. But The Ocean by Richard Hawley strikes a chord without fail.

The song I’d like performed at my final send-off
Elvis. If I’m cremated, I’ll have Burning Love. If I’m laid to rest in the ground, I’ll have Way Down.