John Simm's Candid Musical Selections: Starting with Childhood Loves to Unexplained Aversions

The initial song I became enamored with
My earliest memory is entering a room at preschool where they were blasting Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. I was mesmerized by the audio textures, and Lennon yelling: “Full speed ahead!” When it arrived at the chorus, I recall believing: “This must be music!”

The very first single I purchased
When I was eight years old, I was victorious in a contest at school to select a new vinyl to play at the weekly dance party we had on Friday afternoons. My teacher took me to Woolworths, and I chose Come Back My Love by Darts. The first single I bought with my own savings was Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney's Wings from a music store in Lancashire. It was No 1 at the time, and I chose it when my father pointed out that it was by one of the Beatles.

The song I sing at karaoke
I candidly cannot stand public singing and avoid it at all costs. But under duress, I’d go with Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra.

The piece I oddly know every lyric to
I not long ago realised that I know almost every word to The Boy in the Bubble, You Can Call Me Al, and every song on Graceland by Paul Simon.

The ideal song to blast at a soirée
It hinges on the point of the party you are at. For the beginning it would probably be I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. As the party deepens, I’d move on to the Artist, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie, and when it hits its peak, Phat Planet by Leftfield, Born Slippy .NUXX by the techno pioneers, and Ascension by the virtual band, which is an absolute banger.

The number I can never bear
I strangely loathe Mr Brightside by the Las Vegas band.

The best piece to get intimate to
Come Together by the Beatles.

The album that changed my life
When I was twelve and beginning to play the guitar, I’d only listen to classic rock and roll, and was fixated on The King, Chuck Berry, the killer, the New Orleans legend, the glasses-wearing icon and the rockabilly star. Then my childminder brought round Let There Be Rock by AC/DC. It was still rock’n’roll, but it was high voltage rock music. As soon as he dropped the record on the record player, I was hooked.

The track that motivates me in the morning
What’d I Say parts 1 & 2 by Ray Charles.

The song that gets me emotional
Virtually any music makes me moved. The Queen of Soul, The Chairman of the Board, Presley and the Beatles all make me cry because of the harmony and pure brilliance of the voices. But The Ocean by Richard Hawley hits me hard without fail.

The song I’d like performed at my final send-off
The King. If I’m cremated, I’ll have Burning Love. If I’m buried, I’ll have Way Down.