I was absolutely delighted last month when the great DJ Rama invited me onto his podcast to discuss my Desert Island Discs. If you haven’t heard of this premise before the idea is that you pick 5 singles that you would take with you to a desert island if you were going to be trapped there. DJ Rama really knows his stuff so I spent a lot of time working out which would be the records that I chose to take with me. It’s more difficult than I thought actually but I did eventually decide and these are the discs that I’m taking with me.
Band on the Run – The Wings
Although I prefer the stuff Lennon did as a solo artist there is no getting away from how good Paul McCartney and the Wings were, and this is my favorite song of theirs. It would be great to listen to on the desert island because it is long, it talks about being trapped and it also talks about getting free. I think I’d use this song to keep things optimistic.
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
I’m going to need something to do during my time on the island so I figure why not try and learn the moonwalk or to dance like Jacko. If I’m going to be doing that there is only one song that I need with me and that is Billie Jean. I have already listened to this song 150,546 times, so I have no doubt that I won’t get bored of it on the island.
Stir It Up – Bob Marley
I picture my island with hot sun, white sand and palm trees and if I am going to be in such a delightful paradise, I’m going to need some beautiful music to wake up to, and there is nobody better than Bob Marley for that. His soothing voice and those slow reggae jams are going to to be the perfect tonic for my misery of being trapped alone in the middle of nowhere.
Master of Puppets – Metallica
There is going to be moments on the island when I’ve had enough of it all and the anger takes over, and that is when I’m going to need some heavy rock to get rid of all that negative energy. Master of Puppets is a lengthy song with aggression and a great solo. This will be my song for when life begins to get me down.
Staying Alive – Bee Gees
When the one man party starts on the island there is only one song which I want to dance to in my grass skirt and that is this gem from the Bee Gees, just imagining my dancing to this on a desert island makes me laugh, so I’m sure the reality will also be good enough to put a smile on my face.
If you had to choose just 5 songs to take with you, which would they be?