Here on Gilligan’s Island

Sure, it’s old and it’s sort of lame, but the idea of compiling your “Desert Island Discs” really makes you think about how you feel about music. This is particularly difficult for music freaks, the kind of people who cherish items as extravagant as the Complete Hank Williams Recordings box set. Still though, it’s an interesting exercise, so I asked the Glorious Noise posse to come up with their Desert Island Discs. Click here to see what kind of hut-buddies we’d be.

And if you want to show us your own list of Desert Island Discs, we created a new topic on the Board. Interact!

I asked the Glorious Noise crew for their Desert Island Discs. I know this is

an old concept, but I think it says a lot more about a music writer’s

perspective than just about anything else. Or maybe not. But I think it’s

interesting.

Jake

 

Jeff 

in no particular order

The Who – Who’s Next

Elvis – The Memphis Album

Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme

Funkadelic – Funkadelic

Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet

Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps

Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St.

Gram Parsons – Return of the Grievous Angel

Metallica – Kill ‘Em All

The Leppotone Sampler

CSNY – Deja Vu

Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town

And as a footnote, I think it’s cheating to list greatest hits albums. Come

to think of it now, this is really asking a lot of a bunch of guys who can’t

pare their record collections down to under 1,000. I mean, can we at least

get a classic rock radio station on the island? Then I could reduce my list

to about five albums. And you didn’t mention if there is weed on this island

either.

 

Jake

in the order that I thought of them…

Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique

Wilco – Being There

Neil Young – Decade

Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street

Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville

Weezer – Pinkerton

Del tha Funkee Homosapien – I Wish My Brother George Was Here

Ice Cube – Death Certificate

Tom Waits – Small Change

Beatles – White Album

Pixies – Surfer Rosa / Come On Pilgrim

Velvet Underground – Velvet Underground

You can tell I am a greedy, cheap bastard because most of my selections are

double albums. It’s the same reason I always play "Freebird" (9:06)

and CCR’s "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (11:04) on jukeboxes:

value for the money.

 

Gary

Well, 10 is tough, but it is a good limit. So. . . 

• Smokey Robinson & the Miracles – The Ultimate Collection (you’ve got to

  start somewhere) 

• Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity – Streetnoise (Jools is one of the

  world’s most underlistened vocalists; probably got her greatest run with the

  theme to Absolutely Fabulous) 

• Ricki Lee Jones – The Magazine (after listening to this countless times, heard

  her doing it live in Ann Arbor and found it to be even more

  spine-tingling) 

• Jack Bruce – Songs for a Tailor (if there was any question that this man is one

  of the most versatile musicians of my generation, then this, his first solo

  album, puts it to rest) 

• Jack Bruce – Cities of the Heart (a bit of a cheat- this is a live double-disc

  that was created to mark his 50th birthday; contains much of his astounding solo

  career and even has Ginger Baker [who was considered to be God before that tag

  was given to Clapton] on the skins, and if there is any drummer who is equal to

  Keith Moon. . .) 

• The Who – Quadrophenia (my #1 album of all time)
• Elvis Costello – Girls Girls Girls (another cheat- a chock-a-block collection of

  Attractions and other delights) 

• The Kinks – To the Bone (so far as I am concerned, Ray Davies is the Noel Coward

  of the late 20th century but has not been acknowledged as such, and brother

  Dave’s guitar chops are something I’m sure many are afraid to aspire

  to) 

• Scritti Politti – Provision (any band that uses Marcel Duchamp references and

  exhibits a writerly deconstructionist awareness is a band for me) 

• Boz Scaggs – My Time (another cheat- Boz from ’69 to ’97. When the books are

  written about the essential American musicians, Boz should figure large. . .but

  probably won’t)

 

Jordan

NOT in any particular order

White Album – Beatles

Doolittle – Pixies

Abbey Road – Beatles

Rain Dogs – Tom Waits

The Mollusk – Ween

OK Computer – Radiohead

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain – Pavement

Blonde on Blonde – Dylan

Pinkerton – Weezer

Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin

 

Johnny

I’ve always considered ‘Desert Island Disc’ lists to be the ballast that

washes up on the shores of Sunday evening classic rock radio. The kind of thing

that Red Beard would carp about while interviewing Jeff Lynne on ‘In The

Studio.’ I know that Jake realizes this; nevertheless, I felt I had to preface.

That said, here’s mine…

(In no particular order, as order would not exist on an island consisting of

me and Wilson…)

Minor Threat, Minor Threat (Dischord)

The musical equivalent of your favorite black T shirt. But, by now, it’s

probably a little gray, and featuring a fray around the collar.

Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (Columbia)

"Well I can remember us drivin’ in your Daddy’s car, your body tan and wet,

down at the resevoir…"

Sonic Youth, Sister (Blast First) & Daydream Nation (Enigma)

Pretentious? Maybe. Like nothing I’d ever heard before? Definitely.

The Who, Live at Leeds (MCA)

Rumbling, bumbling, and stumbling: an all-time live classic.

Guns n’ Roses, Appetite For Destruction (Geffen)

Recently, I figured out that what makes this album great is the undercurrent of

sex. Don’t ask me why it took me so long to deduce that. I’m on a goddamn desert

island, remember? Jeez.

The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed (ABKCO)

We all need someone we can lean on. But a palm tree’ll do.

Fugazi, Repeater (Dischord)

Ian Mackaye makes the list twice (I’m sure he cares). Noise terrorism at its

Capitalism-hating best.

Uncle Tupelo, No Depression (Rockville)

A drinkin’ album. Hope salt water tastes like Pabst.

Oasis, Definitely Maybe (Creation)

A fightin’ album. I’ll name my fist Noel and my face Liam.

Harry Smith (editor), Anthology of American Folk Music (Smithsonian Folkways)

Drinkin’, fightin’, screwin’, singin’, hollerin’…and love.

 

Phil

If it happened TODAY:

Smiths-Queen is Dead

Ice Cube-America’s Most wanted

Stephen Malkmus-Stephen Malkmus

John Lennon-Plastic Ono Band

Paul McCartney-Ram

George Harrison-All things must pass

(NO RINGO)

Gram Parsons-GP

Stones-Sticky Fingers

Neil Young-On the Beach

Wilco-Being There

Beastie Boys-Check Yer Head

Steve Earle-Transcendental Blues

CSNY-De Ja Vu

This list is not very imaginative, but it’s what I’d

like to hear today.

 

Pat

Hopefully I’m not the last one to leave you hanging on this, after all, I am

employed at a job where I can spend an entire afternoon thinking about Desert

Island Discs,

so here it goes…

Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Volume 1 Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Volume 2

They’ve gotten me out of a jam before when I’ve been deserted, so I see no

reason why they couldn’t help me out again. I’d include Volume 3, but only if

there’s no hope of rescue — that’s where Blind Willy McTell would come in handy

Sinatras: Action Party/Shelia’s Glowing

The best band in America never fails to get me charged up and ready to

rumble.

Jonathan Richman: Jonathan goes Country

You’ve got to have something to listen to while trying to build a telephone

out of coconuts.

The Sleestacks: The Pirate Show and 45 Other Minutes

This one is for when you’ve given up on building the coconut telephone but

have figured out how to ferment grog. And it has a nautical theme.

Herb

Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: Whipped Cream and Other Delights

I don’t really like Herb Alpert or whipped cream, but I do like the cover to

this album, and I figure a guy gets lonesome on a desert island…

Parliament : Funkentelechy Vs. Placebo Syndrome

I like to dance. Also, a flashlight can come in handy trying to signal

passing planes and ships.

Frank Sinatra: Come Fly With Me

I like the idea of listening to a bunch of songs about travel when you’re

hopelessly stranded with nothing but a hand cranked victrola and a couple of

rocks to bang together.

Johnny Ace: I’m Crazy Baby

Speaking of victrolas, I’ve actually got one, and I’ve got this record on 78.

It’s dirty, fragile, and sounds terrible, but there’s something about the way it

sounds when you turn the crank … Johnny Ace was the pre-rock star who killed

himself playing russian roulette on the eve of his big break.

 

¤ ¤ ¤

 

Hey, we want to know what albums you would take on a deserted island

if you knew you going to be stranded there indefinitely.  Go to the

Glorious Noise Bulletin Board and let us know!