Occasionally, I find myself listening to Radio Four's Desert Island Discs, and I always wonder whether the guests feel frustrated at being permitted to choose only 8 records. I don't think I'd be able to limit myself to a mere 8, so what I'm about to ask of you is perhaps a bit cheeky. However, let's make it 10, and let's also include comics and books as well as single records. That's 10 of each by the way, so 30 items in all. (I'll maybe do LP albums another time, but for the moment it's singles.)
So, Crivvies, were you to be told you were going to be exiled on a desert island (no, I don't mean Millport), what 10 records would you choose to take with you, and the same goes for which 10 comics and which 10 books you'd pick for your time on the island. Don't worry, there's a solar powered record player waiting there for you. Oh, wait, there's another aspect, isn't there. If you could only have one item from each 10, which one would it be? (That's even tougher to decide, eh?) Give it a think and then let loose in the comments section.
29 comments:
Roy Plomley (creator and original presenter of Desert Island Discs) died on May 28th 1985, aged 71, so we've only recently passed the 40th anniversary of his death.
Fascinating, CJ. Now any chance of entering into the spirit of the post and sharing your selections with us? And maybe answer the question from my previous past as to why you wouldn't want to live into your 80s or 90s if you were in perfect health and with all your faculties?
The Tide Is High - Blondie
The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
I Believe In Father Christmas - Greg Lake
Super Trouper - ABBA
La Isla Bonita - Madonna
The Louvre - Lorde
Where Do You Go To My Lovely - Peter Sarstedt
Farewell To Stromness - Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Lascia Ch'io Pianga - Handel
Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring
Klara And The Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
Thin Air - Michelle Paver
Hour Of The Dragon - Robert E Howard
The Shadow Over Innsmouth - HP Lovecraft
Planet Of The Apes - Pierre Boulle
Black Narcissus - Rumer Godden
The Gods Themselves - Isaac Asimov
The Odyssey - Homer
The Song Of Achilles - Madeline Miller
The Martian - Andy Weir
UK POTA #5
UK POTA#35
UK Savage Sword Of Conan (weekly) #2
US Conan The Barbarian #62
UK Savage Sword Of Conan (monthly) #9
UK Savage Sword Of Conan (monthly) #11
Uncanny X-Men #120
Iron Man #150
WHAT IF: Phoenix Had Not Died
WHAT IF: Dazzler Had Become The Herald Of Galactus/Iron Man Had Been Trapped In The Time Of King Arthur
I'm delighted you want to live to 90-plus, Kid, and I hope you make it but not all of us share your desire.
Now that's what I call a response! See, it's easy when you try. Some interesting choices there, CJ.
Yes, you've said you don't share that desire - presumably because you fear illness and disability, etc. What you haven't yet answered is why, if you could have all your faculties, mental and physical, you STILL wouldn't want to live to a ripe old age.
Incidentally, CJ, I just bought a Blondie CD a week or so ago - Blondie Essential.
My selections are noted below but if you asked me again in a weeks’ time they may all change - but in general these would be among my favourites of the genres:
Singles – this is an almost impossible task (for me at least) to pin down my favourite 10 songs so I have noted actual songs released as singles (not LP tracks) and taken off at least 6 Bowie tracks that would normally be in my top 10 lol (for a bit of variety lol ) – I even have a modern track on this list (Messy) .
Starman – David Bowie
Sherry Darling – Bruce Springsteen
Messy – Lola Young
Babylon’s Burning – The Ruts
Lola – The Kinks
Brandy (you’re a fine girl) - Looking Glass
New Orleans – Gary US Bonds
I shiver – Robert Cray band
Cry to Me – Solomon Burke
Rock n Roll – Velvet Underground
Books – This is a bit easier for me. 2 of these (*) are novellas and one is a kids book - I hope they count.
The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
Ham and Rye – Charles Bukowski
1977: Never a dull moment – David Hepworth
Of mice and Men* – John Steinbeck
The Old man and the sea* - Hemingway
The Age of Bowie – Paul Morley
Who rules the World? Noam Chomsky
God is not great -Christopher Hitchens
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
The saga of Noggin the Nog – Oliver Postgate ( it may be a kid’s book but its good)
Comics – single issues (not collections) – this was as difficult as the singles for me.
Might world of Marvel # 1
Silver Surfer # 12 (first series)
Astonishing tales #25 (first Deathlok)
Savage Tales #1 (first series)
Amazing Tales # 18 (War of the Worlds/Killraven)
Smash #1 (IPC issue)
Marvel Treasury Edition #4 (Conan)
Green Lantern / Green Arrow #85 (Drugs issue)
Amazing Spider-Man #75 (the end of the Tablet saga series )
Avengers #93 (possibly Neal Adams best ever art)
I think I've only heard of one, maybe two, of your singles, McS, don't think I've heard of the rest. As for the books, think I've read The God Delusion, but wasn't impressed by it. Heard of all the comics of course. Now, the hard one for both you and CJ - if you could only choose one from each of your lists, which would it be?
I didnt think you would know many of my tunes lol.
Hmmmm ok Single: Star man by Bowie, Book: Ham and Rye by Bukowski and comic: Silver Surfer #12.
What about your top 10s?
Africa - Toto
Super Trouper - ABBA
Carrie - Cliff
To France - Mike Oldfield
The Agincourt Song
St.Thomas Honour We
Calypso - John Denver
Building A Wall ( The Selfish Giant ) - The King's Singers
Theme To Superman
She Loves You - The Beatles
The Victim - Saul Bellow
Seize the Day - Saul Bellow
Humboldt's Gift - Saul Bellow
Moby Dick - Melville
The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
The Catcher in the Rye - Salinger
Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Combat Aircraft - Bill Gunston
World Atlas of Mysteries - Francis Hitching
How & Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs
An Elric Collected edition - Moorcock
1.) Jim Shooter's first Avengers run would be most of the ten, so I'll cheat & take the Marvel Essential which collects them!
2.) Super Spider-man & CB # 247 (my first Marvel.)
3.) Mighty World of Marvel # 269 (first MWOM.)
4.) Captain America # 215 - first all-colour comic.
5.) X-Men # 112 (first & fave X-Men)
6.) Spider-man Comic # 328 - Every story good, pretty much.
7.) Rampage Weekly # 23 - finale of Sons of the Serpent saga.
8.) Star Wars Weekly # 53 ( my first Warlock. )
9.) Iron Man # 106 ( first Iron Man.)
10.) Captain Britain Annual 1978
Just glancing at these, lots of glaring omissions are immediately obvious, so narrowing it down to ten is hard! What about yours, Kid?
Phillip
Single comics only, P, no cheating, no collections. We'll get to mine eventually.
The guests on Desert Island Discs get weeks and weeks to prepare their list of eight but I had to think of 30 items off the top of my head which is very difficult so I inevitably forgot certain tunes, books and comics that I would have added given more time. For example I completely forgot about Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting Of Hill House which was adapted into the excellent 1963 film The Haunting.
Add that, then deduct another one, CJ. Which book would you remove to make way for the one above?
I'd reluctantly remove the Asimov book but I'm sure I'll think of plenty of other books I could have added. And I also forgot the song Another Suitcase In Another Hall by Barbara Dickson (from Evita) so I'll remove Bach's Jesu Joy to make room for it.
I think even if we had a choice of 100 in each category, we'd still end up doing the same thing, CJ. It isn't easy.
Marvel Essential Avengers is a collection, so I'll replace it with the first Marvel Superheroes Monthly (representing Jim Shooter's first Avengers run.)
The Elric Collected edition's out too, so I'll replace it with...er..'The Sailor on the Seas of Fate', or 'Stormbringer'? Er...toss a coin...'Stormbringer'!
Colin's 'What If Phoenix had not died?' should be on my list, too ( it was my ending to the Dark Phoenix Saga, # 137 being unavailable), but # 112 edges it, being my first X-Men, as well.
Actually, Moon Knight # 1's an outstanding comic ( I first read it in 'Savage Action' ). So I'll remove Captain Britain annual 1978 ( it being a collection ), and insert Moon Knight # 1!
Music's the hardest one of the lot - I've got no Clifford T. Ward, or Barbara Dickson, or many others. I'll replace the first medieval music song with 'Lost Again' by Clifford T. Ward...but there's 'Messenger,' too - but I'll stick with my first choice. The second medieval music song I'll replace with either 'You Know It's Me', or 'Hello Stranger', by Barbara Dickson - I'll go with the latter!
For the Beatles, I'll replace 'She Loves You' ( maybe a bit rowdy, now, in post middle-age) with 'Here Comes the Sun'.
Phillip
I suppose you could always have replaced one of your books with a collected book edition of comics, P, just so long as it qualifies as a real book. Probably better to keep them separate though.
Hmm - and the fraught question of 1 item from each category? Books: The Victim. Comics: Marvel Superheroes Monthly # 1 ( although I'm tempted to go for my first ever Marvel, Super Spidey # 247, it kicking off my entire youthful comics obsession.) Music: almost impossible ( I've also just remembered 'Popcorn', & 'Love is Blue', which were played over the TV testcard, in the 70s! ) - but, I'll pick Africa out of laziness, it being first on my list!
Phillip
Makes me realise what an impossible task the guests on Desert Island Discs are faced with, P. It might be easier to choose if you were 15, but to an adult with a lifetime of experiences behind him/her, there's just too much to choose from.
Right, let's have a go at this.
1) I wish I Was A Spaceman (Fireball XL5 theme). Don Spencer.
2) I'm Gonna Make You Mine. Lou Christie.
3) Wandrin' Star. Lee Marvin.
4) Those Were The Days. Mary Hopkin.
5) Adios Amigo. Jim Reeves.
6) Seasons In The Sun. Terry Jacks.
7) A Spaceman Came Travelling. Chris de Burgh.
8) Lily The Pink. The Scaffold.
9) I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman. Whistling Jack Smith.
10) Down Deep Inside. (Theme From The Deep.) Donna Summer.
1) Fantastic #1.
2) Terrific #1.
3) Super DC #1.
4) Whizzer & Chips #1.
5) Knockout #1.
6) Thunder #1.
7) Jet #1.
8) Smash! #1 (1969 relaunched IPC version.)
9) Shiver & Shake #1.
10) Topper #924.
1) The Wind In The Willows. Kenneth Grahame.
2) The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien.
3) Moonfleet. J. Meade Faulkner.
4) The Ghosts. Antonia Barber.
5) Tom's midnight Garden. Philippa Pearce.
6) Treasure Island. R.L. Stevenson.
7) Any William book. Richmal Crompton.
8) The Mystery Of The Green Ghost. Robert Arthur.
9) The Prisoner Of Zenda. Anthony Hope.
10) James Bond In The Cinema. John Brosnan.
The above are just as they occurred to me. Maybe I'd revise some after some reflection, but probably not.
In fact, I forgot to include MWOM #1, so I'd replace Topper #924 with that.
From your lust I really liked Lou Christies" I'm gonna make you mine" and was considering adding it to my list . Comics :As the others are first issues, was there any reason for Topper #924?
Phillip's mention of the Beatles reminded me that I forgot about Across The Universe which is a masterpiece and The Long And Winding Road is nice too - I've got a CD of the Beatles' final album Let It Be which includes both those songs. The only other CD I still own is ABBA's 2021 comeback album Voyage which includes the song Bumblebee which is one of my favourite ever ABBA songs.
Is a Treasury Edition a book or a comic because in both categories I forgot the 1978 Conan Treasury Edition which features Marvel's adaptation of Iron Shadows In The Moon, my favourite REH Conan story (it had also appeared in the UK Conan monthly #1 in 1977 but I didn't start buying SSOC monthly until #8).
I put it on the list because it came with a free 'glow in the dark' Splodge mask, McS. I managed to replace both items, the mask in 2019, and the comic in 2022. Couldn't leave out MWOM #1 though.
I'd say the Conan Treasury is a comic, CJ. You could add your favourite record albums to my latest post if you want. If you're not seeing it, refresh your browser.
Thinking it over, I think I'd replace Shiver & Shake #1 with TV Century 21 #1.
Already done it, Kid. You've all included non-fiction books which I didn't do but memorable non-fiction books for me include "The Last Two Million Years" (an enormous history of Mankind that my father bought exclusively from Reader's Digest in the '70s), "Strange Stories Amazing Facts" (also bought from Reader's Digest) and "Mysteries Of The Unknown" which I got for Christmas in 1978. I'd also mention "The Talkies", a history of the movies from 1929 to 1958 which my mother owned and was a fascinating read.
I included only one non-fiction book and that was the John Brosnan one. A good read. You still got those books, CJ?
No, they're all long gone now but I remember them fondly. I also remember my mother's cookery books.
I've still got my mother's cookery books, but I never cook aside from microwave and air-fryer cooking.
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