Monday, January 5, 2015

Raybeard's Challenge

Raybeard (the dear) mentioned this in the comments on my last blog post:

"There has been some discussion in the past on mine and other blogs about Desert Island Discs, the name referring to a BBC radio programme which has been running for getting towards 70 years now, in which a celebrity or well-known person in any field, has to choose the eight single tracks which s/he has to live with exclusively for, potentially, the remainder of his/her life (having been supposedly marooned on a desert island with nothing else for entertainment). At the end of the programme that person then has to nominate which single track would be their choice if it was to be narrowed down to just one nomination."

So I listed my 8 pop single tracks:

LA woman - the doors
a hard day's night - the beatles
miss you - the rolling stones
purple haze - jimi hendrix
hound dog - elvis presley
up on the roof - james taylor
stand by me - ben e. king
I won't back down - tom petty & the heartbreakers

just one - I won't back down; it's my personal fight song, it was a hit when I was diagnosed with cancer. it got me through the rough times with the illness, then with my divorce.


So then I figured, what the hell, how about 8 classical tracks AND 8 jazz/big band/swing tracks AND 8 country tracks?  Because it's MY blog and MY rules, nyah nyah nyah!

8 classical tracks:

concerto in F - george gershwin, as played by oscar levant
moonlight sonata - beethoven
toccata and fugue in D minor - bach
the nutcracker - tchaikovsky
american in paris - george gershwin
rhapsody in blue - george gershwin
dance of the hours - ponchielli
the overture to "the barber of seville" - rossini

just one - the nutcracker; lots of variety in that selection.

and yes, I have a gershwin fetish; deal with it! :)

8 jazz/big band/swing tracks:

sing sing sing - benny goodman
in the mood - glenn miller
I'm getting sentimental over you - tommy dorsey
you made me love you - harry james
begin the beguine - artie shaw
avalon - benny goodman
string of pearls - glenn miller
stompin' at the savoy - benny goodman

just one - sing sing sing; lots of variety in that selection.

and yes, I have a goodman fetish; deal with it! :)

8 country tracks:

crazy - patsy cline
he stopped loving her today - george jones
you ain't woman enough to take my man - loretta lynn
stand by your man - tammy wynette
hey good lookin' - hank williams sr.
80s ladies - k.t.oslin
when I call your name - vince gill
18 wheels and a dozen roses - kathy mattea

just one: you ain't woman enough to take my man.  you go girl!

OK, what about the rest of you?  Care to have a go?  This should be fun!

22 comments:

  1. Straight Outta Compton - NWA
    Naughty Girls Need Love Too - Samantha Fox
    Bitch - Meredith Brooks
    Angel of Death - Slayer
    Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
    Life For Rent - Dido
    Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran
    After Midnight - Eric Clapton

    If it's the 1998 version of that last song, the one used in the Michelob commercials, that's my choice.

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    1. what a diverse list! 2 of them I don't know/never heard of. but I am happy you played along! :)

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  2. Good grief. You pop singles. I was wondering if maybe you dripped much acid in the 60s!!!!!!!!! My classical list is almost the same as yours. I love alot of Beethoven and Dvorck. Now you'll blow goats. My pop list would be almost all Madonna. 1- Justify My Love, 2-Eroctia, 3-Bad Girl, 4-You'll. See, 5-Bedtime Stories,6-Jump, 7-Deeper&Deeper,8- Love Don't Live Here Anymore. Girlfriend can write a song, and she is the only artist I have every cd she did. I enjoy her more obscure things though. But I also enjoy Shirley Bassey and Julie London with some Mancini....but one song? Julie London's Fly MeToThe Moon.

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    1. I was but a mere child in the 60s; I have never dipped into the drug scene.

      interesting list; I will have to google "fly me to the moon" (I know the sinatra version only).

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  3. "you ain't woman enough to take my man" is my go to karaoke song :-)

    Sean
    www.idleeyesandadormy.com

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  4. Okay, I scoured my music collection and narrowed it down to these:
    My 8 pop single tracks:

    They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo) - Sting
    Born To Run – Springsteen
    Beast of Burden – The Stones
    Imagine – John Lennon
    Someday We’ll Be Together – Diana Ross and the Supremes
    The Big Parade – 10,000 Maniacs
    Angel of Harlem – U2
    Someone Like You – Adele
    Just One? They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo) because it makes me cry

    My 8 classical tracks:
    The Four Seasons – Vivaldi
    Mississippi Suite - Ferde Grofé
    Rhapsody in Blue – Gershwin
    Lullaby – Brahms
    Ode to Joy - Beethoven
    Appalachian Spring – Aaron Copland
    Toccata in D minor - JS Bach
    Hallelujah Chorus – Handel
    Just one? Mississippi Suite because it really takes you there.

    8 Jazz, Big Band or Swing Tunes
    Strange Fruit – Billie Holiday
    God Bless the Child – Billie Holiday
    I’ll Be Seeing You – Billie Holiday
    I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl – Bessie Smith
    It Don’t Mean A Thing – Duke Ellington
    One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie
    Stompin' At The Savoy - Benny Goodman
    I Got Rhythm – Sarah Vaughan
    Just one? Anything, everything , anything from Billie Holiday

    8 country tracks:
    Crazy - Patsy Cline
    Jolene – Dolly Parton
    Shut Up and Sing – Dixie Chicks
    Stand By Your Man – Lyle Lovett version from “The Crying Game”

    Coal Miner’s Daughter – Loretta Lynn
    There’s A Tear In My Beer – Hank Williams, Sr.
    Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
    I’ve Done Enough Dyin’ Today – Larry Gatlin
    Just one? I’ve Done Enough Dyin’ Today is just so gorgeous

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    1. we seem to have some similarities, bob! great list, BTW!

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  5. This does look fun; I will do so anon.

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  6. OMG, A.M. By taking it into your own hands you've already got a bigger response in just a few hours than I did when I posted my original blog on the subject and left it there forever.
    Well, although you've (knowingly) twisted the cardinal rule - choosing just eight tracks to cover ALL types of music - I'm not going to be a wet blanket and plead for a halt, especially since contributors are coming up with lists that look so entertaining and thought-provoking. Their choices allow a most interesting insight into what makes a person 'tick'. Let's let it ride and see what other treasures are unearthed.

    On your own 'other' lists I applaud your championing of Gershwin. His tragic early demise was one of a number who left so young with so much promise yet to materialise, but what he did leave is high up there in the excellence stakes.
    'Nutcracker'? Okay then. There is, as you suggest, a huge spectrum of moods within the ballet.
    Bit surprised that on your Jazz list you haven't included the incomparable Ella - but who am I to argue? Thew list belongs to you. I know all but a couple in this list of yours but when I play them I'm sure they'll come back to me. Similarly for your 'Country' choices. (Tammy W? Oh, that voice from her very soul sends chills through me - pleasurable ones).

    Now, for the record (ha ha!), my own choices those years ago which probably haven't changed that much since, which were painful to make when considering which much-loved pieces to ditch, were:-

    Beethoven - Symphony 9 (i.e. FIRST movement rather than last)
    Beethoven - Piano Sonata in C minor Opus 111 (second movement)
    Bach - Mass in B minor (Opening of 'Gloria')
    Schubert - Impromptu in G flat (it's only about 5 minutes long)
    Brahms - Alto Rhapsody (Final C major section)
    Beatles - 'Hey Jude' (random choice when it could have been any out of so many)
    Abba - 'Super Trouper' (Sorry, A.M., but can't live without it)
    South Pacific (original Broadway cast) - 'This Nearly Was Mine' (choosing just one song out of so many musicals I love was near-impossible).

    Could say a lot, lot more but I'll leave it there for now - and will almost certainly come back to it. This is YOUR blog so I don't want to crowd myself in front of others. However, thanks for resurrecting the idea and giving the subject some much-needed additional traction. See ya!

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    1. Oops! My single ultimate choice would be the first on my list.

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    2. ABBA? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! (runs screaming from the room)

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    3. I know, I know, A.M. But in my defence that record marks in a very personal sense the start of my decade of hedonism and thrills like I'd never known before or since - a non-stop rollercoaster of emotions of highs and lows when I had money and really LIVED (all w/o drugs, of course), discovering the 'scenes' of a number of European cities and into which I threw myself into with gay abando anf total recklessness - and it's a miracle I survived to tell the tale when all the closest friends I had fell one by one as victims of you-know-what. Whenever I hear the track it brings up such bitter-sweet memories like no other pop record can do and is uniquely precious to me for that reason. So, there you are!

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    4. ah, all righty then, that track has a personal meaning for you. I will stop screaming.

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    5. Oh, just wait a minute, A.M. Even were it not for my highly personal connection to this particular track I'd still maintain that in their time ABBA was the most smashing pop group on the planet. (Hallelujah!) Now you can resume screaming.

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    6. While I wouldn't choose ABBA as the absolute top one and only choice for me, they would be close. Sorry to make you scream AM, but I have to agree with Raybeard that in their time they were, and still are, most smashing.
      My top one and only choice is what I will jump straight to: The Ocean by Led Zeppelin, and or the whole album which that song closes (Houses of the Holy, best album ever...period).

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    7. WHAT am I going to do with these boyfriends that like ABBA? (screams)

      :-)

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    8. Momma Mia AM, Take A Chance On Me and I'll be Your Dancing Queen. Knowing Me, Knowing You, AM, When All Is Said And Done I will Thank You For The Music .... I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do!
      Now while I rate Led Zeppelin higher, try and do that with their song titles.

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    9. I read this aloud; spouse laughed, I appreciated the clever way with words.

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  7. 80's Ladies?! I love that! I like the song "Do Ya" when it come out so I bought the CD and discovered a number to songs

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    1. OMB, I just noticed this comment; sorry dear. I wonder where KT Oslin went?

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