Desert Island Discs – Part Deux – The Wrap-Up

Written by Jim S.

This is a follow-up post to my call for Desert Island Discs which, if you missed it, well then you did.

I had originally thought I would summarize all the lists here. But not only would that be too long a post, it would also be redundant. Wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it?

So instead, our team of statisticians got to work, did some number-crunching on our IBM Watson and produced these interesting (?) results:

  • There were nine lists including input from yours truly.
  • The top 10 albums (one live set, no boxes, no compilations) vote-wise were:
    • Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd – 4
    • At Fillmore East – ABB – 3
    • The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle – Bruce Springsteen – 3
    • Either/Or – Elliott Smith – 2
    • Led Zeppelin – 2
    • Led Zep IV/ZOSO – 2
    • Foxtrot – Genesis – 2
    • What’s Goin’ On – Marvin Gaye – 2
    • Exile on Main Street – Stones – 2
    • All Things Must Pass – George Harrisonย  – 2
  • There’s no overriding “theme” in these lists, largely rock with a smattering of soul, folk, blues, r&b, jazz, and pop. (Take a look at the tagline on my blog sometime.)
  • Biggest surprise – Elliott Smith. I never heard of the guy and he gets two votes. I am definitely checking that out.
  • Second biggest surprise/disappointment – the lack of female singers. Joplin, Fleetwood Mac. Fortunately Gordon saved the day with some Motown (Supremes, Martha Reeves.)
  • Judges’ vote on most eclectic/unusual list – Musicophile. Five Genesis albums, Mozart, Huey Lewis, Monty Python, Daft Punk – talk about swings!
  • Biggest non-rock outlier – Burt Bacharach (Greenpete)
  • Judges’ choice for most inspired pick – Ken Burns Jazz soundtrack (Listening to Records)
  • Glad somebody picked it award – Bitches Brew (CB)
  • Novel thought award – Aphoristical, who said he’s so familiar with all his albums he’d pick 20 classical albums and get to know them.
  • Discovery of the week – Nuggets. (Listening to Records, seconded by Greenpete).
  • Biggest regret: That I couldn’t squeeze in Live at Leeds. The CD is an even richer experience than the original vinyl.

I’m going to try to listen to as many of the new (to me) ones as I can in upcoming weeks. I’ve already started with Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From First Psychedelic Era, 1965 – 1968. It sounds – far out and – dare I say – groovy.

Spotify link

23 thoughts on “Desert Island Discs – Part Deux – The Wrap-Up”

  1. And he ends with The Kinks. It’s like the end to a good movie. Roll credits. Perfect. Well Doc you struck a chord. I enjoyed participating (I’m not a great joiner inner. I think I said that already) and enjoyed all the choices your listeners chimed in with. If it wasn’t for Greenpete I probably would have missed the boat but his idea for a lending library was brilliant. Let’s do it again. I think I’ll head off and listen to ‘Summertime Blues’ off Leeds. Couldn’t help myself.

    Like

    1. I hope you have ‘Leeds’ CD. I was listening to it in the car today. Starts off with Entwistle’s “Heaven and Hell” and goes on from there. So much more stuff than vinyl. As to the Kinks thing, it occurred to me at the very last minute I needed an island song. “Island Girl?? Close. But Ray Davies brings it on home.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I have the original record with all the pics etc (stole from my brother), reissues. I have the cassette, 8 track (maybe I’m lying a bit), CD. I have it all. Like you say the CD is just more of that show. I think I did my second or 3rd take ever on “Leeds” Huge impact. Now I am going to pull it out for tomorrow.

        Island Girl no. I’m On An Island, yes. It;s the one to wrap this baby up. Great choice.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Speaking of “Live at Leeds,” how about a desert isle Top 10 Live Albums? The Allmans might take top honors.

    I really enjoyed this exercise, Jim. Learned a few things, like Elliott Smith, a tragic figure according to Wikipedia. And I’ll have to revisit “Chicago Transit Authority.” I like all of the top 10 (except Smith, whom I haven’t heard yet), but I have to say, I’m surprised there are no Beatles or Dylan here, despite Harrison squeezing in. Time is marching on, and the 1960s get further from memory. Such is life.

    Guess I’ll cue up some Floyd or Zeppelin tonight!

    Like

    1. The Allmans might but Live at Leeds is a fierce competitor. And there are some other choice ones out there that people love. But I personally don’t think I have 10, maybe five.

      As to Chicago, any of their first three albums are where it’s at for me, scattered hits after that. As to Beatles or Dylan, with relatively few exceptions, I think the crowd that gravitates to my blog is quite a bit younger than you and I in general. Cue up both Floyd AND Zeppelin.

      Like

      1. I might do Chicago “Transit Authority” – their 2nd album if I’m really feeling bold – but anything more is asking too much, Jim.

        Like

  3. Here’s another blogger that had never heard of Elliott Smith (listening now) and completely missed Nuggets (played a few tracks and loving it). If we can hear those lists on a desert island it wouldn’t be such a terrible fate, I guess, but my choices would (of course) be very different!

    Like

    1. I’ve been listening to Nuggets as well and as the commenter noted, I do recognize almost everything, at least of the first hour or so I listened to. There’s five hours there so it’s doubtful I’ll listen to the whole thing right away as there’s so much else to get to. And yes, your choices would be different. So where the hell where you?:-)

      Like

      1. The core of Nuggets is the original release, which was two LPs (on Elektra, then Sire) from 1972 then 1976. It had Electric Prunes, Count Five, Nazz, Standells, Barbarians. A true classic. Then in the 1980s, I think it was Rhino that created a whole series of additional Nuggets, such as “San Francisco Scene,” “Pop Volume One,” etc. There were also Nuggets-related nostalgia series, like “Pebbles” and “Highs in the Mid-60s,” the latter of which featured garage bands exclusive to various states and regions (I have the two volumes for Ohio). Then, after the CD/box set revolution, an entire American box set of Nuggets came out, followed by an English one.

        At least, that’s how I remember it. The double-LP is essential, the later stuff varies in quality.

        Like

        2. I understand. I’ve noticed most of my desert island choices have a heavy nostalgia aspect. Most of us gravitate to the music we first heard when we were young. A special time and place. With Nuggets, I remember listening to it over and over in my apartment during college, reading the liner notes, and wondering how I could have missed all of it for so long.

          Like

        3. I’ll disagree a little bit on the nostalgia part, at least for me. Agreed that there is some attachment in time and place. But when I listen to a lot of the stuff I’m not thinking of my first girlfriend or anything. I’m just digging the song as a song. However, some songs bring me right back in time and make me feel a certain way. For example, I can’t hear Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” without thinking of my favorite decade, the ’70s. Likewise anything by Gil Scott-Heron and for some reason, “Low Rider.” ๐Ÿ™‚

          Like

        4. Not to get TOO deep on this, but… for me it’s not so much a physical attachment. That apartment I had in college was pretty dismal! It’s more my state of being or mind. Just like some songs I dislike because I first heard them when I was depressed. But I agree, I have to dig the song (melody, harmony, musicianship… whatever). Another thing is that I hit a lot of GREAT music when I was younger. I sought out the best that was on the radio, or that I’d read about. As time goes on, I have fewer of those eureka moments.

          Like

        5. Yes and for me a lot of it isn’t nostalgic just because, well, I never stopped listening to them! So much of the stuff on my list is on some level of rotation and always sounds new to me in a sense. Maybe I’m tired of some of them. But they sound like I first heard them last week. Probably the biggest nostalgia moment I had was when I put together my ’50’s list. And then I was nostalgic for a period I was largely too young for or it was second-hand. I find the nostalgic feeling really kicks in when I hear a song I not only haven’t heard for a long, long time but also really liked.

          Liked by 1 person

        6. I should add one thing here is that this conversation has cleared up a bit of a mystery for me. Two or three years ago I was in a class and I mentioned to a classmate that I was going to see Stevie Wonder do ‘Songs in the Key of Life.’ I emailed her a few links and she came in the next day and talked about it being nostalgic. I was puzzled because hell, I had listened it just the other day. But for HER it was nostalgic because she hadn’t heard it in years and the memories it brought back were, I’m thinking, romantic ones. So, now that makes sense. As Paul Simon says, “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.” Not 100% sure that applies here but you get the idea.

          Like

        7. “Nostalgia” means a warm feeling you get when reminded of the past. If you’ve discovered music only recently, although you may like it, even love it, your brain receptors don’t pick up on that mysterious warm feeling. Maybe this holds true if you’ve listened to the same music continually for many years. Plus, some people just don’t have much romantic feeling about their past. My dad didn’t. Maybe it’s something to do with brain amygdala development.

          Put your shit on the back burner for a few decades, Jim, and see what happens!

          Like

        8. Point taken. And maybe the development of the amygdala leads some of our friends on the right to prefer music such as Ted Nugent (who is on Nuggets.) ๐Ÿ™‚

          Like

        9. “Journey to the Center of Your Mind.” Wasn’t on the original Nuggets, but probably should’ve been.

          I take it back about my dad. Actually, he had a music nostalgia, too. A couple times a year, late at night, he’d turn off the lights, light up a cigar, and enjoy some of his Big Band records.

          Liked by 1 person

  4. Really enjoyed this one (well, the previous one but the whole escapade), interesting to see the similarities and it looks like some sweet island music selections.
    If youโ€™re checking out Mr Smith Iโ€™d recommend starting with Either/Or or XO

    Like

    1. Yeah, that was fun and even inspired another unrelated blog post (TBD.) However, I despair of getting to all the albums I don’t know any time soon. I am going to have to extend that listening period into next year.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.