Roy Plomley
The creator and original presenter of Desert Island Discs, (Francis) Roy Plomley, died on this day in 1985 – aged 71.
As well as a radio broadcaster, he was also a producer, playwright and novelist, and has “He was a joyous man” inscribed on his gravestone, which is either great sarcasm on somebody’s part (maybe his) or, as seems much more likely, a very comforting tribute by and for all those that knew him.
Desert Island Discs was first broadcast on 29 January 1942, and Plomley would go on to repeat the exercise 1,790 times more over a period of 43 years. The show has never been off-air since, making it one of the longest-running – and most famous – radio programmes in the world. Its current presenter is Kirsty Young, previous presenters are few: Sue Lawley and Michael Parkinson.
Its format is simple, yet both effective and compelling: a guest is invited to choose the eight songs they would like to have with them on a desert island, along with a book (they get the Bible and Complete Works of Shakespeare automatically, presumably waiting for them on the desert island in an unlocked chest with a revolver resting on top) and one luxury item, which Plomley was adamant should be only be “an inanimate object which is purely for the senses; something to look at, or touch, or taste, or smell, but which is not going to help you live”.
David was cast away in 2003 – his choices can be viewed here or here, should you care to recall our prior thoughts on his song selection. To see who else has shared their favourites, see the archive. There you will note the surprisingly good taste – I thought so, anyway – of comedian Ricky Gervais, whose luxury item, amusingly, was a vat of Novocaine. (Well, look again at his eight songs. No prizes for guessing which could call for pain killers.)
Actor George Clooney requested a Pink Floyd track, as did Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson (yet he still remains one of a group of people I’d personally like to see banished to a desert island, preferably without any comforts).
Speaking of Marmite-like (you either love them or you hate them) British exports – namely to America, where they have further enriched themselves and infuriated others by exploiting the competitiveness and amusing nastiness of reality TV…
Simon Cowell picked some good tunes. (No Bob Dylan, you’ll notice; he once famously said that he’d rather listen to Kelly Clarkson than Bob Dylan, and unless reporters were particularly non-perceptive that day, by all accounts he managed to keep a straight face as he said it.) He did much better than Gordon Ramsay.
Not that you’d generally wish to argue the toss – any kind of toss, really – with Chef Ramsay, but I do seriously doubt the appropriateness of taking just one record and it being ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay. As much as I have enjoyed the music of Coldplay in fits and bursts, honestly, how long before stark isolation, hunger and thirst would bring about one’s eventual psychological demise? Now imagine that you’re teetering on the brink, the gaping chasm of insanity opening up before you, and the only solace left, the only hope and inspiration most obviously and readily available to you contained within and to be taken from repeated play of your chosen song… and it’s ‘Yellow’. Surely the will to live can’t be all that great when you’re stranded on a desert island with a solitary useless and indulgent luxury object your only friend (I’d give Ramsay five minutes before he’s losing his temper and cursing his choice of effing vanilla pod), let alone with the only audible voice outside your head being an invitation from Chris Martin to look at the stars. I suppose you could be grateful that you aren’t able to watch the indescribably dull promo video, and perhaps recalling it would arouse a strange longing to walk in the rain along the Dorset shoreline, but still. A most unwise choice for what ought to be an anticipated time of mental fragility, I feel.
Other castaways of note are John Cale of the Velvet Underground, horror writer Stephen King, and all-round good egg (and sometimes actor) Bill Nighy.
As ever, I welcome anything you can connect to any of the above, no matter how loosely. Your own desert island needs would be good (if you listed them previously, don’t look back; I’d be shocked if anybody chose the same eight eighteen months on). Remember that it’s eight songs, not albums, you’re allowed.
Considering that, in Roy Plomley’s own words, Desert Island Discs “adds a dimension to a listener’s mental picture of a well-known person, giving the same insight he would receive from visiting the celebrity’s home and seeing the books, pictures and furniture with which he surrounds himself”, if you were able and not unwilling to tinker with the trusted programme format, as happened before a luxury item could also be requested, which would you allow castaways to choose in addition to songs, a book and a luxury of no practical use? In other words, because that sentence was very long indeed, if you could go poking around a famous person’s home, where would you look to find out more about that person? Drinks cabinet? Magazine rack? Garden shed? Bookmarked websites?
I doubt that you will be stunned to learn that, down the years, a piano has been the most requested luxury (David chose a guitar); the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been by far the most popular book.
Don’t forget, as Monday is a holiday in the UK, blogging will resume on Tuesday.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone. See you in June.
FEd,
I see you chose not to mention one the new PM’s choices… Wish You Were Here.
Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend everyone.
Nick Clegg, on the other hand…
I seem to remember this theme previously, and you are probably correct Fed. Can we choose the same songs? Probably not, so here goes. They are long songs. Hee Hee.
1.) Echoes
2.) Shine On
3.) Careful With that Axe Eugene
4.) Europa – Santana
5.) Brothers in Arms -Mark Knoefeler
6.) Riders In the Sky- ?
7.) It’s Over- Roy Orbison
8.) Pipeline- The Ventures
Well, if I’m on a desert island, I could choose 8 different songs from 8 genres like these:
Progressive – Pink Floyd – “High Hopes”
Alternative Rock – Coldplay -“Low”
Rock – Bruce Springsteen – “Tougher Than The Rest”
Rhythm’n’Blues – Tina Turner – “Proud Mary”
Classical Music – by Composer Maurice Ravel – “Bolero”
Alternative Metal – Faith No More – “Ashes to Ashes”
New Age – David Arkenstone – “Spirit Wind”
Gospel – Donnie McClurkin – “Total Praise”
Then, my book could be “Molte Vite Un solo Amore” (“Only Love is Real”, original title) by Brian Weiss.
My luxury item could be a Stratocaster Classic Vibe ’60 (cherry colour) with a solar generator to produce clean electric energy.
Bye from my Island…
Hydrea
Here we go again to an island:
Songs:
1.) Castellorizon . David Gilmour
2.) Cluster One – Pink Floyd
3.) Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
4.) Echoes – Pink Floyd
5.) Hallowed Be Thy Name – Iron Maiden
6.) Layla (Acoustic Version) – Eric Clapton
7.) Message In A Bottle – The Police
8.) Ride On – AC/DC
Book:
The unabridged Mark Twain
Luxury Item:
My guitar with strings for 40 years
Regarding your question about what to allow to take along, in order to gather more information about a person:
I’d ask them to name up to 6 persons of which they would be able to call one each month for 15 minutes.
Best regards
Taki
That could be good.
I’m not sure what it says about me, but the only song that had changed from my original list was ‘Forever Young’, which I would ditch in favour of ‘Velvet Morning’ by The Verve (today, anyway).
If I was going to poke about a famous person’s house, I think I’d head for the kitchen and check out the contents of the fridge and larder.
Luxury item would be solar powered fairy lights – lots of them.
Hmmmm, eight songs, a book, and one luxury item. I’ll start with the songs, which need to keep my interest and bear repeated listenings while I am on that island. I also want as much music as possible. Longer, more complex songs will do me better on all those counts. I’ll choose:
Yes, “Close to the Edge”
Floyd, “Echoes”
Rush, “Hemispheres”
Floyd, “Dogs”
Miles Davis, “Pharoh’s Dance”
Floyd, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”
Beethoven, “9th Symphony”
Floyd, “Saucerful of Secrets”
Derek & the Dominoes, “Layla”
Floyd, “Wish You Were Here”
Book choice is not at all easy. I have a lot of lifelong favorites, which I would not care to give up. Today the one I’m inclined to keep is The Little Prince.
Luxury item is very easy: my laptop. It’s wireless, so assuming a very long-lasting battery and WIFI service on that island, I’m all set to go.
Am I allowed to have a person on the island? If so, I’ll choose The Professor from Gilligan’s Island. He can build me a radio out of coconut shells, AND offer me tips about living on an island.
I was curious to know about the ‘luxury items’ chosen by these celebrities and had a look at Wikipedia (2001-2010). Some choices made me smile:
- A pair of mules by Christian Louboutin
- A modern mini brewery
- The Wales Millennium Centre
- A large pot of French mustard
- A yoyo
- Her life for the next thirty years (??? – Yoko Ono’s choice)
- A wall to kick a football against
John Peel (here is the interview) was cast away on January 14th 1990. Surprisingly (to me, at least) he selected two classical music pieces (Handel, ‘Zadok the Priest’ and Rachmaninov, ’2nd Piano Concerto’).
His luxury item was also a football and a wall to kick it against. I didn’t know he was a big fan of Liverpool. He even gave his children Liverpool names (‘William Robert Anfield ‘, ‘Alexandra May Anfield’, ‘Thomas James Dalglish’…). Poor children…
Michèle
Luxury item: “An inanimate object which is purely for the senses; something to look at, or touch, or taste, or smell, but which is not going to help you live.”
The late actor Oliver Reed requested an inflatable rubber woman.
desert island discs was a great idea and i still enjoy it, although i’ve never heard of most of the people that go on there!
1. pink floyd – comfortably numb
2. pink floyd – echoes
3. pink floyd – marooned
4. david gilmour – the blue
5. fleetwood mac – albatross
6. led zeppelin – stairway to heaven
7. jimi hendrix – purple haze
8. rolf harris – tie me kangaroo down, sport (the same thinking that’s behind fed’s original idea of the benny hill theme tune!)
book: the hobbit – tolkien
luxury: a digital camera and spare batteries
something else to find out more about celebs: if you could send a message in a bottle, what would your message be?
fed, i agree with everything you said about coldplay! i can’t imagine a worse song to listen to on repeat than ‘yellow’.
Very good… as long as no smart-arse requests for help are allowed.
Eight songs:
2. Green is the Colour
3. She’s A Rainbow – The Rolling Stones
4. Careful with that Axe, Eugene
5. Julia Dream
6. Albatross – Fleetwood Mac
7. The Pump – Jeff Beck
8. Mr Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
Book – The Iliad
Luxury item – my painting set
I’m not sure if I deleted your first choice or if it was always missing, Julie. Apologies if I’m responsible.
I could choose one for you… How about the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’? That would be nice.
I pressed return by mistake with my first song choice which was “Echoes”.
Ah, ‘Echoes’. That’s also nice.
If I got to pick which Island I was stranded on it would be, and I found the best place, Great Britain.
Had I one book it would contain Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”.
My one luxury item would be a Pre 65 Strat with a Stetsbar tremolo and either a steel or bone nut, David Gilmour signature single coil pick ups SSS and enough signature strings to last a lifetime with a 2/12/40 tube amp.
The songs I would choose would be:
Raise My Rent: David Gilmour
With A Little Help From My Friends: Ringo Starr
High, High, High: Paul McCartney
You Don’t Always Get What You Want: The Rolling Stones
Something: George Harrison
Come Together: John Lennon
Not Now John: Pink Floyd
Breakthrough: Richard Wright
Castellorizon: David Gilmour
Fall of the Peacemakers: Molly Hatchet
I was always more into Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island if we should be afforded one person on the Island.
Off subject – just looked at my lithograph (I think that’s the word for it) which hangs at the top of my stairs from the Royal Albert Hall… 4 years ago last night.
Is it really four years ? I was there on the last night too. Brilliant concert.
I’ve never sat in the one place for so long in my life… sneaked in a couple of Red wines as well.
Well, that is a question that damages my brain cells in order to be answered, who is able to choose only eight songs and feel complete and satisfied? However, I tried:
1. One Slip – Pink Floyd
2. Time – Pink Floyd
3. Keep Talking – Pink Floyd
4. White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
5. Firefly – Uriah Heep
6. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming – Deep Purple
7. Summer’s Rain – Savatage
8. School – Supertramp
As far as it concerns the book I have to say that if I was to be stuck somewhere (desert island etc) the book that I would desperately want to have with me would be “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, at least my mind would be able to travel. The luxury item that I choose is water (something like a container of water) good for the vocal chords as well.
The endless summer nights of the late 70s and early 80s where i me and friends would spend hours listening to the late great John Peel, and the the movements of the Charts on Radio 1. I very rarely listen to the radio these days.
Here are my 8 desert island discs.
1.) Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd
2.) Romeo and Juliet, Dire Strates
3.) Us and Them, Pink Floyd
4.) Sailing, Rod Stewart
5.) Fool for your Loving, Whitesnake
6.) Misty, Ray Stevens (the 75 version)
7.) Through The Night, Gladys Knight
8.) Duchess, Genesis
My Book would have to be Lord of the Rings.
My luxury item would be a fishing rod, if allowed.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a great choice, Damian.
Too difficult! But I did spend half an hour trying.
The only thing I’m sure about is that my luxury item would be a crate of strong ale!
I missed this first time round.
My eight pieces of music would be:
- Pink Floyd: Echoes
- Led Zeppelin: Stairway To Heaven
- Beatles: Hey Jude
- REM: Shiny Happy People
- Frank Sinatra: My Way
- Elton John: I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
- The Oath Duet from Don Carlos (Verdi)
- Rhapsody In Blue (Gershwin)
Wow… I know mine won’t be the same as 18 months ago. I just wonder how far off they will be or if any are the same, LOL.
Here goes (in no particular order):
1. Stranglehold – Ted Nugent
2. Echoes – Pink Floyd
3. Do You Feel Like We Do – Peter Frampton
4. You Don’t Need a Gun – Billy Idol
5. Bleed The Freak – Alice in Chains
6. Three Days – Jane’s Addiction
7. Fade to Black – Metallica
8. Comfortably Numb
Book: The Bible
Luxury Item: solar powered beer brewery system with an unlimited ingredient supply…
On the Beach – Chris Rea
Out on the Western Plain – Rory Gallagher
Marooned – Pink Floyd
Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
Walk Between the Raindrops – Donald Fagen
Rocket Man – Elton John
Black Betty – Ram Jam
Mountain Time – Joe Bonamassa
‘Black Betty’… Excellent choice, sir.
If I can’t have Dark Side of the Moon, the ultimate desert island disc because it has absolutely everything on it from great music, astounding sonic creativity, superb production and a brilliantly succinct commentary on the human condition — plus it rocks as well as soothes and mesmerizes — then let me have:
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond — Pink Floyd
2. The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys — Traffic
3. Deacon Blues — Steely Dan
4. San Lorenzo — Pat Metheny Group
5. Tarkus — Emerson, Lake & Palmer
6. Us and Them — Pink Floyd
7. Careful With That Axe, Eugene (Ummagumma version) — Pink Floyd
8. The Blue — David Gilmour w/ Rick Wright
Luxury Item: Thousand gallon tank of Watney’s Red Barrel with free refills, of course!
I reviewed the song lists of people I am familiar with and have chosen 8 favorites of mine from them:
David Gilmour ~ Anthem by Leonard Cohen/For Free by Joni Mitchell
Emmylou Harris ~ Polegnala E Todora (Theodora is Dozing), Bulgarian State
Stephen King ~ Desolation Row, Bob Dylan
John Malkovich ~ Who Knows Where The Time Goes, Nina Simone
Hugh Masekela ~ Radke, Mama Radke, Bulgarian State Ensemble
Yoko Ono ~ One Love/People Get Ready by Bob Marley
Terence Stamp ~ Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (FEd’s ears start bleeding!!)
Of course, I’d require Marooned and The Blue on my desert island disc!
Ian McKlellan’s choice of Abba’s Dancing Queen surely must have been tongue-in-cheek, don’t you think?
Same must be true of Gordon Ramsey’s choice of Yellow!
FEd, thanks to you and all the Irregulars for the visit in the ol’ chat room yesterday! And thanks for saving me that piece of cake…
Peace ‘n’ love,
Gabrielle
Hello FEd,
I can’t get the Pocketful of Stones vid to play on David’s homepage. Very much want to give it a look and listen.
Are there tech problems? Had no issue with the Chicago video or any other item before.
~Lola
Sorry to hear that and I’m sorry I couldn’t pick up your query sooner.
Are you still experiencing difficulties with it? And has, or is, anybody else unable to view this video?
I couldn’t view it in Firefox initially, but Flash loaded in Internet Explorer and Safari. Have you tried using a different browser?
If you right-click on the video and select About, you’ll see which version of Adobe Flash Player is installed on your computer and be prompted to update where necessary. You may need to uninstall an old version before updating to the latest version.
This should help Firefox users. Check your plugins; you may have outdated versions, as I did. You’ll see a link to Mozilla’s Plugin Check page under the heading ‘Updating Flash’.
It doesn’t run in IE or Firefox for me (never has).
I’m running Flash version 10.0.45.2, according to the plug in checker that’s the most up to date version.
Laptop de merde, Lorraine?
Bienvenue au club…
Greetings Fed.
Where the devil are you!
Sorry I keep missing chat, I’m busy at the minute. I’m on course this weekend 066 with Victim Support for Murder and Manslaughter bereavement. I’m in Halls and I’m bored shitless as I’m on a diet, the bar is open and I cant drink. And there’s no TV in the room.
I will be making more of a contribution to David’s site. Life’s been a bit cruel lately with my brother and then Kat’s dad passing away in April. But music is a great medicine for the soul.
Any news on David plugging his Amp in, maybe a new tune? I know should not be asking but hey ho. There just is no decent musicians out there at the mo and maybe the maestro would step into the light and show ‘em how it’s done.
Just a waffle and a moan, nowt serious.
Damian
No such news just yet, sadly.
My condolences and best wishes to you and Kat.
I can’t remember the songs I put in the other list, but I’m also sure these ones are completely different. I’ll have a look to my old list after posting this comment.
1.) Echoes – Pink Floyd
2.) Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
3.) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – The Beatles
4.) California Dreamin’ – Beach Boys version
5.) Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
6.) Somebody To Love – Jefferson Airplane
7.) The Unforgiven – Metallica
8.) Blood Of Eden – Peter Gabriel
This time my luxury item would be a sitar, which is an instrument I really would like to play. It would be great if I could have a teacher, too, but I think I’ll have to do by myself.
Alessandra… maybe I found a good teacher for you.
Have a look – here.
Thanks for the video, Hydrea. Just hypnotic.
Sorry if I’m completely off topic, but did you hear this news?
It makes me think of something similar that happened some years ago – this.
It seems Chinese products are not the only ones we should distrust.
Oh dear.
It couldn’t happen to two nicer companies, either.
Hi all,
my eight songs:
Shine On You Crazy Diamon – Pink Floyd
Echoes – Pink Floyd
Breathe – Pink Floyd
Eclipse – Pink Floyd
In the Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson
For Elisa – Vanilla Fudge
Albinoni Adagio – Doors
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
Mmh, a book of Sigmund Freud
Luxury Item: Absolutely a sun- powered computer
Off Topic:
One more book about Pink Floyd in Italy : “Red Floyd” written by Michele Mari. It’s a fantasy tale written on dialogue frame some possible and some out of reality… often every PF member is symbolized by an animal: David is a cat, Nick is a dog, Rick a mouse and Roger a horse.
It’s totally new as a strange bio-story mixed with fantasy and truth. It’s an original work. Now, in Italy is published by Einaudi.
Waiting for news.
Bye bye
diana
1. Pink Floyd, Time
2. Kinks, Waterloo Sunset
3. Beatles, Day in the Life
4. Dylan, Shelter From the Storm
5. Stones, Ruby Tuesday
6. Move, Beautiful Daughter
7. Doors, Light My Fire (Original, Slightly Slowed, Non-remixed Version)
8. James Joyce, Ulysses (Spoken Word)
Immortal Poems of the English Language.
Luxury Item: My favorite nylon stringed acoustic guitar with a diving mask/snorkel dangling from it.
Today, Wednesday, June 9th, Belgian radio station Classic 21 (French speaking) will be broadcasting the Making Of ‘On An Island’ by David at 3pm (CET).
Click ‘En direct’ to listen live or use the button ‘podcast-rod’, then ‘Making Of’ to listen later.
Michèle
Merci, Michèle.
Here is the podcast of the Making Of ‘On An Island’.
Scroll down to David Gilmour.
Thanks FEd,
I did have to right click on the Pocketful of Stones vid, and not only upgrade my adobe flash but also change my settings to allow the DG website access to my computer (due to security settings).
But it was worth it as the video is great to watch. I especially like how he’s standing in a room with an apparent super nova (the river) sparkling a huge twinkle of sunshine into the room.
Look forward to seeing future song vids and thanks again for addressing my tech issues.
~Lola Laura from Maine
Sorry it took so long to respond to the block. Been very busy lately.
My top 8 songs would be:
Kick Out The Jams – MC5
Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
Turn The Page – Bob Seger
One Of These Nights – The Eagles
Astronomy – Blue Oyster Cult
A Day In The Life – The Beatles
Echoes – Pink Floyd
Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
Book would have to be Lord Of The Rings
Luxury item would have to be a good pair of shoes or boots.
Hoss
I just want sir David Gilmour in Portugal someday.
It would make me real happy (so sorry for bad English).
Cheers to the greatest. Love you man.
So did anyone ever pick the book to be the Kama Sutra? Probably just the masochist.
Thanks.
Andrew
Hello friends,
I’ve been quite busy for a while but I’m finally back to my favourite blog, how are you? I’ve just changed job during the last week and my life is changing every day at the moment, but you’re always on my mind.
What’s the weather like in England? Fantastic weather here in Italy, the perfect weather to drink a beer while watching the World Cup at night! Good luck for tonight’s match to all you English mates! Enjoy it, David!
Cheers FEd.
hello FE’d
sorry this is off topic but great news for Gary – here!
hope all’s well & DGHQ?
wouldn’t it be nice if Messrs Gilmour and Waters could put their argument (over a room???) behind them and play at least one song together for the last outing of The Wall? be a great tribute to Mr Richard Wright.
oh and since his passing it has become obvious that the guitar technician was right, they are all “parrots” (no offence to the great musicians that play on both members tours). took the realisation of there never being another Pink Floyd reunion to make me see it, but…
andy
My songs would have to be:
Division Bell – Pink Floyd
Get Over It – Eagles
Imagine – John Lennon
Shine On You Crazy Diamond- David Gilmour
Wearing The Inside Out – Richard Wright
On The Turning Away – David Gilmour
Bike – Syd Barrett
The Conversation- Waylon Jennings/ Hank Jr
There are so many amazing songs, I did think about writing 2 lists but that would be cheating… you don’t get to leave your desert island and take a quick visit to a music store do you – before heading back to the island.
Gimme Shelter – Rolling Stones
I Shall Be Released – Bob Dylan
Will You – Hazel O’Connor
Ramble On – Led Zeppelin
Learning to Fly – Pink Floyd
Sheep – Pink Floyd
Live and Let Die – Wings
Imagine – John Lennon
I did include 2 Pink Floyd tracks though – it is David Gilmour’s blog, LOL, so if I was only gonna include one it would be Sheep (maybe) and I would replace it by an acoustic version of Weak by Skunk Anansie.