My wife and I were having a hotly contested debate whilst listening to music yesterday.
We were debating desert island disks and who would you take if you had the chance to take the body of work of one artist or band to an island. We narrowed this down by mandating that you had to have a band or artist but you couldn't have both i.e. you could have the Jackson Five or Michael Jackson but not both.
After much argument and wine, we actually ended up agreeing, which is novel. Much was discussed about the Beatles, Steely Dan, Kate Bush, Bowie, Dire Straits, Carpenters, Pink Floyd, ABBA and many of the greats who have stood the test of time but in the end we went with Fleetwood Mack.
Agree/disagree?
Surely J S Bach, but if not then Joni Mitchell...
> Surely J S Bach, but if not then Joni Mitchell...
Hmm, Joni was a contender but we hadn't included classical.
> ... but in the end we went with Fleetwood Mack.
What - you like that band so much, that you can't even spell its name correctly?
Oops, autocorrect got me and the edit time passed. Good UKC pedantry though.
> Oops, autocorrect got me an the edit time delay passed. Good UKC pedantry though.
In the spirit of which, it's 'discs', with a 'c', not a 'k'
Bach or Beethoven, hard to make a choice. Although I never tire of the Goldberg Variations.
hmm... It would have to be cheerful enough to raise spirits but not so catchy that it would cause death by ear worm. Something I wouldn't quickly go off from repetition too.
You know, I might actually go for Jamiroquai just for those first two albums which are rich musical masterpieces and would give a lot of replayability. Not sure if that would keep me sane or have the opposite effect though...
I don't think there is one non classical artist I could listen to for a whole year. I'd also want to explore music I'm not so familiar with but know I'll like so for me Vivaldi. Tempting as Beethoven would be I'd want to hear new pieces. With Bach I'm sure this is possible but he also produced a lot of 'average' works (thinking particularly the cantatas).
> What - you like that band so much, that you can't even spell its name correctly?
That's right. It's Fleetwud Mark
Good call…Joni with a classical slant, here she is off Travelogue “covering” her own songs…
I’ll go one better than that.
It’s called Desert Island Discs, not Desert Island Disks.
JS Back shurley?
Fleetwood Mac is a good shout, even if you were only aloud a single album - Rumours.
I think I'd go for U2, hear me out, they have an pretty decent back catalogue with a range of styles that would keep me entertained whatever my mood.
I could spend quite a while just listening to queen or pink floyd. Possibly radiohead although that might be a route to madness.
Would probably choose Miles Davis although that's maybe cheating as his band changed so often over the course of his recording career. If only one 'incarnation' of his band maybe the classic 60s quintet (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter & Tony Williams).
Guided by Voices, 36 albums in and still going strong. Some of them are even good!
This poll on the ILX forum is hilarious: https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&th...
> Fleetwood Mac is a good shout........
I like Fleetwood Mac, But Fleetwood Mac versus Bach or Beethoven?!
....
For me - probably Van Halen. Not really for the songs, just the guitar playing. I have been listening to EVH since 1980 and am not remotely bored or tired of listening to him play the guitar. Could easily manage another 42 years
I've heard of Bach and Beethoven, but never consciously heard any of their music.
I have heard lots of FM though, so yep they still get my vote.
Pink floyd no contest.
Fleetwood Mac is a good shout - early Blues rock stuff is great, then followed by some stuff that in the early 70s that we'll not dwell on. Then followed by some absolutely classic albums with a mix of vocalists and writers and styles so never gets too samey.
Plus Albatross. Surely the best desert island track ever?
That would be a good choice given the volume and diversity of his work. I would call myself a fan but I doubt I've listened to a quarter of his records.
John Peel referred to them as "Fleetwood Muck" after playing something panty
My favourite song by a huge margin is "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. In particular the guitar solo at the end which was extended over the original for the Pulse concert and album. It tears at your soul and emotions. When I've had a couple of glasses of wine I usually end up in tears. Very embarrassing for a rufty tufty 74 year old ex marine Yorkshireman.
If you have never heard it I thoroughly recommend you seek it out.
> My favourite song by a huge margin is "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. In particular the guitar solo at the end which was extended over the original for the Pulse concert and album. It tears at your soul and emotions. When I've had a couple of glasses of wine I usually end up in tears. Very embarrassing for a rufty tufty 74 year old ex marine Yorkshireman.
> If you have never heard it I thoroughly recommend you seek it out.
Also a favourite
IMO David Gilmour's solo at the Pulse Concert is the best guitar solo performance ever. Some may disagree but I think they would be hard pushed to not think it was the most moving and emotional guitar solo ever.
It would have to be Beethoven for me. No contest. Every time I listen to a familiar piece I discover something new & different. Such unbelievable creativeness. But it would have to be a good sound system. His music on a mobile phone...aaah!
Concerning Pink Floyd. When I was an art student in the 60's a friend Frank Coates knew the group especially Syd Barrett. When I traveled down to London with him, he kept pointing out these posters which just said PINK in flourscent pink of course. They were completely unknown, just starting out, and I bought their first album on the strength of Frank's recommendation. Never regretted it!
Agree with you re Ludwig. More or less without equal (except perhaps JSB).
How about listening to all his other music? E.g his amazing last three sonatas. So modern, so timeless, so far ahead.
I recommend you listen to the dazzling Daniil Trifonov playing his last sonata. Who's also awesome in a quite recent recording of the (ghastly!) Brahms First Piano Concerto. Just dazzling. At end of second movement he ignores the conductor, who looks like he's wanting a traditional breather, and storms right in. Mindboggling stuff from one of the greatest piano talents in the world.
You've also missed the main point about Beethoven's symphonies: that they are all so different from each other. Each one like a complete world to itself. In his best work, he never repeated himself.
By the way, unless computer media or the sun is the context, it should be discs. a small point but as important as the correct use of fuze.
I fear you may have missed my point. I’m a big fan of his sonatas and later chamber music; less is definitely more if you get my drift. Also most of the symphonies except the trite and empty 6th, his attempt at a pastoral seems to have been based on a quick jolly to the countryside rather than the immersive experience of say Butterworth (although I may be biased having grown up in the countryside of his inspiration). However for symphonies alone I prefer Mahler, of course if there hadn’t been Beethoven there wouldn’t have been Mahler
I will have to disagree with you on several counts here. I was (in my 20s) a keen Mahler enthusiast, but the sad thing about his music is that it just doesn't last. I have no urge now to listen to him ever again.
You are frankly daft to say Beethoven's 6th is 'empty'. Have you forgotten that it was just about the first of its kind, i.e. what they used to call 'programme' music. The Pastoral is also interesting because it's much more interesting, musically, than it first seems. IMHO no storm has EVER been better done in music than the one in the 3rd? movement, leading into the Hymn of Thanksgiving. You could analyse that storm music endlessly, it's just so tight, economic, well done. Yet, probably different from any piece of music that had been written before.
(I go on and on, sometimes!, about the Praeludium of the Missa Solemnis, possibly the strangest yet most deeply heartfelt piece of music that's ever been written. It does so much at the same time, so that it seems to be in two tenses at once: the amazing thing that's happening now, and the even more amazing thing that's about to happen. How could anyone write a piece of music with that certain expectancy about what's about to happen? Sheer genius.)
I mean the Praeludium that leads into the Benedictus.
It would be Hawkwind for me. The Space Ritual era and the Second Calvert Period, as well as all the other stuff which occasionally has gems.
Gideon Coe played a couple of 1972 session tracks in tribute to Nik Turner last night.
So your taste is right and mine is wrong/daft?
> So your taste is right and mine is wrong/daft?
You should know Gordon’s MO after all these years. It would be Nirvana for me, forget the merits of the music, it is about how it makes you feel. In this case, it makes me feel 17!
While I was posting last night I was enjoying listening to Wishbone Ash’s Argus, twice
> Also most of the symphonies except the trite and empty 6th, his attempt at a pastoral seems to have been based on a quick jolly to the countryside rather than the immersive experience of say Butterworth
I'm afraid this is simply wrong. Beethoven spent a huge amount of time walking in the countryside outside Vienna. Perhaps most remarkable is the way that (in the second movement) he uses a flute to imitate the song of a nightingale, an oboe, that of a quail, and two clarinets, a cuckoo.
You may well know it, but I can't recommend the BBC4 documentary "Being Beethoven" enough:
You may well know it, but I can't recommend the BBC4 documentary "Being Beethoven" enough:
youtube.com/watch?v=IhqO6eMq0eY&
Unfortunately no longer on iplayer.
No, I hadn't seen that, thanks. (Actually, I made a film about him at film school in 1974, with Tony Britton as Ludwig. tinyurl.com/2urb2rjt)
> No, I hadn't seen that, thanks. (Actually, I made a film about him at film school in 1974, with Tony Britton as Ludwig. tinyurl.com/2urb2rjt)
I hope you enjoy it - an old style intelligent documentary with contributions from proper experts. Very moving too - you'll have the whole universe on your desert island. Not a bad soundtrack either.
> I recommend you listen to the dazzling Daniil Trifonov playing his last sonata.
It's hard to find someone who can outdo Barenboim, for elegance, simplicity and accuracy. He can be a little dispassionate though, so I'm always on the lookout for an alternative; Brendel maybe:
> John Peel referred to them as "Fleetwood Muck" after playing something panty
Fleetwood Mach?
No no no, roll over Beethoven, Mozart for me. A year of Ludwig would be a bit heavy I think!
I've been thinking about this and was going to say if I had to listen to any one band or artist for the rest of my days then Nirvana would be a pretty strong contender. Possibly only beaten by Bjork for me.
A difficult one. For classical composers it could be Bach or Vivaldi
For non classical, probably Steely Dan.
Dave
> who would you take if you had the chance to take the body of work of one artist or band to an island.
Easy. Chas & Dave.
Next question?
Mine would be Bjork or PJ Harvey, tough choice!
Don’t know much classical so can’t comment on those, but Steely Dan are great.
The purists here would say that’s a cheat as other than the main two, Steely Dan were more of a loose collection of talented musicians and sessions players than a band proper but that still counts as one band in my eyes!
Good shouts on both! I approve!
Bjork without Birthday or Hit would be a bitter pill to swallow, Birthday is one of my favourite songs...
Hawkwind
After much deliberation Black Sabbath. 2 great eras of the band with Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio plus a few albums with various other vocalists to keep me humming, singing, whistling along.
The Who came under consideration but Sabbath won.
One of my favorite all time albums, discovered by chance many years ago when my older brother had borrowed it off one of his friends, heard the opening riff of Time Was and I was hooked, the combination of Andy and Teds playing is something very special, masters of their art.
Interestingly, nobody has mentioned the Beatles or the Rolling Stones yet.
The Stones could possibly be in my consideration, but I think I'd probably go for Tom Petty.*
*I'll have changed my mind several times by this time tomorrow..........
far too many options to choose just one. I like Doug's Miles suggestion - loads of diversity to stop me getting bored. Then there's all the ladies - Kate, Joni, Ricki Lee, Bonnie. Or James Taylor - how could I give up listening to him. or CSN (not Y) or the dead aaaarrrrgghhhh. Then there's the classical choices - I'd listen to the Pastoral every day if I didn't think it would piss mrs J off. I'd certainly miss Mozart's clarinet concerto and Vivaldi's Cello concertos (with delightful pictures of Ofrah Harnoy on the sleeves - phwooa )
Think I'll plump for the collected works of Kathryn Tickell. Beautiful Northumbrian pipe music that reminds me of home whenever I listen. There's always a CD in the car for when I'm heading south over carter bar.
To go back to the Pastoral: the sheer beauty and warmth of the 'Shepherds' song of thanksgiving' is just something else, isn't it? I've also always loved the variation a few minutes later when Beethoven repeats it with plucked strings.
What would be your one book?
“Games Climbers Play” surely ?
The Dead's near-infinite back catalogue of live recordings probably exceeds anything else that's been mentioned. Maybe given enough listening time on a remote beach the holy grail of identifying the single best concert could finally be found.
My choice would be aphex twin. His come to daddy ep blew my mind as a 16 year old visiting my big brother in uni, it being my first introduction to electronica (as it used to ne called). Then since obsessing over his back catalogue ever since I think there is enough beautiful melancholy ambience and crazy dance floor madness (and stuff in between) to keep me happy for a very long time.
My partner suggested everything James Jamerson ever played on…
OK not following your rules but but does give us untold amounts of brilliant Motown tracks to play.
Guided by Voices have 36 albums??? My goodness, Spotify here I come.
OP: My first inclination is to go with Martin Clunes and say the complete works of Frank Zappa but then it would be a choice of whether it was with the Mothers or not.
I’d likely go with Dough’s choice of Miles Davis, or someone I only know a little of with a lot more to discover that would keep me enraptured for a long time to come. Monteverdi probably.
> To go back to the Pastoral: the sheer beauty and warmth of the 'Shepherds' song of thanksgiving' is just something else, isn't it? I've also always loved the variation a few minutes later when Beethoven repeats it with plucked strings.
Just listened to it again back to back the the Eroica which wins hands down for me. Having said that my copy of the 6th is a cheap budget version and that of the Eroica is a highly reviewed recording. I’ve already replaced some of my collection with better recordings after upgrading my System. So i’ve just ordered the Karajan/Berlin Phil DDD version of the 6th to see if my view changes. By the way you should really give Mahler another go. The advent of improved recordings and modern high quality domestic sound systems do more justice to Mahler’s large orchestrations; you may be pleasantly surprised.
Bob, Leonard, Joni, Nina, Miles. One of those, but not necessarily in that order. Nina Simone's perfectly heartbreaking "I look around" or Davis' ineffable "Blue in Green", if I had to choose one track... But, some things are eternal, and even without the discs, player, electricity, they would all haunt me.
> Just listened to it again back to back the the Eroica which wins hands down for me. Having said that my copy of the 6th is a cheap budget version and that of the Eroica is a highly reviewed recording. I’ve already replaced some of my collection with better recordings after upgrading my System. So i’ve just ordered the Karajan/Berlin Phil DDD version of the 6th to see if my view changes. By the way you should really give Mahler another go. The advent of improved recordings and modern high quality domestic sound systems do more justice to Mahler’s large orchestrations; you may be pleasantly surprised.
I agree with you. Overall The Eroica is more radical, and greater in historical importance than the Pastoral, in the way it really did push music forward a long way. It's one of those rare pieces that on continual re-listening never stales. Never loses its depth or freshness. IMHO. Amazing, really.
Sadly for us and Fleetwood Mac, it has been announced Christine McVie has died at the age of 79 years old.
> Sadly for us and Fleetwood Mac, it has been announced Christine McVie has died at the age of 79 years old.
Indeed. I was thinking of this thread when I saw the news. My wife is a very unhappy girl this evening, she was a devoted fan.
Some great suggestions (and I can't believe I'm not going with the Floyd), but my vote goes to Sade.
In a lonely isolated place, her songs would just make me believe and keep me going.
Got to be one of Nick Cave, with or without The Evil/Bad Seeds/Grinderman, Iggy with or without The Stooges, or The mighty Fall.
In light of yesterday's news, Christine McVie seemed to me to be an epic human as well as an exceptionally talented artist. I was blown away by how funny, down to earth, candid and, I guess, very British, she was on Desert Island Discs. Well worth a listen.
My wife and I listened to her DID while on a coach in Malaysia, we then listened to Rumours, an album with no bad track on it.
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