Because I've become very quickly addicted to this site and no ones posting at the moment: the 8 songs you'd take to a desert island (seemingly unwritten rule seems to be only one song per artist/band) you get a religious tome if want and the complete works of shakespeare (let's shake it up and change it to complete works of the author of your choice - because seriously; who wants to read Shakespeare?) and the book of your choice. I'm going to modernise it and add the videogame of your choice. You also get a luxury item which can't be used to leave the island or cure you (because someone seventy odd years ago took this very seriously). The 8 songs tend to have relevance to different periods of the interviewees life so tell us why the song's important to you.
Hmm, this is gonna take some thought. Do you wanna make it a Pulp Desert Island Discs? Choose 8 Pulp/Jarvis songs instead of 8 different artists or 5 Pulp 3 others? Or no Pulp songs in the 8! That would be interesting.
Well I'd be disappointed if you put no thought into it. Notice I haven't posted my own yet. You might want to pick some songs that have been favourites at different stages but might not be favourites now. First single you bought etc.
Ok, but give me some time it's a tricky proposition.
I agree, this is very hard. I've noticed about the real life programme that they seem to make it not just your 8 all time favourites, but a format for talking through your life story. I remember Jonny Vegas talking about the impact Common People had on him very movingly. First ambition has to be simply to get a Pulp song onto DID that isn't Common People though (it has been chosen 5 times according to the archive).
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We'll use the one thing we've got more of, that's our minds.
I don't think I could ever choose my first single for DID. I like to think it was Don't You Want Me by The Human League but it is just as possible that it was actually Mama Used To Say by Junior! I still have my copies of both. I wonder where they were bought from? Probably one of the markets in Sheffield. What worries me most is that I can clearly remember loving the Junior song and wanting it more than I can remember wanting Don't You Want Me. I was only 6 years old. However, just watched the vid of Junior and I actually still think it's a pretty good song.
-- Edited by saw119 on Wednesday 5th of October 2011 01:13:55 PM
Blondie: Sunday Girl Played at my 14th birthday disco in Hedge End village hall. That weekend my father left home and didn't come back - me, my mum & my sister were very relieved.
Fairport Convention: Who Know Where the Time Goes I used to babysit for a friend of my mums who had an amazing collection of vinyl that was propped up on the wall if her living room, running the entire length. She'd inherited the collection from her brother who'd committed suicide. I used to put the kids to bed and then sitting in her rocking chair with headphones on, picking records at random. One day I put on Unhalfbricking and I thought Sandy Denny's voice was the most beautiful one I'd ever heard. WKWTTG has such amazing words that mean even more to me now after having survived cancer. She was already dead when I discovered her and most Fairport stuff was unavailable so I spent a lot if my time while I was in the 6th form trawling through second hand record shops.
Portishead: Glory Box Where do I start? Spine tinglingly sensuous and incredibly powerful. It was the soundtrack to the beginning of my relationship with my husband. Never fails to move me. I played Portishead continuously through both my children's births.
Pulp: Disco 2000 Because my name is Deborah (never Debbie) and my house really was very small with woodchip on the wall. And I might have been a bit like Deborah in the song (who I always think is a teenage mother) if I hadn't left home and gone to university (the first person in my family to do so).
Roxy Music: Beauty Queen An amazing song that makes me think about ageing and that feeling of invisibility that strikes in middle age. It also reminds me of when I lived in Belfast when I really got into Roxy Music. I used to put a tape of Eno era Roxy Music on my Walkman and go for long walks through the Belfast streets.
Liza Minelli: Maybe this time I adore musicals and show tunes and Cabaret is my favourite. I think that's why I like Pulp so much because of the storytelling. This song is all about fucking it up but being a survivor.
Lhasa de Sela: Soon this space will be too small A beautiful song from an amazing album that I played over and over again during my illness. Coincidentally, I discovered recently that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer around the same time as me 4 years ago. Very sadly she didn't make it. A huge loss. The words of this song are so poignant.
Kirsty MacColl: In these shoes The song I want played at my funeral. For my love of very high heels. And because it makes me want to dance. And because I really was once sitting in a bar in Guadalajara.
Book: Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle Brilliant book by the author of 101 Dalmations told from the point if view of an adolescent girl, with the wonderful opening line: "I write this sitting on the kitchen sink".
Luxury: coffee beans (preferably from the Gorilla Co from Whole Foods in New York - the best coffee I've ever tasted) a grinder and a cafetiere and my large bone china Tintin cup Because I'm not human without coffee
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Her house was very small with woodchip on the wall
Everyone's humbling me with the quality of their posts recently. And I've only thought of two songs... YHF: don't suppose you could explain the relevance of each song? Deborah: watch your language, your on radio remember.
Don't think I've lived enough to do this yet but can say Agatha Christie and Pokemon Red on gameboy (yes, I'm very cool). Luxury item would be a camera.
My Dad did an absolutely fantastic 4000 word desert island disks, not sure if he'd be happy for me to share it with the world though Might try to convince him because in my opinion it's worth a read
-- Edited by Jazza on Wednesday 5th of October 2011 08:11:05 PM
I'll have Singstar for PS3. I sing very badly but enthusiastically. Current favourite is Divine Comedy's My Lovely Horse. Common People and Disco 2000 are bloody difficult.
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Her house was very small with woodchip on the wall
I decided to go for the 'story of my life' approach as opposed to the 'that's a really cool song' approach.
Kinky Afro -Happy Mondays
I must admit to a brief dalliance with Heavy Metal in the late 80's. My first gig was Iron Maiden! But I had a real breakthrough moment while on a school residential in what must have been 1990, or perhaps '91. We were in the main hall set up for badminton in a hostel in Derbyshire and this came on the radio. It truly was a watershed moment in my life, from that moment I became baggy, for a bit.
Country Feedback-REM
An important moment in my life was soundtracked by REM. I'd finally found a group of friends who understood me and who I had some great, and probably pretty pretentious, times with. It couldn't last (and didn't), I hadn't listened to this song for probably 16-17 years but my subconscious recognised it's importance and reminded me of it; astonishing lyrics.
Higher Than The Sun-Primal Scream
Screamadelica was the watershed album when I was a lad in '91. Up until this point I'd been listening to Jesus Jones, Carter USM, Wonder Stuff etc. This took me way beyond those earthbound dullards. It sounds dated now but still amazing and this is the best, and most poignant, track. I've recently been getting back into that early 90's indie due to an almost unbearable nostalgia for that time. Good job I never chucked away any of my music papers, clippings and other crap. J'accuse, hoarder!
Seasick, Yet Still Docked-Morrissey
Simply beautiful and heartbreaking. One of the best songs I've ever seen performed live: Sheffield City Hall, 1992. My first Morrissey concert, a truly awesome experience. I'm down at the front somewhere, can you see me?
2 of Us-Suede
Suede could possibly be held responsible for my later interest in Pulp as I became obsessed with English music rather than that Grunge stuff that most of my peers were enjoying. I have never seen the appeal of Pearl Jam or Mudhoney. This song is majesticand I think Brett Anderson is sorely underestimated as a lyricist and vocalist.
Kentucky Avenue-Tom Waits
It just never fails to make me cry. If you are ever in Sheffield and see a tall, ginger bloke crying while listening to his iPod it'll be me. And I'll be listening to this.
Hard On For Love-Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I'm a big fan of Cave and love all his work. However, his EP Your FuneralMy Trial is my favourite.. at a pinch. I could have chosen either this or the title track but this just edges it for its dizzying use of biblical language and metaphor. I also absolutely love Blixa's chiming/clanging guitar in the background. They played this live on the Bad Seeds 2008 tour and it was a giant, filthy erotic beast of a song.
Wickerman-Pulp
If I was truly stranded on a desert Island then this song would remind me of home and of all the Pulp songs that mention Sheffield this is the most evocative. It has that wonderful sense of bittersweet nostalgia.
Complete Works of JG Ballard would do me as a book choice. The most important English author of the 20th Century. From his sci-fi short stories to his dystopian 70's masterpieces (Crash, High Rise & Concrete Island in case you wanna check em out and you really owe it to yourself to read them) to his classic of experimental literature The Atrocity Exhibition, no one sums up the late 20th century Human condition like him.
You've sold a few of those songs to me saw (if that is your your real name), will investigate further. Is that book title inspiration for the joy division song?
Yes, you can download it from the Singstore. I love Father Ted. The first episode was aired after my first trip to Ireland to meet my husband's family. It felt like a documentary.
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Her house was very small with woodchip on the wall
Fuck no! Can't remember how I got that username. Although me and a guy at school were going to take over the world with a sketch show called Fred... which doesn't really answer any questions you might have.
Explanations? ok but I will do it a little later. I am in a bar in New York City right now, which is strange. This place is another planet to Manchester and generally the whole of north west england. I think it's too big but I'm sure it will be better soon.
OK, I've thought about this for a few days, there is zero possibility of me being able to pick my favourite 8 songs of all time, so going with the life story approach at least makes it slightly feasible, so here goes:
1. Little Boxes - Pete Seeger
This is one of the first songs I can remember hearing, from when I was 4 or 5. I had always assumed it was a hit of that time (around 1970ish), but looking it up, it's older, so I can't explain why I have a memory of hearing it a lot at that time. I was fascinated even then by the idea of all these people growing up and having their own kids and living in their little boxes. I think the only other song I remember from this time is Puff the Magic Dragon, apparently I knew all the words to Lily the Pink when I was 3, but I don't remember that.
2. Fernando - Abba
I can't deny it, I had a massive Abba phase when I was about 10. By the time I was a cool, indie 14 year old, I would probably have died rather than admit it, but having grown up, Abba are OK and Fernando was always a very haunting story. More stories, is a pattern emerging already?
3. Fade Away and Radiate - Blondie
Blondie was my next big phase, about 12 or 13 by now. Played Parallel Lines to death.
4. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
I remember buying this in my local record shop in 1980, deep into indie by this time. I used to religiously buy the NME and Melody Maker and read all sorts of articles that in all honesty at that age I barely understood, but I suppose what did stay with me was the idea that there was more to culture than the little world of this week's pop music, that these bands were drawing on musical and literary influences from all over the place that I hadn't a clue about, I remember reading about things like Bauhaus, J.G. Ballard, Nazi brothels and so on, never pursued it then, these days I would just look it all up on wikipedia, but then, these things remained a tantalising mystery. My husband raided my old singles for an 80s night he was DJing at lately, don't know what the clientele were hoping for, but it was more Psychedelic Furs than Banarama.
5. Geisha Boys and Temple Girls - Heaven 17
Penthouse and Pavement was another album that got played to death, so it was with great excitement that we went to see them last year touring the whole thing. This album captures the whole world of the early 80s, the yuppies, the belief that a nuclear war was going to start at any moment. And they were from Sheffield, made me deeply homesick.
6. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Big gap here, but this was one of those occasional CDs my husband gave me for my car. The noise and energy really lifted my spirits, a bit worrying given how depressed Kurt was.
7. Mis-Shapes - Pulp
There's no way I could begin to choose a favourite Pulp song, so sticking with the meaningful, this song is the beginning of my long journey of becoming comfortable with who I am, that's it's OK not to be like everyone else.
8. Try This At Home - Frank Turner
This is the most unstable selection, good for today. This is a part of the coming to terms with myself in a way. I have always had these mental blocks that there places I don't belong, worlds I can't be part of. A good example is going to gigs. I was always a bedroom music nerd, as a kid it never occurred to me that you could go to gigs and even after I left home, my friends weren't into that. Oh, and I hate crowds and I'm not very tall, so it all sounds a bit scary. Going to see Heaven 17 last year was a toe in the water and it was great, gave me confidence to dare go to Wireless in July. So back to the song, I have adopted a new can-do attitude to these things and am trying them at home". And Frank Turner generally is another great story teller and image creator.
Book. Dune - Frank Herbert
I love all sci-fi for the way you can create whole new worlds and worldviews, but for me, the depth of this in Dune sucks me in completely. The interplay of factions with very different motivations, ideologies and spiritualities is enough to keep you interested for ever. And if this could stretch to a collection of the whole series, so much the better.
Luxury. Not sure about this, it would probably have to involve food or alcohol, maybe a cocoa bush (are they bushes?), but how hard is it to make anything approaching chocolate? I'm guessing hard. Maybe just actual chocolate then, lots of it.
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We'll use the one thing we've got more of, that's our minds.
1. Round And Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti I only got this record the other day and it says this song was mixed at Abbey Road - it sounds expensive and massive. Not sure what its about...
2. Get Behind Me - Scott Walker So many Scott Walker songs, you kind of get 2 songs in one - the acoustic bit, the choir bit and then a melody that is absolutely flawless.
3. The Music of the Night - Anthony Warlow OK, this is the odd one out - he played the Phantom in the Australian shows about 20 years ago - technically perfect and beautiful - I like having a cigarette and wine whilst having this cranked up to about 11.
4. La Ritournelle - Sebastien Tellier That drumming.....its perfect
5. Love On A Real Train - Tangerine Dream I like 'travel' songs - theres many tunnels in Paris that I would put this on to see if I could put myself into a trance....
6. The King And All Of His Men - Wolf Gang This guy has put out an album which has sort of disappointed me because he has re-recorded this track and it doesn't have anything on the original - the new version is all compressed now. The original version is all big drums and dancing. I guess you could say I am obsessed with sound.
7. Veridis Quo - Daft Punk Another 'travel' song - someone on here said it could possibly be a funeral song. I agree. It does remind me of certain tunnels here at home and the perfect positioning of the steering wheel on the road where you don't actually have to steer....
8. Guitar Interludes - Joe Pass Brilliant guitars and my only political song on here. I often put it on mix tapes for people.
Book: Complete works of Tintin. Luxury Item: Beetroot chips. Love them.
This thread was the perfect solution to my self-induced early Sunday morning insomnia! The process of choosing was a bit of a revelation, as I thought it would be near impossible to pick from so many songs that are dear to me. But once I'd decided on my criteria for narrowing it down to eight, it was actually quite easy - the winners just jumped out. I had to reject the format of choosing songs that are significant to memories and events throughout my life as it wouldn't have produced the songs I REALLY wanted to be stranded alone with. Aside from that, it would have produced a pile of shite I'd rather drop in the sea (no, I really do NOT want to take Billy Don't be a Hero by Paper Lace).
Quite simply, I did what it says on the tin and imagined myself all alone, with my chosen songs being the only ones I would ever hear again in my entire life. So basically if I don't pick it, we have to depart our ways forever. The old faithful friends pretty much chose themselves, but it caught me by surprise how many of these discs that made my cut were the biggest hits from my favourite artists, as opposed to their rarer gems I assumed I'd favour. Maybe there IS a good reason after all why these songs were the most successful commercially? Perhaps they connect with us a bit deeper inside than others? So yes, I have actually chosen Common People! Sorry, it may be unimaginitive and overly popular, but when push comes to shove it IS a fucking amazing song, and if anyone ever tries to take it away from me, I will fight them to the death for it.
Anyway, enough with the waffle and threats of violence, here is the list (in no particular order):
Common People -PULP
Do you Remember the Fist Time - PULP
There is a Light that Never Goes Out - THE SMITHS
How Soon is Now? - THE SMITHS
Sit Down - JAMES (but it has to be the original 1989 Rough Trade version, as opposed to the reworked one that got to number 2 in 1991)
Tomorrow - JAMES
New Dawn Fades - JOY DIVISION
Where is My Mind - THE PIXIES (but I would probably prefer the PLACEBO cover of it)
The book, CATCHER IN THE RYE by J D Salinger
Video game - none, I don't play them, so can I have an extra disc instead please?
The luxury item, my LAPTOP - yeah you could argue there would be no internet or power source on a desert island, but it is also highly improbable that I'd get advance notification of my impending marooning, in order for me to pack up my discs and book, my bible and my complete works of shakespeare (the last two of which I would 'accidently' forget). AND...... how are you all going to play your video games? Eh?!
-- Edited by anet on Sunday 9th of October 2011 09:53:10 AM
I'll let you play them on my laptop if we all end up on the same island. This could end up like Lost, another desert island scenario that doesn't make any sense.
Hmm - the same way we will play our 'discs'? Unless the rules state we are only given a wind up gramophone player, in which case I will have to use my vast technical knowledge and abundant practical skills to construct a small generator.
-- Edited by anet on Sunday 9th of October 2011 01:51:33 PM
Maybe they're the only songs that you're allowed to hum on the Desert Island? If the Island gods hear any other songs being hummed then it angers them and they will wreak terrible havoc using the destrucitve volcano spirit as punishment. Or something.
That doesn't sound good for my homemade generator. Actually, the sound of me humming would probably be enough to anger the gods in itself. Anet does Morrissey is not a beautiful sound to anyone other than myself.
Well, there'll only be you there. If simply humming Morrissey to yourself is the worst thing that you do after years of isolation and lack of human contact I think you can probably count yourself lucky!
Why do you have to go and spoil it? I almost had it all set up there, with my laptop and my solar panel. But as there is no way around it, I've decided to trade in my luxury item for another disc. I'm chosing OK BY MYSELF by Morrissey, to keep me sane through the bleaker moments of isolation.
-- Edited by anet on Monday 10th of October 2011 11:49:24 PM
Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin' This has always been a favourite of mine. Midnight Cowboy is also my favourite film, so it works well and I guess ti reminds me of that. Most of all I just think it's a beautiful track and the line 'i wont let you leave my love behind' has always got me.
The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow? This songs reminds me of my love, and it's hard to be apart from her. She lives in New York (I'm in the UK) so it's very difficult but I have every faith that it is meant to happen etc... I guess this song sends out some kind of insecurity vibe, which is maybe always the case for such a long distance thing. However, it also reminds me that we will always wake up thinking of each other, and yes, we will love each other tomorrow.
Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat This song got me through some very dark times with anti-depressants and the like, I guess Leonard Cohen just cheers me up and gives me some kind of retreat from the pressures I feel getting to me sometimes. I once met him and it was one of the best days of my life.
Blur - This Is A Low Blur were my favourite band from a young age, I got parklife the day it came out and was only 6. This is probably my favourite song of theirs, but it's hard to choose. I sometimes come to the conclusion this is my favourite song of all time.
Neil Young - On The Beach It would work with being on a beach, also it's my favourite track from one of my favourite artists of all time. I just think it glides along perfectly and it's impossible to be distracted from how well it works.
Low - Tomorrow One Low are definitely my favourite band since exiting my teens into real life. I am lucky enough to have become good friends with them and gone around spain and other places with the band. Al, mim and steve are 3 of the most accommodating people I have ever met and I am eternally grateful for the positive vibe they have had for my life. It's not often you can say your favourite band have been there for you personally during a tough time, but they were and are, and I am blessed with that. I guess I am especially grateful they saw more to me than an enthusiastic fan, we often trade music etc... and I find it one of the most rewarding friendships I have ever made. I was a huge fan for about 3 years before interviewing them once, and ever since it has been fantastic. I even went to mtv in new york with them this year.
Pink Floyd - Echoes I needed some floyd and this was the longest one. It takes me to another place where work and distance doesn't matter.
Slowdive - When The Sun Hits This song just makes me feel ultimate joy and sadness at the same time. It is just ecstasy.
Oasis - Dont Look Back In Anger The song from my teenage years, really. that's why i got into british music, that's why i love Pulp, met my wife... etc The song of me life.
Oasis - The Masterplan Just a classic track
Pulp - Disco 2000 Probably the song that made me fall in love with Pulp, back then. And that video is just, just, so cool. So id have that in my head
The Beatles - When i'm 64 unpopular song but it makes me happy
Noel Gallagher - The Death Of You & Me Same, makes me dance, especially the horns & stuff
The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning My wife and I's song
Blur - Tender Amazing piece of music, what else.
The Divine Comedy - Tonight We Fly Ditto
(fuck that's already it)
Book : I'd take the paper i wrote for my Master, so i could forever get mad at what i wrote and i would rewrite it again. So id keep me busy
Video Game : the last Fifa i could (that's probably the only game ive played since i'm a "grown up")
Luxury item: my acoustic guitar, well the one i ordered that will come in god knows how many month. a beautiful Martin. That's probably all you need on a desert island, right. With a tuner and additionnal strings
-- Edited by andy on Wednesday 30th of November 2011 06:27:41 AM
I love this version. The guitar on the coda makes me want to cry.
Felt: Penelope Tree
Never heard any Felt, until I saw "Lawrence of Belgravia" (which I highly recommend BTW) then went on Youtube and looked up some stuff. Picked this up and loved it. Fantastic chorus and a reallay great guitar break. Really like Felt now. Don't know why they weren't as big as they should have been.
The Cure:
Breathe Robert Smith capturing a starry night in Mirabeu (the studio they were recording in at the time) and putting into a song. Simply gorgeous.
Arvo Part: Fur Aline
Absolute Minimal beauty
Aphex Twin: Avril 14th
If you heard this and didn't know, you would not know it was AFX.
This Mortal Coil: Song to the Siren
Liz Frazer has the most beautiful voice. This is the best version of this song I've ever heard
Radiohead: Fake Plastic Trees
Quite literally saved my life one day.
Kate Bush: Wuthering Heights
Grew up listening to this. Love Ms. Bush. Really like her new album, but this song is a classic.
Book: War and Peace. Read it twice. Love it. Taught me more about the Napoleanic war than school did. Plus I love sinking my teeth into great big behemoth of books. I spent last Christmas reading "Ulyssess"
Video Game: Not really a VG, more an online RPG but Runescape. Been playing for more over 10 years now and I love it.
Luxury item:My bed. Just the most comfortable place on earth.
I'm slightly concerned andy, you come across as an Oasis loving football fan in that Desert Island Discs!
I'm an Oasis fan. and a blur fan, and a Pulp fan. I was and i stood by it when that was hard, back then in 96. And i love football. But i'm no hooligan and i hate most people at Oasis gigs, and i hated some people at the only Pulp gig i went to as well though most people were likeable enough (Hyde Park). I'm an anomaly really.
My tongue was firmly in my cheek when I wrote that. I saw Oasis and Blur in '94 and they were both fantastic gigs. Still love certain eras of Blur, but Oasis I don't really have any time for.
Oh I love a good list..
(hmm not sure why the spaces arent going in)
Dory Previn - Lady with The Braid
Someone put this on a mixed tape for me back in 96(remember mixed tapes?) and its a good rainy day song.
Pulp - Acrylic Afternoons.
First Pulp song to give me shivers.
Big Star - 13
Makes my heart swell.
Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro
Driving to the city late at night or driving back at sunrise messed up either way
Dusty Springfield - Time After Time(jazz standard not 80's hit)
One of the songs I got married to.
Billie Holliday - Crazy They Call Me
Brought this tape to a grade 6 sleepover, was made fun of for not liking Bobbi Brown. I win.
Kate Bush - This Woman's Work
Sang this over and over to my newborn.
Mojave 3 - In Love With a View
To remind me of the Canadian winters whilst I bask in the sunshine.
Books- the complete Oscar Wilde or something brainless and fluffy to pass th time
Luxury item
King sized bed fully kitted with high count sheets and pillows. A girl needs a good night sleep.
-- Edited by There dressed in green on Wednesday 30th of November 2011 08:25:05 PM
Might try to convince him because in my opinion it's worth a read
