by Richard Taylor : 2024-08-26
It is increasingly unlikely that I will ever do anything that is notable enough to get me invited onto the long-running Radio 4 show. So here is what I would have chosen (up to the summer of 2024) if I had.
Wow. Picking only 8 discs is really hard. When I scanned through my music collection picking out just one track from each of the artists or bands who really, really meant a lot to me... I ended up with 26 must-haves. So I had to agonise over that list for a long time to get these final 8 tracks.
This music reminds me of who I am and what my life has been.
by Tears For Fears
This was the central song of my mid-teens. I was never any good at team sports in school, had nerdy hobbies and always felt like a bit of an outsider. The track came back into my life again in 2003 when, at a difficult time for me, the Gary Jules cover from the film Donnie Darko went to number one.
by Siouxsie and the Banshees
When I left home I discovered indie music. For about 6 months I lived near Chislehurst and the Hong Kong Garden takeaway... the inspiration for Siouxsie and the Banshees debut single. I saw them live at the Albert Hall and they were amazing. I think Dazzle was the first song on that set.
by This Mortal Coil
My time at Southampton University was great and this track reminds me of so many good times with different friends for different reasons. For a long time I used to play it last thing at night before I went to sleep.
by The Wonder Stuff
This song is very emotional for me. I saw The Wonder Stuff live at the Students' Union with a friend who died tragically only a few years later. It was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. On a desert island it would remind me of all the people I've lost.
by Echo & the Bunnymen
If I had to name my favourite bands off the top of my head I maybe wouldn't remember to include Echo & The Bunnymen. But looking at my favourite songs on various playlists they are always there. I think they span a long time, almost in the background, from my late teens to the present day.
by Stereophonics
This band were with me on many sleepless nights when my son was a baby. He wasn't a good sleeper so I used to play Stereophonics quite loud to him as he seemed to find it comforting. Fortunately the old lady next door encouraged us to make noise "so I know I'm still here, dear". This track is a quieter one I played a lot to myself when he was older - on a desert island it might be quite comforting to remember that material possessions aren't important.
by Keane
My wife has been a fan of Keane since they started. For a long time I could take them or leave them, but then we saw them live in Brighton and I was blown away. They are such a good live band! Since then we've seen them multiple times and many of their songs are up there in my all time favourites.
by The Primitives
This track is the only one that was nailed on for this list from the start. My favourite band from first seeing them in 1986, through their reformation in 2009 to the present day. Spacehead is an album track that struck me as the perfect antidote to loneliness and feeling like an outsider - embrace your quirks and be who you are!
Everyone gets the complete works of Shakespeare and their "holy book" of choice. Mine would be the illustrated King James bible that I was given when I was promoted to Lance Corporal in The Boys' Brigade. It has a nice inscription on the inside of the cover, written by my father.
For my individual choice I wont do as some have and choose one of my own books as an act of vanity. I could probably reconstruct most of what I've written myself as a distraction on the desert island anyway.
No. My choice would probably be "Surface Detail" by Iain M. Banks. It's a tough choice, as I love all of the Culture novels, so I picked this one as it is one of the longest and has many varied characters.
If she could squeeze all 5 books of the "Quantum Gravity" series into one volume then I would take that by Justina Robson instead. Similarly with Trudi Canavan's "Black Magician" trilogy. Both are wonderful story arcs.
It has to be a Rubik's Cube. There are so many combinations that I wouldn't run out. Presumably I wouldn't be able to have a timer as well, so I would concentrate on perfecting Fewest Moves and write down the scrambles and solutions in the sand!