John Simm's Honest Playlist: Starting with Childhood Loves to Peculiar Aversions

The initial tune I fell in love with
My earliest memory is stepping into a room at nursery school where they were blasting Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. I was enthralled by the sonic landscape, and John Lennon bellowing: “Full speed ahead!” When it got to the hook, I recall believing: “This must be music!”

The very first record I acquired
When I was eight years old, I was victorious in a competition at school to choose a brand new vinyl to play at the mini disco we had on Friday afternoons. My teacher took me to a local store, and I opted for Come Back My Love by Darts. The first single I bought with my own allowance was Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney's Wings from a record shop in Lancashire. It was topping the charts at the time, and I selected it when my dad noted that it was by a former member of the Beatles.

The track I sing at sing-along
I frankly cannot stand public singing and avoid it at all costs. But under duress, I’d choose Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra.

The track I inexplicably know every lyric to
I recently discovered that I know 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 best song to put on at a soirée
It depends on which phase of the event you are at. For the beginning it would most likely be I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. As the night wears on, I’d work through Prince, the Rolling Stones and Bowie, and when it really kicks off, Phat Planet by the electronic act, Born Slippy .NUXX by Underworld, and Ascension by the virtual band, which is an absolute banger.

The number I can never hear
I inexplicably loathe Mr Brightside by the Las Vegas band.

The ideal track to have sex to
Come Together by the Beatles.

The LP that transformed me
When I was twelve 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, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly and the rockabilly star. Then my childminder played Let There Be Rock by AC/DC. It was still guitar music, but it was high voltage rock ’n’roll. As soon as he placed the vinyl on the turntable, I was captivated.

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

The song that brings me to tears
Most music makes me touched. The Queen of Soul, The Chairman of the Board, Elvis and the Beatles all stir my emotions because of the harmony and pure perfection of the voices. But The Ocean by Richard Hawley gets me going consistently.

The song I’d like to be played at my funeral
The King. If I’m given a cremation, I’ll have Burning Love. If I’m laid to rest in the ground, I’ll have Way Down.