The first song I remember hearing
Frank Sinatra – ‘Come Fly With Me’
“I remember driving around in the car with my mum and I loved those songs. It was a Ford Falcon, [it had] an AM radio that just, you know, squeaked out a sound but it was still uplifting and wonderful music. My mum was a big Sinatra fan – and Tony Bennett. She actually used to sing some as well. She knew quite a few standards.”
The first album I bought
The Beatles – ‘The Beatles’
“I’d been mowing lawns for a while and I’d picked up enough cash. I think it was around my 12th or 13th birthday and they brought it out. I loved it. I wore out the grooves.”
The first gig I went to
Duke Ellington at the Fort Lauderdale War Memorial, late 1960s
“I was 12 and he blew me away. I was singing in school at that point and so my music teacher took me. I remember almost getting crushed when we were going in because they opened up the doors and people started to push. Then, when I was sitting there watching, and I carry it with me to this day, Ellington had an expression, he said: ‘And remember, we do love you madly.’ And I thought, ‘boy, that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.'”
The song I wish I’d written
Bruce Springsteen – ‘Born To Run’
“When I was about 12 or 13, there was a girl I knew called Wendy – and I actually tried to write a song about her. But I just couldn’t work Wendy into [the lyrics]. She was a much longed for proposition that never had any knowledge of my affection for her. And then later when I heard ‘Born To Run’ and Bruce Springsteen saying, ‘I wanna die with you, Wendy, on the street tonight/In an everlasting kiss‘, I just thought, ‘son of a bitch, he did it.'”
The music I was into during high school
Classical
“For the last two years of high school, I’d always buy one classical album per week which was mostly Beethoven Symphonies, Bach, Hindemith, Handel. I really, really enjoyed that and it gave me an understanding of classical music. I was kind of on the edge of my classmates, you might say. I had one buddy, Bob, and we would compare notes on some of the records. We argued about Johann Christian Bach a couple of times – what we thought about certain movements. I was clearly a nerd.”
The song that makes me cry
Luciano Pavarotti – ‘Nessun Dorma’
“Holy moly, every time I hear it man. I’m just weeping when he hits that note. I met Pavarotti once, when I was 18. I’d just started going to Juilliard [the private performing arts conservatory in New York], and I was walking out past the security table and as I stepped out of the elevator, this big guy in a black mouton overcoat said, [adopts Italian accent] ‘excusé, do you know, where is the theatre department floor?’ And I said ‘sure man, follow me, I’ll take ya’. So I walked him to the third floor and and a couple of kids had seen me walking by. Afterwards, they ran up to me and said, ‘oh my God! Do you know him?’ But I had no idea!”
The song I can’t get out of my head
‘Til Tuesday – ‘Voices Carry’
“This was one I was whizzing along to. For some reason, that song sneaks into my intellect sometimes and whispers in my ear. I’ve always liked it.”
The song I can no longer listen to
Foo Fighters – ‘My Hero’
“I love Dave Grohl but it just annoys me now, every time. Even though I love it and I love him. We’ve met before, you know, [and shared] friendly words of mutual admiration and appreciation of the work. I have a great admiration for him, especially after what happened with Kurt Cobain at the time of Nirvana. He stepped up and did a whole new thing. It’s just a dynamic talent that guy has.”
The song that makes me want to dance
Michael Jackson – ‘Billie Jean’
“I first heard it when I was about to have my first kid [Spencer Grammer], about 40 years ago. I danced around with her in my arm – her head in one hand and the rest of her body just hanging on my forearm. I used to dance to ‘Thriller’ quite a bit with her at that point too.”
The song I do at karaoke
David Bowie – ‘Let’s Dance’
“I usually do this one. I never met Bowie but the closest I got was sharing a hospital bed. He was in [the same hospital room] about two weeks before I went in to have some stuff checked on my heart. [The hospital staff] told me – and before that it was Paul Newman. They’re not supposed to tell you that stuff but they love to!”
The song I want played at my funeral
Glenn Miller – ‘In The Mood’
“I hadn’t actually thought of it but I instantly remembered this story. I was working on stage with Christopher Plummer years ago when Peter Sellers died – and he had flown out to the funeral. And I asked, ‘how was it?’ And he said, ‘oh Peter, you know, crazy Peter.’ But the song he selected for his funeral was ‘In The Mood’ [laughs]. That was great. Actually, my grandmother always wanted her epitaph to be, ‘I haven’t finished my drink yet.'”
The ‘Frasier’ season finale streams on Paramount+ from December 8