Desert Island Discs - matching the archive

Desert Island Discs has released its searchable archive: now you too can match who would choose the same tracks as you...

Remember Rullsenberg's Desert Island Disc list? I think I'd still stick to this as reflecting memorable tracks for me, despite other favourites looming...

Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin - 54 matches including Ian McMillan, John Noakes, Lang Lang, Matthew Bourne, Dusan Greenfield, and Jack Lemmon

The River by Bruce Springsteen - 2 matches (Britt Ekland and Alan Parker)

Common People by Pulp - 5 matches (Johnny Vegas, Lynn Barber [who I vividly recall loving JC when she interviewed him], AA Gill, Stephen Frears, Fran Landesman)


Funnily, a song about suicide [Blue Oyster Cult's (Don't Fear) The Reaper], Squeeze's Labelled with Love, Echo and the Bunnymen's Never Stop, The Smiths' Ask, and The Wedding Present's Kennedy don't get a look-in.

Huh.

Though other songs by Squeeze and The Smiths DO get a mention!

In Praise of Ian McMillan on Desert Island Discs

A perfect mix of down-to-earth anecdotage and educated cultural awareness, poet Ian McMillan may be accused of being a professional Northerner, but he is a delight.

McMillan's Desert Island Discs today (Sunday 7 November 2010) was a real pleasure.

Most brilliantly, he chose Cage's 4' 33'' as his selected disc from the eight: because it would always sound different (which is true).

UK listeners can probably catch either the iPlayer broadcast, the Friday morning repeat on R4 OR download the podcast version (which limits the music but does have his great stories).

In particular I was very enamored of McMillan's mother who sounds wonderful: she was jailed during the war for going AWOL in order to marry her penpal sweetheart. Awesome and romantic.

Two posts away from 1000 posts, and its another Desert Island Disc entrant...

Awh shucks, you always feel bad about leaving out the stragglers... Kevin's a busy boy bless him, but with such a corking list I couldn't leave him off the blog.

They're favourite tracks; they're meaningful tracks: but most of all they're great tracks... I mean, Stone Roses, Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy"?? AND The Proclaimers? (I have a much worn out tape of the Proclaimers second album and "Sunshine on Leith" is a firm favourite... by the way do you think that would win me any favours with this fan of the brothers Reid? And why oh why did I fess up to Cloud why I giggled during our recent conversation about me loving story-songs...? I mean it wasn't as if he didn't know that I have a secret passion for Avril Lavigne's first album and the song "Sk8er Boi"... but did I have to giggle over who else had fessed up liking her? I fear the phrase "architect of her own doom" doesn't get close to describing me...)



Sorry, went off on one there. For those still with us, I'm adding a 33 note for Kevin to the collection point for DIDs.

The final Desert Island Disc selection: Number 32

Yes, yes, I am sure that there are many of you out there shouting "NOOOO!!!! I haven't got mine in yet!" But you know what, it WAS supposed to have a time limit and even allowing for people picking up the list late, I think we've given enough time and space to this, and there's a full list to be found here.

So without further ado, here is number 32.

It's from my friend Paul who is blog-less but whom I thought would appreciate the idea as we often exchange emails on music.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL
It's 1990. I'm 14. My record collection is small, and consists mainly of American rock (Guns 'n' Roses, Bon Jovi, even Poison, for goodness sake) and dodgy chart music (I had an especial penchant for Belinda Carlisle). And then I hear 'Birdhouse in Your Soul' and life will never be the same again. It's the song that gets me seriously interested in music. Ok, so the songs that awaken you to a new world of records are supposed to be by people like Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, or Run DMC, but I can claim nothing so cool. For me, this was the song, a nerd's anthem, that led me first to other 'indie' bands of the time - Pixies, The Wonder Stuff - then to The Smiths and The Jam, and then to punk and then to the 60s and soul music and so on and so on. Now, on the rare occasions I hear 'Birdhouse' on the radio, a moment of mild embarrassment quickly gives way to a surge of joy and gratitude. "Not to put to finer point on it, you are the bee in my bonnet..."


THE SMITHS - HOW SOON IS NOW
I was only 11 when The Smiths split up and it wasn't until I was 14 or 15 (following the 'Birdhouse in Your Soul' epiphany) that I really started to listen to their music and developed for them that obsessional love that typifies Smiths fans. Many of my friends thought The Smiths were 'depressing' but they, of course, missed the point. To the angst-ridden teenager, Smiths records were the opposite: comforting and even uplifting. This, of all Morrissey & Marr songs, expresses most completely what it is to be 16, and to feel miserable and misunderstood. The opening chords still make my heart skip a beat.


THE STONE ROSES - I WANNA BE ADORED
I managed to miss out on the whole Madchester scene at its peak (put off, I think, by the floppy-haired Mancunian wannabes Bez-walking around Wolverhampton town centre during the summer of 1990). However, a couple of years later a friend made for me a copy of The Stone Roses' eponymous debut album. That summer, I went on holiday with my parents to Edinburgh. I put the tape into my walkman as the train pulled out of Wolverhampton train station and towards Scotland. 'I Wanna Be Adored,' the opening track on the album, kicked in as the train picked up speed - the drums, the bass, the guitar, the landscape flashing by...a true adrenalin rush. Even today, I often I put 'The Stone Roses' on at the start of a long journey by car, train, or coach, and it never fails to conjure up vivid images of that summer, or to give me tingles.


ASH - GIRL FROM MARS
During the summer at the end of my first year at university in York, most Saturday nights my friends and I would go to a small club called The Bonding Warehouse. That exhiliaring feeling of being young and a little drunk on a long, warm night, like the world belongs just to you and your friends. It was a great summer for music: 'Wonderwall,' 'Common People' and 'Girl From Mars,' the last of which more than any whenever I hear it still sends me back to those glorious nights, still gives me that feeling.


HOLLY COLE - MAKE IT GO AWAY
Holly Cole is a Canadian jazz singer. I went out with a Canadian for a while. It wasn't a particularly happy relationship. One good thing did come out of it, though - she introduced me to Holly Cole's music. She's an interesting artist; she once recorded an entire album of Tom Waits covers (Holly Cole, not my ex-girlfriend). I'm not sure whether this is an original or a cover, but it's a beautiful song about the hope that falling in love with someone will wipe out all the bad experiences of a lifetime. "Make it go away, or make it better, isn't that what love's supposed to do?" goes the chorus.


SAM COOKE - A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
I wanted one protest song in my list, simply because my political beliefs have been shaped as much by songs, bands and singers as by novels, pamphlets and politicians. Maybe more by records than by anything else. It came down to a choice between this, Billy Bragg's version of 'Jerusalem,' Phil Ochs' 'I Ain't A Marchin' Anymore,' Nina Simone's 'Ain't Got No' and Elvis Costello's 'Shipbuilding.' All are proof that songs can be powerful, and good songs really powerful. As I thought more about it, this seemed the one that packed the greatest emotional punch.


BRIAN - YOU DON'T WANT A BOYFRIEND
Brian is a band consisting of just one person, who is called Ken Sweeney, but who always wanted to be in a band called Brian. He has released (so far as I know) just two albums in the last 14 years, both full of beautiful, tender, catchy pop songs about girlfriends, families, friends, and rubbish jobs. This is from the first album, 'Understand.' There's something so vivid about the characters and stories in Brian's songs, especially on 'Understand,' that makes listening to the record strangely like watching a film. A bittersweet film about a summer of falling in love and getting your heart broken, all shot on super-8. Up until a few years ago, I couldn't have picked out one song from 'Understand' to be my choice for a list like this. Then I met my current girlfriend (see below). After we had been going out with each for a few months, she hesitantly admitted that she had a slight problem with the way I kiss. 'You Don't Want A Boyfriend' contains the line, "You don't want a boyfriend with sloppy kisses..." and so now makes me think of here when I hear it. And, as I like thinking about her, that is a good thing.


ELLA FITZGERALD - EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE
My parents have been happily married for almost forty years now. During the early years of their relationship, before they were married, and while both were first undergraduate and then postgraduate students, they spent several years living in different parts of the country, often going months without seeing each other. Fans of Ella Fitzgerald and of Cole Porter, this song became, for obvious reasons, significant for them both. My partner, Liz, is American and had to move back to the States last year, since when we, like my parents before us, have been conducting a long-distance relationship, often going months without seeing each other. Fans of Ella Fitzgerald and of Cole Porter, this song has become, for obvious reasons, significant for us both. Funny how history can repeat itself.

Awh, now ain't that a lovely note to end this meme on?

31st Desert Island Disc selection

Courtesy of Todd Melnick, you hereby are presented with the 31st desert island disc selection. The collection point is here for those interested.

1. Sonic Youth, "Superstar"

Long ago and oh so far away I fell in love with Sonic Youth. Nobody else in my high school had ever heard of them. A teenaged version of me drove up to New York for the Goo album release party at the Roseland Ballroom. My ears rang for the next three days. It's so sad that their cover of the entire White Album was never executed, but at least we have their Superstar. The original came out the year I was born and my childhood was littered with Carpenters tracks. At the point of this one song, at least, my preadolescent tastes and what came after achieve an implausible synthesis. I still shiver when the bass comes in just as the song's fading out.


2. Nick Cave, "The Mercy Seat"

"When I hear Mingus / When I hear Mingus . . . God / When I hear Mingus"

[...}

"Mingus / Play / God / For Me"

[r. cephas jones, "God, Mingus and Myself"]

For me, it's like that. I experience this effect most strongly with the original version, but the acoustic version works as well, and so does Johnny Cash's, and even Stromkern's.


3. Einstürzende Neubauten, "Ende Neu"

The most recent of my three most memorable gigs came just a few weeks ago, here in San Diego. Blixa performed Rede/Speech at the Casbah. We chatted with him for a minute afterwards, and like the total fans we are, asked for his autograph. This EN song gives me so much energy.

4. Ibrahim Tatlises, "Cane Cane"

My friend Sebastian brought "Söylim mi?" back from Turkey. He liked this song so much he memorized all the words (without understanding them). I liked it almost as much. That was the year I really started to discover the world. We would go drive around Geneva blasting it out if the speakers of Sebastian's old red Citroën (the kind they call the ugly Duck in Holland (de lelijke eend), but in Flanders the goat (de geit).

One Michigan January night in the middle of a blizzard in 1995 I met Ibrahim Parlak for the first time. It turned out that the guy who wrote the original Cane Cane had been a friend of his. He had an instrumental version on CD and put it on. They arrested Ibrahim two years ago and the struggle to keep him from being deported is still ongoing [ http://www.freeibrahim.com/].

(p.s. the song's name is pronounced something like "zhahnay zhahnay.")


5. Serge Gainsbourg, "Bonnie And Clyde (En Duo Avec Brigitte Bardot)"

So many Gainsbourg songs are candidates but this is the one I play the most. I first met this song indirectly, as mediated by MC Solaar's "Le nouveau western."


6. Arvo Part, "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten"

"Le 'Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten' offre un climat général reflétant paix et tristesse ineffable."


7. Lou Reed, "Perfect Day"

Some friends and I approximated this day in Regent's Park. We fed no animals, but we laid out our blankets just beside the zoo. We had our pot of Sangria. Taking liberties with the song, we rolled up some sushi and brought it too. I think I remember running to catch a movie, too, as night was falling, but maybe I am mixing things up.


8. Sonic Youth, "Trilogy"

The energy is just so wild. That last chord comes with such a satisfying crunch, so much built up and so much so perfectly resolved. They aren't my favorite band any more but I need to see this slab of three-in-oneness live, just once, before I die.

But if I don't, at least I was there for the Atomic Jam at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town on the 14th of April, 1996, when Lee and Thurston played with Ascension. For me, that was the gig of gigs. And to make it even more perfect, I was at the Sonic Youth show three nights later at the Forum where Ascension opened and the drunk teenagers started throwing glasses at the band and the drummer jumped out from behind his kit and dove into the crowd and started beating on one of the offenders, who then jumped up on stage and charged the drummer before being intercepted by the security people.

Those days, those days.

Just for including EN in this list, I am sure Cloud will love it and be impressed.

So that's 31 folks... anyone know of any other lists out there that could do with being included in the listing?

The Desert Island Follow-up:

Paulie brings out a good suggestion in response to one of the expected problems people raised about doing the current Desert Island Discs meme that I sent around [NB 29 people so far: can we get over 30...?!]. Quoting his friend Anthony, who suggests that on a desert island it would be AC/DC over Captain Beefheart, Paulie fesses:

I don’t think I could like a record that I wouldn’t be prepared to put on in front of my hippest and most intolerant friends. As a kiddie, I used to find a really hip LP and take it into town two or three times (in the old yellow Nottingham Selectadisc bags, natch) so that anyone I ran into would be able to see the LP that I ‘just bought’.

White Light White Heat and The Human League’s Reproduction are two LPs that I recall doing this with.

Despite this tendency, Paulie still completed the DID meme and probably gave as fair a reflection of his taste as any of us have done. But what he goes on to suggest is this:

Perhaps [this] would be a better task for Rullsenberg to be demanding of us?

Eight LPs that the reflected glory of owning them eclipsed the pleasure of actually listening to them.

So come on guyrs, fess up those albums that you actually don't like that much, but which you have flaunted to acquire kudos from your mates.

You know you have...

Christine's lovely list of Desert Island Discs

I think we're now approaching 30 for the DID roll-call.


And here's another: from my non-blogging friend Christine, who can rest assured that her list is just as worthy of inclusion as any others and whose list is so beautifully representative of her... well, there's a reason she's a great adoptive 'sis' to me.

1) Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra.

I have two reasons for loving this fabulous standard. The first is that my Dad, who was in his young days, a pub singer (he and his lovely pianist Peggy would travel all over the country and do their musical stuff…it was his much loved leisure time activity) would sing to me to get me off to sleep when I was a child…and this was one I used to adore. Wonderful orchestration on this Frank version and the lyrics: Wow! Oh…that other reason is that a certain very special woman - a stripey kinda gal, who may be known to some of you, makes me giggle very gleefully with her very singular habit of being able to …well let's just say...suss me out at every turn! Hmm…witchy! I always think of her when I put it on the CD player.

2) 3rd movement. Moderato... - Prokofiev Violin concerto No.1

This is so haunting yet uplifting. Just beautiful. I discovered it in 1978 when my son, Joe, was about three months old and I was drifting off to sleep after his late night feed and its gorgeousness came wafting from the radio which I always left on low volume, although not ALL night, as in those far off days, stations shut down at around midnight I think, anyway .....It quietly and completely, blew me away. I've loved it ever since and listen to it at least once a week while working about the house.

3) Tell me why - The Beatles

From "A Hard Day's Night" Fell in love with this aged thirteen when I saw John Lennon's smile as he belted out "Well I gave you everything I had, but you left me sitting on my own..." Adored him forever after!

4) In France they kiss on Main Street - Joni Mitchell from Hissing of Summer Lawns

Mmmm....this is a tremendous song, first track on the album: comes in like a stiletto in a velvet glove, with that gorgeous guitar simply stabbing you in the sternum as it plunges in at the beginning (and reappears throughout the song) Then the opening line: "Downtown my darling dime store thief....." Phew ...so many memories of ...well so many things. It's superb.

5) You're a big Girl Now - Dylan ...from Blood on the Tracks

Beautiful little, but enormous love song. Reminds me of a friend who is a big Bob fan right from way back and has seen him live, countless times now. "Our conversation was short and sweet..." sigh.

6) Down to Zero - Joan Armatrading

Another opening track...this young girl from Jamaica with her debut album, and this powerful song to kick off. I think of a rainy day in Skegness, wind blowing but not caring, sitting eating a picnic on a damp sea front bench...on a working day...back to the car and this blasting from the (then) cassette player. Great and good.

7) Righteously - Lucinda Williams (from World Without Tears)

I heard this for the first time one warm summer evening whilst cooking dinner on a portable hot plate in the midst of demolished bricks and plaster, whilst my lovely old house was being renovated. I just danced round the ruins of my kitchen and felt so lifted by her voice and the lyrics that I'll never forget it.

8) See Emily Play - Pink Floyd

I was temping at a job in London in 1970 when a young guy taken on to do filing started talking to me about Floyd...and had I heard them...well er no...so he played SEP to me in the basement of the building on a "Dansette" portable record player...titter... and I fell under the spell of PF forever. “WHAT was that I just heard?” was the question which came immediately to mind!

Worthwhile? I can't see anything wrong with this list! It's meant to be quirky and personal and without regard to showing off (well, not too much anyway!). Scanning the lists we have acquired or prompted so far, its clear that - to say the least - our tastes are eclectic and our reasoning very personal.

And isn't that kinda the point?

Over 20 people have passed on their Desert Island selections

Even those without blogs are getting in on the act! This came through from the lovely Helen Lisette, with whom I am escaping this weekend for indulgent amounts of chocolate and conversation.

1. "Well Did You Evah?" Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby: from High Society.
My late (much lamented) Dad considered himself a 'crooner' and between us we could recite the lyrics of this song backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways. Whenever I hear it I am immediately reminded of him and the happy times we shared.

2. "Born to Run" Bruce Springsteen.
No particular memories attached to this one; other than it is fabulous and never fails to get my pulse racing. A few years ago I was lucky enough to see Bruce in concert and this was the encore. Such is the memory that I can even remember the time he sang it: 10.03pm.

3. Radio 3's recording of "Hamlet" with Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, and a host of others.
In my opinion 'Ken' has one of the sexiest voices I have ever heard (and seen live, numerous times). If I am not allowed the whole recording then I would like the section from Ophelia's burial to the end of the play. This section contains some of the most beautiful lines in the English Language and, when delivered by Mr Branagh, are sublime and send a shiver down my spine.

4. Bach: Prelude to Suite No1 in G Major, performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
Two and a half years ago, I was lucky to get a ticket to an advance preview of 'Master and Commander', followed by a Q&A Session with Messrs Crowe and Bettany. My God! I think this was one of the happiest nights of my life. This piece always reminds me of 'The Galapagos Islands' section of the film (and that night) and Joshua Lyman from 'West Wing': such is my working day sometimes that I could be Donna Moss!

5. "O Soave Fanciulla" (love duet) from La Boheme.
I think this is one of the shortest love duets in operatic history but carries a mighty punch. It never fails to make me cry and I can particularly recommend the DVD of Baz Luhrmann's production at the Sydney Opera House.

6. "J'Attends: Gortoz A Ran" Denez Prigent and Lisa Gerrard, from the soundtrack of "Black Hawk Down".
I adore Lisa Gerrard's music and fell in love with this piece when I saw the film. Four years ago, whilst on holiday in Australia, I embarked on a 9-hour train journey to Northern New South Wales(OK:Coffs Harbour). Due to track repairs, the last part of the journey was on a bus. Listening to this piece, I sat looking up at the Australian night sky, trying to work out where the Crux Australis was. There were no street lights and so nothing spoiled the view of the heavens.

7. "Manhattan" sung by Ella Fitzgerald.
I couldn't let this list go by without a reference to NYC, the corny lyrics and the sheer magic of Ms Fitzgerald's voice - sheer heaven.

8. "Don't Look Back in Anger" Oasis.
I am unable to explain the inclusion of this one, other than to profess a love for the sound of the song.


Well, that's it. There's another 8 rattling around in my brain, but this will do for the time being.

Darvit Nel, I’m well proud of you for having a go at this! And “Don’t Look back In Anger”: could that have anything to do with the final scenes of “Our Friends in the North”?

The Desert Island Discs Collection Point

UPDATE 15 March 2006: 33 PEOPLE are now registered on this site with their Desert Island Disc selections.

You can find all the friends of Rullsenberg who have passed on their lists here (if you're missing and want to be on the list, just let me know - I'm not excluding you deliberately!):

Andrew, Anna, Bill (posted in comments at Counago&Spaves), Christine, Clare, Cloud, Dog at HolyHoses, EineKleineRob, Paul Fuzz, George, Gordon, Helen Lisette, HolyHosesRob, Rullsenberg, Jim at timesnewroman (Sunday 5 March 2006), John at Counago & Spaves, JustJane, Kara, Kevin, MediumRobIsNotEnough, Marie, Martin, Matt, Norm, Paul Burgin, Paulie, Paul W, Reidski, SimonHolyHoses, Skuds, Stef, Todd Melnick, Zinnia Cyclamen.

UPDATE: I wopn't be posting any more to this collection point, or flagging up on my blog, but given that 32 sent in their selections or were flagged to me, I think we can declare this a success.

That Desert Island Disc selection (before I change my mind)

HolyHosesRob gave up his (having already imagined his own listing some time back); and Paul Fuzz has added his to his site... I'll keep you posted on this and probably do a round up post in the future...

Anyway, given that I'm in danger of losing my nerve with this - even though I'm gutted at several not on the final list (of which more throughout this list) - here is the Rullsenberg Eight

1. Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue

   Not exactly a song, but this track has been part of my psyche for as long as I can remember: yeah, I was tempted to go with a Sinatra track (Cloud played a tape of Songs for Swinging Lovers the first time I visited him in Wolverhampton after we'd met at OU Summer School), and Ella's Cole Porter Songbook blew me away from first hearing it - but Gershwin was on another level. Remember that I love New York? For me, this track IS New York: the New York of the early 20th century, certainly the 1920s-1940s, and is utterly spine-tingling. Cloud suggested it should have been book-ended with the equally New York evocative Weather Report track, "Birdland" (the track that calls to mind 70s taxis urgently papping their horns rather than soaring skyscrapers and hustle-bustle upper Manhattan, looking over Central Park... but there just wasn't room for both. Gershwin it is.

2. (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

   You have to remember that I grew up a child of Mud (Tiger Feet!) and with a devotion to Abba. I was resolutely not cool. My parents were older than most other kids' parents: we were a Jim Reeves household. So when I heard this track... what can I say? I went and spent my pocket-money on this and for the first time ever I felt daring and more adult. And, ultimately, it's a story song, and I'm a sucker for those. Rightly, of course, it has been pointed out that it is a deeply seductively evil song encouraging suicide. As Garry Mulholland writes in This Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles since Punk and Disco "Its the only time that a band characterised as heavy metal have moved me to tears repeatedly, yet I'm forced to conclude that this record is possibly very evil. No one should be able to - should want to - make suicide so tempting, so pretty." Clearly, I was a far more disturbed child than my coseted and happy upbringing suggested... But this song means so much to me, I could not leave it out.

3. Labelled With Love - Squeeze

   I can't believe I was even thinking of tussling whether to include this song, since the instant Cloud put it on the stereo and I started to sing quietly along with the lyrics, I found myself in floods of tears. Guess what? It's a story song. Melacholic as hell, but with an eye for observation of people that typifies Squeeze at their best (the final section of "Up the Junction" does for me as well). It creates visions of the story told with love and about love. Sob.

4. The River - Bruce Springsteen

   Oh my: imagine having a great crush on someone unattainable, only for you to find yourself receiving an offer from them to drive you to a training course centre which, by the chances of fate, he also has to visit at the same time as you. Imagine the anxiety of waiting at your parents' house for him to collect you to make this drive: a drive that will be several hours across the country. Imagine that he drives you off the main route, down a "familiar country road" and all the while is playing you the double album of The River on the car's tape machine... knowing that though nothing may happen, these moments will be treasured. "Crush on you", "You can Look...", "Little girl I wanna marry you"... and most memorably the title track, with its bleak narrative (another story song) and the most moving line ever: "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true / Or is it something worse". I loved that album from that point onwards, but that song especially wormed its way into my heart. Bitterly sweet.

5. Never Stop - Echo and the Bunnymen

   From a tape off the radio, to the later collection of singles (also on tape) I played this song so loud, so many times that I swear I busted the speakers of my stereo. It was a song to spit out the lyrics to, one that made my spine tingle and my energy hit the roof. And loved all the more because it once came up in the most unlikely setting. Every city has them, but the Black Orchid was the cattle shed dance-hall to end all cattle-shed handbag dance venues in the 80s in Nottingham. My only reason for going was to luxuriate in the presence of one of my work colleagues, a hulkingly handsome Geordie who loved REM and other stuff well off the beaten track of the dancing music beloved by the office girls. In despair at the evening and our lack of enjoyment, we fell into conversation, ultimately agreeing that the ony thing to do was to ask the DJ to play this track: it was as likely to happen as getting Reidski to enjoy a lifetime of listening to the Stereophonics, but we felt uplifted by the mere act of rebelling by asking - "nnnnnnever STOP!"

6. Ask - The Smiths

   Once upon a time a girl with badly permed hair stood by a jukebox, selecting Happy Mondays, Squeeze and this track. Only to find that this handsome dark-haired guy in black jeans and blue denim jacket had his selection come up first, despite me putting my money in earlier: he picked just one track "The Boy With the Thorn in his Side". And a match was made, still going strong more than 15 years later.

7. Kennedy - The Wedding Present

   In the late 1980s and 1990s I practically lived for gigs at Rock City Nottingham, watching the long hair of people in front of me spray sweat as they threw their heads about dancing. And after every gig, there would be a "disco": the classic indie disco of the period as we moved into baggy music. But this was regularly the final track of the night - 1am thrashing about for all I was worth. Brilliant fun and still makes me want to dance like Cloud.

8. Common People^* - Pulp

   You know why...
   ^*Scroll down past the picture for the lyrics - like you don't already know them...

So that's the list and to say I'm disappointed in myself would be an understatement until I consider what Cloud reminds me: it's just 8 songs: it's a snapshot that could alter tomorrow (though the meaning wouldn't change, new meanings are added to our lives every day).

There is so much more: The Beatles are missing ("To Know Her Is to Love Her"), no Dylan ("Desolation Row"), nothing more recent than 1995!! (Ladytron - Startup Chime; anything from George's list), nothing from the world of jazz or hip-hop (Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy"!): I'm just kicking myself for my inadequacies even as I force myself to press publish...

From George: You have two days to choose your desert island discs

Hi folks - I'll be emailing a number of you to think about this but this is something worth considering. A variation on the usual "choose songs" post, partly due to the time limit and partly the restricted number of songs/tunes.

Otherwise, everyone's invited to take this up!

So, this morning in my inbox I received this...

"Ouch. A friend of mine asked me to do a desert island disks, with just an 8 song capacity and MAX 2 days to think about it. [...] The rules are 2 days thinking, songs to mean stuff to you (not to make you look critically sound) and reasons to be frankly stated.
What have I begun??
G"

George made the offer for me to pick it up as a blog post and it certainly seems like a good idea, so I've took him at his offer and here are his selections as a starter.

But to the point, songs for their actual meaning to me. Well, here goes (in no order):

1.Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (from the album of the same name)
This was a favourite of a friend of mine merely because he was into the TV show Teachers. Although we were good friends we had had no musical overlap before. I'm really into what he would regard as pretentious stuff! Anyway, he actually requested this tune from me. We both love it for the lines 'We both know you're soft 'cos we've both seen you dancing/We both know you're hard 'cos we've both seen you drinking/From noon until noon again'. It just resonates well with remembered good times and not being typical types. We also danced like loons to it one weekend when he and others first visited me in Aberdeen at approximately 2am... Marvellous.

2. ballboy (with Laura Cantrell) - I Lost You But I Found Country Music (to listen on download here)
A fantastic song made better by the inclusion of Laura; the result of a John
Peel Christmas special featuring both bands. Everyone I have passed this to has loved it. This includes many non-music fans who haven't cared to even consider anything in my catalogue. This song affirms that the effort required to seek out the more obscure side of the muscial spectrum can be worth it in every detail. That is wonderful to me on two main counts; that quality can transcend expectation and media presentation, and that that very notion was the essence of John Peel, whose (coming full circle) Christmas special is the very reason the song exists with the song being one of the last things I got from him.

3. Melys - Eyeliner (on the album Life's Too Short)
It's just an indie song from a charming but usually average indie band, but oh-my it is such a good one. It just thunders out with keyboards blazing! A John Peel favourite band on their best form and it was the pick-me-up song of my write-up period. I remember bouncing up and down to it at the end of a long day in the kitchen of my friends' house (Lisa & Neil, I was their lodger) waiting for them to come home knowing that as music fans I could wax lyrical to them about it! The power of music!

4. Nina Simone - Just In Time (from Before Sunset film soundtrack)
Although I was well aware of NS, getting into her was on my to-do list until Before Sunset and the final scene. Well, that was me hooked. Lisa & Neil were up for a weekend and we saw it on a whim - we now each have the DVD and lots of NS to match! It reminds me of the film, my friends, romance and optimism. Brilliant.

5. McLusky - To Hell With Good Intentions (single)
In the last summer of the research period of my PhD I threw what was generally regarded as a damn fine house-party (I resisted using 'legendary'). A good time was had by all but beyond 3am just my close friends who were staying over were left. My two best music friends had become familiar with this song through compilations I had sent them. It's a very simple song by a band unheard (deservedly) by many, but it's quick, short, energetic and to the point. Chris set the tape up in the kitchen and insisted we all danced topless (relax, all blokes), and we did so with enthusiasm turned up to 11. A perfect closing to very successful event. The song just means happiness with good people.

6. REM - Country Feedback (from Out of Time album)
REM is the soundtrack to my adolescence and this was a very difficult choice. They were my first access to music that meant something to me and I owe them a lot (apparently including forgiveness for their mid-tempo recent output!). I have fond memories of finding solace in the beauty of this tune in my school years. The line 'It's crazy what you could have had' officially has 3451 connotations at last count...

7. Saloon - Have You Seen The Light? (single: now available on the rarities collection Lo Fi Sounds, Hi Fi Heart)
It just damn well gets me moving. A perfect example of how much enjoyment music can give you especially if you don't care about conventional artistic standing! These guys & girls were barely sixth-formers but they produced beautiful minimalistic electronica refrains accompanied by the voice of an angel (and not in a Charlotte Church way). The song takes most of its duration to build to the vocals which match perfectly, do their brief bit before they get out of town. I love it because it was the first introduction of this band that means a lot to me by, you've guessed it, John Peel. Also, because it says to me that if all you ever achieve as a band (they split after 2 albums) is to touch one person with something you created then it was all worth it. It says that success does not mean a Brit or a No.1.

8. Low - That's How You Sing Amazing Grace (from the album Trust)
It's just beautiful and it helped a friend of mine get over the death of a friend of his.

Well, that was exhausting and I'm leaving it there for now! This information is subject to extreme changes as I remember every other song that means the world to me! As for taking only one, I'll mail you back next year! Can I take two if I ditch my bible??

Now that is one impressive list, and I'm not sure if I will be able to get over just how many of these tracks would overlap with ones I would have chosen - will that stop me?? - but still, an excellent selection... (and the bible remark just cracks me up completely!)

So what's on your desert island? I'm aiming to post mine Saturday so look out folks!

If I haven't contacted you direct, don't be offended: just go with it!