Soundtrack Of My Life: Alison Brie

'GLOW', 'Mad Men' and 'Community' star; uses Nina Simone to get acting gigs

This interview first appeared in a March 2016 print issue of NME

The first album I bought

Madonna – ‘Like A Prayer’

“I remember my sister and I performed the song ‘Like A Prayer’ at a talent show with some of our friends. We lip-synced and did a dance routine. Looking back, we were probably too young to be performing that song! I remember watching the video and thinking, ‘Wow, I don’t really understand what’s going on, but it looks so cool!’”

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The song that makes me want to dance

David Bowie – ‘Young Americans’

“There’s just something about the beat of this song. I have distinct memories of being in high school and discovering the music of David Bowie with a friend of mine. It was around the same time I was discovering pot, so we’d smoke a little, then dance around her bedroom to David Bowie.”

The song I can no longer listen to

Hanson – ‘MMMBop’

“I remember jokingly being into Hanson with a friend of mine when we were kids. I don’t know if we were being totally ironic, though – we actually kind of liked them. But I was shooting a mini-series called Doctor Thorne and there was a guy who looked like one of Hanson, so I started singing ‘MMMBop’, and I was thinking to myself, ‘What a ridiculous song! The whole chorus is made up of not-real words.’”

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The song I can’t get out of my head

Taylor Swift – ‘Bad Blood’

“It’s weird, because I don’t actually own this song. But at random times I’ll just start hearing it in my head. I’ll hear it on a Tuesday, then on Friday morning I’ll find myself singing it as I’m getting dressed. I guess Taylor knows how to write a song that really sticks.”

The song I want played at my funeral

David Bowie – ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’

“It’s a great song – kind of reflective but not too depressing, which is perfect. I wouldn’t want a really happy song at my funeral. It would be like I’m reaching back from my grave going, ‘Ha! Now you have to listen to this happy song even though you’re really depressed!’”

The song I wish I’d written

The Beatles – ‘Julia’

“My dad’s a musician and he writes songs all the time, but it’s never been a gift of mine. I’m OK with that, though. But if I’d written a song, I’d want it to be something as pretty and sweet as ‘Julia’. It reminds me of the ballads my father writes.”

The song I do at karaoke

Labelle – ‘Lady Marmalade’

“I like to do it solo, and I definitely prefer the original version. One time I mistakenly signed on for the Christina Aguilera version and Lil’ Kim has this whole rapping section. I just had no idea what to do, it was my ultimate karaoke nightmare.”

The song that makes me cry

Nina Simone – ‘The Other Woman’

“If I’m on my way to an emotional audition, this is the song I’ll put on in my car. It just makes me break down in floods of tears every time I listen to it.”

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