Desert Island Discs.

Roy Plomley.

 

I often listen to Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 here in the good old UK – for those not in good old, it's a programme where a well known person chooses eight records (songs etc) that they would take to an imaginary desert island if they were stranded.

I suppose the reason why the figure is eight is that when records were played on an automatic record player, there was a maximum of eight records you could pile up.

The show has run here in the good old since 1066 and is quite popular – well some time in the 50s to be exact.

When it first started, it was devised and presented by a certain Roy Plomley (I think that was his name – still no Internet just a brief daily visit to Starbucks so can't look him up), and the guests were interviewed in the bowels of the BBC by the aforesaid 'Mister P' and later on he, 'Mister P', would edit the interview and play just a part of each song.

Michael Parkinson said that when he was the guest, it wasn't any fun at all. There have been a few presenters since the original Mister P was washed up to meet his maker, and one of them was the aforementioned Mister Parkinson – another 'Mister P'; there have been two presenters since Parkie and it has evolved so they actually play all the songs all the way through, for the guests at the recording, and then edit the whole show later; so the more they speak the less of their music is played. These days the guests enjoy being on the show because of this.

At the end they are asked which one of the discs they would take if they could only save one; the mind boggles at how a real ship wreck would work with people looking for their records in the crush; then they are asked which one book they would take (they are given a Shakespeare Complete Works (I think) and The Bible) – look at that two loads of brackets – parenthesis in America – and then they get get to choose an item of luxury; well not necessarily an item of luxury more like an ordinary every day item.

A lot of very famous people have been guests – Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, Julie Andrews – recently they had a couple 'double acts' like Torvill and Dean, if you can count them as a double act and a couple called Ant and Dec who were as entertaining as an episode of Andy Pandy.

And they take some of the strangest things - quite a few guests take, as a so called luxury item, a pencil; others their favourite chair or even a favourite teddy bear but some push their luck and ask for things like a rowing boat - but those items are against the rules of the exercise.

Someone asked to take the Wimbledon Centre Court and – they were granted it!

The reason I mention this is that in my last post, I asked you to think which one item you would take from your home should you have to leave within one hour – as happened in Chernobyl.

I also said that I didn't like what conclusion I came to as I was thinking of a real situation.

It came about because there is a novel that's just been published, set in Chernobyl, and one of the men, who were asked to bring the one item, brought a door. As I said in my last post he did this because the door was used to lay out members of his family when they died.

So I sat and thought about what I would take; and I'm afraid it would be my lap top.

What else would I take? My guitar? My collection of harmonicas? I would be able to buy them anywhere. Some photos? They're on my lap top! My bank details? On my lap top – it's a no brainer isn't it!!

Various people have been on Desert Island Discs and I have my favourites and they are the people who chose the songs that I like; you know, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran etc – tell you what I'll put my eight discs, which I don't know yet, at the bottom of the page.

These days I listen to the conversation more than the music and I find their conversations fascinating. The retiring Governor of the Bank of England chose a song about Aston Villa – his favourite football team (and mine it has to be said) – a song that you cannot buy.

Others, like politicians and show business celebrities, have chosen what would benefit them politically or make them look good and trendy – which is a shame, really. One of my favourites was David Putman – I could have chosen all of his songs, which have gone out of my head now as it was years ago.

Okay here we go, I'll see if I can come up with eight now:

1. Peggie Sue, by Buddy Holly – I could, and do, listen to the greatest guitar break ever, from one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time, over and over again.
2. Wild Thing, by The Troggs – for some reason this is 'our song' – it seems the lead singer's voice is similar to mine!!!!
3. You Were On My Mind, by Crispian St Peters – this is a great song with, I believe, a rising fifth (like My Way) which makes it a hit.
4. Lay Lady Lay, by Bob Dylan – I find this hypnotic and have been known to play it over and again at people's parties – but not since I was a young Turk.
5. Girl Of My Best Friend, by Elvis Presley – I just love this song and I love all sings with the C, Am, F and G chord sequence and this is one of them. When it came out I knocked about with a mate and his girl friend and we kind of (me and the girl) cuddled and one day she gave me a French kiss and, to save my embarrassment, I said 'hello' during it.
6. Move Over Darling, by Doris Day – a very sexy song by one of the great virgins of cinema, which probably adds to the sexuality of the record.
7. I've Told Every Little Star, by Linda Scott – this is another three chord song and I just love it.
8. Born Too Late, by The Poni Tails - when I was sixteen I was in love with a fourteen year old girl but she was too young; she was born too late.

I suppose this list would change if I did it again tomorrow – no Beatles, I'm afraid, and, after all that, no Eddie Cochran or Bobby Vee - not much since then but each of these songs do strange things to my memory.