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    Desert Island Discs

    I'm sure this has been done before, or something very similar at least, so apologies if that's the case.

    Anyway, 'er indoors and I have been catching up on the recently released podcast archive of DID which is actually a good listen if you choose your guests well.

    And of course it led us to discussing our own DID selections. So following the format of the show:

    1. Eight songs to take to the island, in no particular order, and I should add that being over 45 I am now beyond caring about "coolness" etc. so these really are the songs which (right now) I couldn't do without:

    Ash - Walking Barefoot
    The Stone Roses - Mersey Paradise
    The Carpenters - Goodbye to Love
    Toots & the Maytals - Monkey Man
    The Smiths - The Boy With the Thorn in His Side
    The Seekers - Georgy Girl (really)
    Teenage Fanclub - Ain't That Enough?
    The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun

    2. Book: Gibbon - The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - just because I haven't read it and I imagine it would take an age

    3. Luxury: My mp3 and a means of charging it

    What are yours?

    #2
    Desert Island Discs

    MP3 player is cheating, yes?

    For me, Desert Island Discs works best when the castaway uses the music to trace a path through his or her life, as opposed to selecting eight favourite pieces of music. The distinction is hard to make here, of course, but my selection tends toward the former.

    Frank Sinatra: I've Got You Under My Skin
    Miles Davis: It Never Entered My Mind
    Ray Charles: You Don't Know Me (the live version)
    Bill Frisell & Ry Cooder: Shenandoah
    Loudon Wainwright III: Last Man On Earth
    Steely Dan: Everything Must Go
    Crusaders: Sweet N Sour
    Half Man Half Biscuit: ITMA

    Book: Soccer In A Football World - yes, vain as hell, but an important part of my life. And it would need to come with a red pen.

    Luxury: An orthopaedic mattress.

    Comment


      #3
      Desert Island Discs

      Broadly following the Vole's approach:

      Dion — Love Came to Me

      The Isley Brothers — Twist & Shout

      Bo Diddley — Roadrunner

      Bob Dylan — A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall

      Love — Seven and Seven Is

      Bruce Springsteen — Thunder Road

      Tom Waits — Tom Traubert's Blues

      Emiliana Torrini — Bleeder

      Book:

      À la recherche du temps perdu (in English)

      Luxury:

      The biggest pad of paper in the world and a retractable pencil with an endless supply of leads.

      Comment


        #4
        Desert Island Discs

        Overkill (Live) - Motorhead
        Cissie Strut - The Meters
        Chan Chan (original faster version) - Compay Segundo
        Sunarise - The Godfathers
        (Gimme Gimme Gimme) A Man After Midnight - ABBA
        Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes
        Dog Eat Dog - Adam and the Ants
        Love Me Tender - Elvis
        (This will change tomorrow if not in the next hour)
        Book - The Cambridge Factfinder

        Luxury - this always changes. I have often thought that it could be a football or a guitar so that I could entertain myself by improving myself on either. Another possibility is a trumpet which I can't play but would have the time to teach myself. I think I would settle on a pens and paper for writing stories and sketching

        Comment


          #5
          Desert Island Discs

          Ooh, great idea, a trumpet. I'll trade the mattress.

          Comment


            #6
            Desert Island Discs

            Choice at the moment would be those below..... although the first will never change.

            Wichita Lineman-Glen Campbell.
            This Guys In Love With You-Herb Alpert.
            God Only Knows-Beach Boys.
            Last Night-Tom Verlaine.
            Open The Door To Your Heart-Darrell Banks
            If You Were A Man-Clydie King
            Stay With Your Own Kind-Patrice Holloway

            Book: The Ball Is Round-David Goldblatt (sorry voley)

            Luxury: A musical instrument that could teach me how to play (if such a thing doesnt exist then a megapowerful laptop with the latest Football Manager game FULLY preloaded)

            Comment


              #7
              Desert Island Discs

              (Following TEV's point

              For Your Children's Children's Children - Moody Blues
              Witchwood (sic) - The Strawbs
              Rejoice - U2
              Being Boring - Pet Shop Boys
              Party Fears Two - The Associates
              John Wayne is Big Leggy - Haysi Fantayzee
              All of the Magic Flute (in Swedish) - Mozart
              The Flood - Take That

              Book: It would still be the one that I filled in, when I first joined here: 'Taste of Too Much' - Clifford Hanley.

              Luxury: If not an eternal box of matches, then, my memory, intact.

              *nice thread: it made me think. Thanks.

              Comment


                #8
                Desert Island Discs

                stonelephant wrote:
                3. Luxury: My mp3 and a means of charging it
                D'oh - my own thread and I screwed it up - of course that's the point of the 8 discs.

                I think I would definitely follow the lead of a couple of you and go with the paper/pencils plan - suddenly the thought of not being able to write anything down.....

                Comment


                  #9
                  Desert Island Discs

                  Oh aye, this is good threadness.

                  Discs-
                  Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
                  Young Guns - Wham
                  You're The Best Thing - Style Council
                  Story Of The Blues - The Mighty Wah!
                  The Man Who Sold The World (Unplugged) - Nirvana
                  Dream On Dreamer - Brand New Heavies
                  If I Could - Hundred Reasons
                  Cafe Del Mar - Energy 52

                  Book-

                  David English - Confessions of a Loon.

                  Luxury item-

                  Barbecue, with unlimited burgers and sausages

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Desert Island Discs

                    ANG: thanks for reminding me about Wah!.

                    (I suspect that your barbecue idea would get 'nished')

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Desert Island Discs

                      Albums:

                      Rolling Stones--Sticky Fingers
                      Replacements--Tim
                      Ramones--S/T
                      Sonic Youth--the Live in Austin CD they put out with their Sonic Death fanzine
                      John Coltrane--Coltrane (the one on impulse)
                      Mazzy Star--She Hangs Brightly
                      The Stooges--S/T
                      Velvet Underground--Velvet Underground and Nico (even though I'm not really a fan of the songs that Nico sings but Lou's tracks are worth it)

                      (I really would need 10 since I would need some 70s reggae and would probably choose a Blood and Fire comp so I could mix Deejays and singers and I would need a Public Enemy record--probably Yo Bum Rush the Show since I have tried to stick with Vole's method of records that were important markers.)

                      Book: Jack Kerouac, On the Road

                      Luxury item: TV with a satellite dish with futbol, MLB network, and The Wire re-runs. A New York style pizza by the slice place would be a close second. A dog would be a close third.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Desert Island Discs

                        The other thing they ask on the show is which of the eight discs would you choose if you could only keep one.

                        I'm going to have to go away and think about this. I'd want to have a bit of variety in terms of genre, so there'd be some country, some classical and probably some classic 60s pop.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Desert Island Discs

                          Disco Sea Shanties wrote:
                          The other thing they ask on the show is which of the eight discs would you choose if you could only keep one.

                          I'm going to have to go away and think about this. I'd want to have a bit of variety in terms of genre, so there'd be some country, some classical and probably some classic 60s pop.
                          I would have to go Ash - Walking Barefoot

                          It's the closest to getting me jumping around nowadays (not a sight you want to see) plus all the references to sun and sand would be serendipitous. Or perhaps ironic in time, but a risk I would take. Perhaps "the sun on your bare shoulders" might become poignant as solitary time passed, but what wouldn't?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Desert Island Discs

                            Mine would easily be 'Party Fears Two' although at work they played 'Yes' (McAlmont and Butler) today, which I completely forgot about, and I might actually scratch 'John Wayne...' for that.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Desert Island Discs

                              Great thread.

                              Songs:

                              Talk Talk "I Believe In You"
                              David Bowie "Ashes To Ashes"
                              Kate Bush "Cloudbusting"
                              Jellyfish "The King Is Half Undressed"
                              Global Communication "Maiden Voyage"
                              Japan "Quiet Life"
                              Depeche Mode "Never Let Me Down Again"
                              Brian Eno "Ascent (An Ending)"

                              And if I could only keep one? I'd never tire of any of the above, but Ashes To Ashes.

                              Book: Guinness Book Of Hit Singles. Now and forever.

                              Luxury: Burn the bible, use the heat to stay out late and bang a few drums. I'd go for a drumkit.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Desert Island Discs

                                Auntie Beryl wrote:
                                Japan "Quiet Life"
                                Brilliant! There's still someone else who remembers/likes Japan! My family still laugh at me for it.

                                Did you see poor Mick Karn died a few months ago?

                                Rob Dean now illustrates bird books.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Desert Island Discs

                                  stonelephant wrote:
                                  Auntie Beryl wrote:
                                  Japan "Quiet Life"
                                  Brilliant! There's still someone else who remembers/likes Japan! My family still laugh at me for it.

                                  Did you see poor Mick Karn died a few months ago?
                                  I did, sadly. A good man. There was never any hope of a Japan reunion so I don't feel there's any unfinished business there; but still a shame how early he passed away.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Desert Island Discs

                                    I'd love to join in but before I do, having never listened to the show (yes, really), is it songs we're picking, or albums? danielmak's answers have confused me a bit.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Desert Island Discs

                                      Songs, traditionally.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Desert Island Discs

                                        Much as I love the concept of DID I've never been able to whittle down my selection to 8 songs.

                                        I did try recently though. I set up a playlist and ended up with a grand total of... 94 songs.

                                        How do you develop the ruthlessness that's needed to cull the list?

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Desert Island Discs

                                          historyman wrote:
                                          Much as I love the concept of DID I've never been able to whittle down my selection to 8 songs.

                                          I did try recently though. I set up a playlist and ended up with a grand total of... 94 songs.

                                          How do you develop the ruthlessness that's needed to cull the list?
                                          By changing it every time!

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Desert Island Discs

                                            Just remember a particular year, or girl-friend, or party and see what pops into your head.

                                            Then (very important) don't edit.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Desert Island Discs

                                              stonelephant wrote:
                                              Auntie Beryl wrote:
                                              Japan "Quiet Life"
                                              Brilliant! There's still someone else who remembers/likes Japan! My family still laugh at me for it.

                                              Did you see poor Mick Karn died a few months ago?

                                              Rob Dean now illustrates bird books.
                                              NO!?

                                              Shit, I was about to say how much I love Japan, and you spring that?

                                              Really? Oh fuck.

                                              I saw them live in Glasgow Apollo, and they were magnificent. But no-one exept Mick Karn moved, and he moved side to side in a sort of horizontal 'Moonwalk''

                                              I like to think that at one time I effected my friends choices, and Japan was it. I can still remember the day sitting, quietly with 8 schoolmates (stoned, natch) in an attic in Scotstoun, listening to 'Nightporter', and when it finished, nobody said a word.

                                              Until I said, 'Got any crisps?'

                                              Fretless bass is something I would aspire to. If I could play bass... shit. Nick Karn was cool.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Desert Island Discs

                                                Sorry to drop that one on you Geronto. It's a sad tale, there's a reasonable write-up on the whole sad story on Mick's Wikipedia but have a couple of strong drinks first. Looks as though he and Sylvian never came anywhere close to a reconciliation.

                                                I went to see Japan's farewell tour, right at the end at Hammersmith Odeon, and you're right, he was the only one who moved. You're also right about the sideways thing which I hadn't thought about before - it was in my subconscious since 1982. There was a bit of a head wobble incorporated too. Right with you on the fretless and he took it away from being just the backbone of the song but to the fore as a key instrument e.g. Life in Tokyo, Sons of Pioneers.

                                                I remember at college and I think the reissue of Quiet Life was on the radio but it was all I knew. A mate lent me Tin Drum and I listened to it cold. It blew me away, in particular Ghosts - had never heard anything like it before.

                                                Great days, sad end.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Desert Island Discs

                                                  Yep, Mick Karn died the same day as Gerry Rafferty (4/1/11).

                                                  Pretty sure there are a good few of us on here that are/were into Japan, stonelephant.

                                                  (Selections to follow shortly...)

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