Tracy-Ann Oberman: My Six Best Albums – Bob Marley, Elo & more

She is currently appearing in Present Laughter at the Chichester Festival Theatre. cft.org.uk 

ELO: Out Of The Blue (Sony) 

I had my first boyfriend, Philip, when I was 12 and we went to the cinema on a date. He sweetly bought me this double album on blue vinyl and my dad made me return it. But I loved it so much he sneakily gave it back to me.

I used to play air guitar in my room to Wild West Hero.

THE BEATLES: The White Album (EMI)

We were a Beatles household and the first time I heard this properly when I was a teenager I didn’t want it to end. 

I played it again for somebody a few weeks later and I was jealous of them never having heard it before. It was sophisticated and interesting.

DAVID BOWIE: Hunky Dory (EMI) I made a good friend, Danny, on holiday when I was doing O-levels and he gave me a cassette of this.

I remember lying in our avocado-coloured bath listening again and again. It’s pure craftsmanship.

NICK DRAKE: Five Leaves Left (Universal/Island)

At drama school, I didn’t know if I’d made the right decision and I found his haunting lyrics and back story matched the reflective mood I was in.

Weirdly I had a friend who lived above his actress sister Gabrielle Drake. 

One night Gabrielle knocked on her door and said she was pleased she liked her brother’s work but could she please stop playing it because it was upsetting.

BOB MARLEY & THe WAILERS: Uprising (Universal/Island)

My husband loves reggae and got me into this. 

I hadn’t appreciated the importance of Marley but if you give over to it, his music is quite a spiritual experience.

For the first six months of her life, my daughter was rocked to sleep with this album.

GIRLS ALOUD: The Sound Of (Polydor) 

My daughter used to make us listen to this on long car journeys and having initially twitched with horror I got into it. Sometimes I’d secretly put it on in the car myself.

I even took her and a friend to the O2 to see them: me and her friend’s mum, two seven-year-olds and a load of gay men. Amazing.