Saturday, August 20, 2011

Your Desert Island Discs?

The BBC Radio 4's program "Desert Island Discs" has been broadcast since 1942. We've had similar shows in the states, but the BBC's is longest-running, still going, and has an enormous catalog of these shows available to listen to or download for free.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs

Music choices are interesting glimpses into who people are. As I searched for some "castaways" I saw that several weren't available for listening, but their choices were listed on a page describing them. The premise, of course, is to choose eight recordings that you'd take if you were stuck on an island. Having a wild hair, I looked for those I'd take and who else chose those recordings. A couple of my choices weren't even in the search engine. To my surprise and horror, however, two of the same songs I'd be stranded with were chosen by Piers Morgan. Go figure.

1. The Beatles- Let It Be
2. Emerson, Lake and Palmer- Pictures at an Exhibition
3. Led Zeppelin- Kashmir
4. Antonio Vivaldi- Spring (Itzhak Perlman, preferably)
5. Janis Joplin- Me and Bobby McGee
6. Wagner- Ride of the Valkyries (Vienna Philharmonic, I'd hope)
7. Monty Python- Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
8. King Crimson- I Talk to the Wind

So I'm wondering what you would choose. Care to share?

9 comments:

annieoatcake said...

I'm thinkin'...

annieoatcake said...

Well, off the top of my head...

1 Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C Riley (my party piece at Hogmonay!)
2 Here, There and Everywhere - The Beatles
3 Nella Fantasia - Katherine Jenkins
4 Circle Game - Joni Mitchell
5 One Day Like This - Elbow
6 You Do Something To Me - Paul Weller
7 Innocent When You Dream - Tom Waits
8 The Flower Duet - Katherine Jenkins and whoever

Now I want to do it all over again! Were those 8 you showed yours or PM's?

Austan said...

Do it over! Yeah, those are mine. PM also chose Let It Be & Always Look on the Bright Side. grrrrr....

annieoatcake said...

I like You, Me and Bobby McGee. I used to sing it with my husband (him on guitar) before he became an arsehole :-)

I also like King Crimson's Talk to the Wind - I know exactly how he feels :-)

annieoatcake said...

Oh, I'd also have to take 'I'd Rather Go Blind' by Chicken Shack!

Austan said...

Oh, Chicken Shack's I'd Rather Go Blind!!!! Love that!

Geo. said...

Interesting question, and I agree with the choices you made. I'd add only "The Flower Duet" from Delibes' "Lakme". There's a favorite vid of it at my blog,"Trainride Of The Enigmas", May 7, 2110.

Rory Grant said...

Hi Laura - Every song I choose I do for the merits of the song itself - there are no songs listed below which 'mean' anything personally to me. I guess being a Muso I'm always listening to hear new sounds or something different that I can incorporate into my own music.

1) Everything - Lifehouse
2) Heroes - David Bowie
3) Bernadette - Four Tops
4) America - Simon and Garfunkel
5) Like a Hurricane - Neil Young
6) The Rising - Bruce Springsteen
7) Hurt - Johnny Cash
8) Broken Stones - Paul Weller

And of course I could keep putting them down till we get to 800,000 :)

Rory

Austan said...

Annie & Geo- I like the Flower Duet, too. It's hard to choose these things!

Rory- Christ! Bernadette! Hurt! Broken Stones! Oh man I'm never going to a desert island. I'd be missing all I don't have with.