Had a listener ask me tonight what my “Desert Island Songs” were. My 10 favorite songs of all time. Given time, I think I could come up with them. But I thought it much easier to come up with my “Desert Island Discs”.
Stuck on an island, with a CD player and an endless supply of batteries, here are the CDs I’d take with me (in no particular order):
“Argybargy” by Squeeze
“Quench” by The Beautiful South
“Armed Forces” by Elvis Costello
“Dear 23” by The Posies
“presents Author Unknown” by Jason Falkner
“Soul Mining” by The The (this would be tough because “Mind Bomb” is brilliant too…)
“Temple of Low Men” by Crowded House (another toughie. “Together Alone”, or Neil’s solo “One All”)
“Purr” by The Dance Hall Crashers
“BeautifulGarbage” by Garbage
“15 Minutes” by Nik Kershaw
I avoided putting any Greatest Hits or other compilations in the list, but Steely Dan’s “Gold” would likely be up there if not.
Yours?
(Next week I’ll divulge who’s on my Mount Rushmore. Yeah, I’ve thought about that too.)
BeautifulGarbage is a GREAT record. Good pick.
That’s a great list of songs. I would be wonderful if you featured all of them on a special coverville episode?
I’m dense. What is “Mount Rushmore” referring to? Is that what four people from history you wish you could have dinner with? Or is it four people currently alive that you wish were encased in granite?
“Mount Rushmore” refers to for or five famous (?) people that you would immortalize in granite if you had the funds to do so. It’s a weirder concept now that I write it out, but it made perfect sense in my head when I went out the other night…
You showed me yours, here’s mine….
Van Halen – 1984
KISS – Lick it Up
Marc Cohn – His 1st CD
Phil Collins – No Jacket Required
Boston – Boston
Michael Jackson – Thriller (say what you want about the guy…this album does nothing but get better)
Eagles Greatest Hits 2 (I’m allowed one compilation, aren’t I?)
The Tragically Hip – Up to Here
ZZ Top – Eliminator
ACDC – Back in Black
Beach Boys – Endless Summer (ok TWO compilations)
your taste in music is vey close to mine – have you heard of Lloyd Cole and Commotions ?
Rain Dogs – Tom Waits
Best of – Lambert, Hendrix and Ross
Extremely Cool – Chuck E. Weiss
Trust – Elvis Costello
Hierja – Joni Mitchell
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony
Musicology – Prince
Your Favorite Music – Clem Snide
Beepin’ and Boppin’ – Louis Prima
Best Of – Hank Williams
Great show, BTW!
My desert island discs:
Songs for Drella – Lou Reed & John Cale
High Land, Hard Rain – Aztec Camera
The Rotter’s Club – Hatfield & the North
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti – Squeeze
Swimming Pool Q’s – Swimming Pool Q’s
The Unauthorized Autobiography of Reinhold Messner – Ben Fold Five
Oranges & Lemons – XTC
Old Fashioned Love – John Fahey
Dante’s Inferno – read by John Cleese
Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett (with Bert Lahr)
Finnegans Wake – James Joyce (read by Cyril Cusack)
Forever Changes – Love
Last Exit – Traffic (side two only)
River – Terry Reid
Harp Favorites – Harpo Marx
I’m on second or third copy of many of these.
These are the ones I listen to over and over.
My family chipped in and bought me headphones.
timbabwe@gmail.com
Dante’s Inferno – read by John Cleese
I’ve this one, too, and it’s amazing!
my island cds? uh.. okay.
“rubber soul” the beatles
“this years model” elvis costello
“london Calling” the clash
“transatlantisim” death cab for cutie
“druken lullibies’ flogging molly
“there is nothing left to lose” foo fighters
“streetcore” joe strummer and the mescolaroes
“tonight’s the night” Neil Young
“the wall” pink floyd
“apollo 18” They Might Be Giants
i love the podcast, it makes me so happy, i love cover songs so much. ^_^
Yes, definitely a tough call, but fun to ponder. My Top 10:
“Automatic For the People” by R.E.M.
“Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John
“Unplugged in New York” by Nirvana
“Tango in the Night” by Fleetwood Mac (or maybe “Rumours”)
“Brothers in Arms” by Dire Straits
“The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1” by The Traveling Wilburys
“Achtung, Baby” by U2
“Pleasure Victim” by Berlin
“Hotel California” by The Eagles
“Brand New Day” by Sting
I also avoided compilations and greatest hits albums, as well as choosing only one album per artist, otherwise R.E.M., Elton John, Dire Straits, and/or U2 would have taken up all of the slots!
Okay, my ten DIDs:
“The Velvet Underground and Nico” – the Velvet Underground
“The Velvet Underground” – the Velvet Underground
“Quadrophenia” – The Who
“Singles Going Steady” – the Buzzcocks
“Chronic Town” – R.E.M.
“Remain In Light” – Talking Heads
“Ramones” – the Ramones
“Give ’em Enough Rope” – The Clash
“In The Next World, You’re On Your Own” – the Firesign Theatre
“Star Trek:The Motion Picture soundtrack” – Jerry Goldsmith (yes I’m a Trekkie. No I’m not embarrassed.)
I tried to avoid greatest hits and boxed sets… but “Singles Going Steady” is absolutely ESSENTIAL.
for what it’s worth… does the iPod render the Desert Island Disc question moot?
I don’t think so. It’s a lot easier to imagine a lifetime supply of AA batteries for your discman that it would be for an outlet to recharge your iPod. Plus, who wants to go through the hassle of figuring out the 1000 songs you’d NEED to have on your Nano?
1- Type O Negative – October Rust (True ear candy from end to end)
2- Frank Sinatra – The Very Best Of Frank Sinatra (ya gotta have some of the furious Frank)
3- The Simpsons – Songs In The Key Of Springfield (if you can see tv, at least you can hear it)
4- Señor Coconut y Su Conjunto – El Baile Alemán (Kraftwork covers done by a Mexican Cha Cha Salsa Band. I recommend the Tour D France cover)5 – Roxy Music – Avalon ( A white persons version of Barry White. Excellent make out music)
6 – Rolling Stones – Fourty Licks (Cause it’s the Stones)
7- Radiohead – Kid A ( for those sleepless nights)
8 – The Clash – The Clash On Broadway – (Cause without the Clash..there is nothing)
9- Malcolm McLaren – Fans (Opera done to a hip hop beat. Savvy!)
10 – Johnny Cash – Unchained (Creates light and hope even in the darkest of moments)
My full list with commentary is at http://macdialup.com/zwilliams/discs.html, but in brief:
Big Star: #1 Record/Radio City
Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes
Kronos Quartet: Pieces of Africa
Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel of Love
JudyBats: Pain Makes You Beautiful
Daniel Lanois: For the Beauty of Wynona
Richard and Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights
Crowded House: Temple of Low Men
R.E.M.: Murmur
Dawn Upshaw/London Sinfonietta/Zinman: Górecki’s Symphony No. 3
Smile – Brian Wilson
Rubber Soul – The Beatles
Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings of Leon
Purple Rain – Prince
London Calling – The Clash
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots – The Flaming Lips
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
Have a Ball – Me First and The Gimme Gimmes
The Headphone Masterpiece – Cody Chesnutt