If you aren't British, you may not be familiar with Desert Island Discs which has it's 70th anniversary on BBC radio today. Personalities are invited on to the show to share their 8 favourite pieces of music with listeners. People who have shared their favourites have included politicians like Margaret Thatcher, pop stars like George Michael, personalities like Yoko Ono and even royalty like Princess Margaret in one of her sober moments. Today is the turn of Richard Attenborough. Looking at the 'what song do you listen to now' thread shows there is some musical diversity out there with DF posters! If I was asked which were my 8 favourite pieces of music, I think I would struggle to name them. The music I listen to changes with what frame of mind I am in at the time, but it's the words that stick in my mind and if they relate to what's going on in my life at the time, they become a favourite with me. I particularly like the words to 'When a Child is Born'. Johnny Mathis was in the UK charts with it just after my eldest daughter was born in Cyprus.
A rosy hue settles all around You've got the feel you're on solid ground For a spell or two, no-one seems forlorn This comes to pass when a child is born
The birth of your children is a special time.
I will have to spend some time thinking about the other 7 favourites, although Candy Staton's Young Hearts Run Free may creep in there.
It's high time just one crack at life Who wants to live in trouble and strife? My mind must be free, to learn all I can about me I'm gonna love me, for the rest of my days Caress the babies every time they say Self preservation is what's really going on today
Never a truer word sang in a song.
So...if you were invited to be on Desert Island Discs, could you name your 8 most favourite pieces of music?
There quite a few Dutch songs in here. For the rest hard rock and clasical are pretty much my favorite, although I like many other genres. I have an aversion against hiphop/rap though and house (Tiesto can be ok sometimes though). Although sometimes I am forced to listen to house. And Rick Astley, can't stand him.
Will try to make a top 8.
P.S. I really like the music thread, a lot of very good contributions.
Rock Astley has actually been working on new material. Think he released something not so long ago, definitely wasn't the 'Rick' we know and love/loathe.
I love Tiesto, especially his In Search of Sunrise series of albums, just brilliant.
If I had to take a stab at 8 top tunes, they'd probably go something like this - in no particular order:
Carey Brothers - Ride
Roger Sanchez - Another Chance (the chillout mix, as it's awesome)
Marillion - Cover my eyes
Queen - Don't stop me now
Madonna - Frozen
The Beatles - Hey Jude
Linkin' Park - Numb
Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
Total random selection I know, but hey I like a lot of different music.
I have often thought about my choices if I were ever to be asked and they were usually different on different days, you didn’t mention the book and the luxury item BM! I think they will be much easier to choose and I’ve also written a brief explanation of every song I’ve chosen.
My first would be the very first 7” 45rpm single I ever bought, it was from Woods music store in Huddersfield where, every Saturday my friends and I would congregate and listen, in the wooden soundproof sampling booths, to the current Top 10 chart records, my Father was eventually persuaded to buy a record player and in around mid 1970 I bought Lola by the Kinks, I didn’t quite realise what the lyrics were about entirely, the music just sounded right. I later came to know that the song was written about the band’s manager who suffered a ‘close call’ episode with a transvestite at a party, he didn’t realise “she was a he” until the early hours when everyone noticed she had stubble of her chin, he, Robert Wace, apparently was too drunk to notice.
Mario Lanza, Be My Love, the love song of all love songs, sung by the best Tenor that ever lived.
In May 2001, I found myself working in Milan at the San Siro football stadium, I had been contracted for a short period as consultant for technical services to UEFA at the 2001 Champions League Cup Final, as usual, UEFA had a theme for the match and this Year being in Italy, it was opera and the event was named, L’Opera del Calcio, (The Football Opera). Not particularly being a football fan, I found the cup final between Bayern Munich and Valencia to be less interesting than had a British team been involved and the match proved to be one of the most boring football matches I’ve ever had the misfortune to be forced to watch! 1-1 after extra time and someone won in the penalty shoot out, I don’t remember who?
The whole event was peppered with pieces from around fifteen different Operas, sung and supported by some famous names and orchestras, but the one act that stood out for me was the Operababes; http://www.operababes.com/operababes-of ... s-official initially, the attraction was purely visual, but when they sang together they stopped everyone in their tracks, the whole stadium fell silent every time they sang their piece, which was the Flower Duet from Lakme by Delibes I’ve been a fan of theirs ever since.
McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters) The Father of modern blues in the US and Rock and Roll. Influenced by the legendary Robert Johnson in the early 1920’s he perfected the slide technique of playing his guitar which became his trademark. He toured England in 1958 and started a blues revolution and has been recognised as a major influence to Eric Clapton and Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Alexis Korner, Canned Heat, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Etta James, to name but a few, The Rolling Stones named themselves after one of his songs and Brian Jones, a founding member of the Rolling Stones was so influenced by Muddy’s Slide Technique became a proficient Slide Guitarist himself.
Muddy Waters wrote a song in 1977, “The blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll” he was the Father! I have to mention “Manish Boy” but I’ve chosen “She’s nineteen Years old” as my number four song because I think it’s everything Blues and Rock and Roll should be.
My next is a ‘Buy one get one free’ a two for the price of one offer, because I will not choose between them! the first, Composed entirely by Rick Wakeman, without doubt the world’s best keyboard player, with the help of the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, performing his progressive, musical interpretation of Jules Verne’s ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’.
And my second musical interpretation of a classic novel is Jeff Wayne’s interpretation of George Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’ with an original cast of Julie Covington, Phil Lynott, David Essex and Justin Hayward, Richard Burton was the narrator.
Show me someone unmoved by the performance of a first class Brass Band and I’ll show you someone without soul, without feeling, without essence.
My number seven is a collaboration between George Martin who produced the Beatles, and his heroes and friends, ‘In My Life’ was George Martins last Album, he rearranged Beatles numbers for Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin, Goldie Hawn, Jeff Beck, Celine Dion, Vanessa Mae, Jim Carrey, John Williams, Billy Connolly, Phil Collins and Sean Connery. He had this to say on the sleeve;
“I have lost count of the number of records I have produced in my life, but whatever the amount, inevitably there has to be a final one. That being so, why leave it to chance? Why don't I decide what it should be? Let it be one I would remember with affection, one that would be enjoyable to make as well as to hear. I had an idea. I would ask some of my friends and heroes, people I had always liked and admired, to join me in music that has been a big part of my life. It would be a salute to them, too. The Beatles, of course are my friends and heroes, but they could hardly be part of it, so instead I could select their songs and fit them to some unlikely voices. It has been wonderful for me to have worked with so many great artists in my life; there are far too many to name and this is my way of saying thanks to them. I thought of the record I made with Peter Sellers performing 'A Hard Days Night', when I persuaded him to use his Laurence Olivier voice in a great Richard III send-up. Come to think of it, there are many great people I have often wanted to capture on disc, and this was definitely the time. It has been a happy task, and" we have all had a enormous amount of fun. Just a shame I could not reach Django, Miles, Hendrix or Gary Cooper, Cary Grant or Rita Hayworth.”
Well I struggled with the last one as after this there are no more! How can I chose between the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Status Quo, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, The Motown Sound or Northern Soul, I guess this is all about what is personal to you though so that narrowed it down a little and over ‘I’m not in Love’ by 10cc, I settled in the end for Classical Gas by Mason Williams, “In 1968, Classical Gas hit the charts with a depth and energy that made an instant connection with a wide audience. Now... 40 years and almost 6 million air-plays later, Classical Gas has established itself as the most famous instrumental guitar piece of all time and the music by which any guitarist, from hobbyist to celebrity, can measure themselves.”
I tried to learn to play the guitar on the strength of this piece, but found I was too ham fisted and said to myself time and time again over the Years that I should learn to play the piano, but there was always something else more pressing and I never did, so for my luxury selection I would take a piano knowing that I would have plenty of free time to learn how to play it on a Desert Island, and my book? Learn to play the piano in ten easy lessons.
Can you remember the price of your first single? I'm sure they were around 6s 8d. I had to think how to write 6s and 8d there! I remember that as that was what my parents used to buy me for my birthday, every year.
I think we must have been a bit posher than your family as we had a record player in the early 60's when we lived in Singapore. It was made of a cream and red vinyl material if I remember rightly. I think it was bought to play Elvis records on as we were quite keen on his films at the time. I can remember being taken to see Viva Las Vagas as if it was yesterday. We had progessed to a radiogramme, at least that's what we called it, by the late 60's. It was the size of a small sideboard. There was plenty of space for my Monkey's LP's.
Well by the time I bought Lola, by the Kinks, decimalisation had occurred and the cost I think was 50p, a whole 10/-. 6 Shillings and 8 pence was written 6/8d and pronounced ‘six and eight’, 6 Shillings on its own was 6/- one pound was simply £1 and one pound six and eight was £1/6/8d, and then just to confuse everyone, furniture and fur coats were priced in Guineas, with each Guinea worth £1/1/-
In fact the more I think about it, we did have a record player earlier than mid 70 as I remember playing Albatross by Fleetwood Mac and the Bee Gees Words, LuLu, Shout and The Boat That I Row, and they were all late 60’s. I guess I must have been pestering Father for something else, who knows, kids eeh?
Radiogrammes and Stereogrammes, very 60’s and very collectable today, Blaupunkt I believe was the brand of choice in those days, did you know the Monkees were in fact the world’s very first manufactured boy band? Apart from Davy Jones being able to sing, Mike Nesmith was the only true musician in the band, Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz were tutored for their roles in the TV series.
Dillon wrote:Radiogrammes and Stereogrammes, very 60’s and very collectable today, Blaupunkt I believe was the brand of choice in those days
I don't remember the make of our radiogramme but do remember that our first record player was an Alba. I think that make is still around and is sold in Argos. Top notch gear!
--- Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:48 pm ---
Dillon wrote:did you know the Monkees were in fact the world’s very first manufactured boy band? Apart from Davy Jones being able to sing, Mike Nesmith was the only true musician in the band, Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz were tutored for their roles in the TV series.
There aren't many subjects where I think my knowledge may surpass yours Dillon, but the Monkees is one of them. I was one of their biggest fans at the time, Peter Tork being my favourite! I remember being dragged out one Saturday night mid series, to watch Flannagan and Allen (Underneath the Arches...) in a panto with the local branch of the Ladies Glades. I was gutted and hated every minute of the panto knowing I was missing my weekly fix of the Monkees. It didn't help when the only part of Underneath The Arches you could hear was when Bud Flannagan was centre stage. The rest of the time you had to lip read.
-Kronenburg park, Frank Boeijen. The lyrics are totally radical. It's in Dutch though. It's about a park called Kronenburg, for a short time I lived closed. The park was known to be the hidden side of society: drugs and prostitution. It's a true story from the lead singer, who recognized a girl/woman from highschool, and wonders what happened.
I wish Axel Rose would give up now. He had such a fantastic voice. I love Sweet Child of Mine and Patience. I heard him perform recently at one of the festivals. I think it may have been Leeds. He wasn't that good. I expect to hear that he's performing in Dubai sometime soon.
