Well, I'm a sucker for Morrissey as you might know, and as such I know that he yesterday visited Kirsty Young at the jolly BBC's "Desert Island Discs" to play outtakes from what eight discs he would bring to a desert island. No real surprises there, but a mix of varied tracks with a strong foot in the 1970s, notable exception being Robert Schumann's "Der Nussbaum" from 1840.
I've created this almost-complete Spotify playlist from the tracks that Morrissey chose.
If you want to listen to the podcast in its entirety - bar complete musical selections due to copyright reasons - you will at the time of my writing this find it here.
Here's the song list:
1. New York Dolls - "(There's Gonna Be Be A) Showdown" 2. Marianne Faithfull -"Come And Stay With Me" 3. Ramones - "Loudmouth" 4. Velvet Underground - "The Black Angel's Death Song" 5. Klaus Nomi - "Der Nussbaum" 6. Nico - "I'm Not Sayin'" 7. Iggy and The Stooges - "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" 8. Mott The Hoople - "Sea Diver"
Annotations by yours truly:
First, there's currently nothing recorded by Klaus Nomi available on Spotify, which is why I've selected a recital of "Der Nussbaum" as performed by Victoria de Los àngeles, late world-renowned soprano. Here's Klaus Nomi's version:
Nico's cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "I'm Not Sayin'" is pretty interesting. Sadly her version is not available on Spotify, but Lightfoot's original is, so I've incorporated that instead. Here's Nico's version:
Actually, that's Jimmy Page on 12-stringed guitar in there, working as session musician back in the day.
It's so nice to hear Ramones included with "Loudmouth". Such a great diss track.
Well, you're a loudmouth baby/You better shut it up/I'm gonna beat you up/You're a loudmouth, baby
Mott The Hoople ends it all with a track very reminiscent of all things Marc Bolan, hailing from the same age. It's quite unexpected to me, despite being very T. Rex/Bowie. When the strings start in the tears flow. Drama.
Apart from the discs, Morrissey had to choose a book, which turned out to be "The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde". As luxury item, he chose a bed after having dwelled on to pick that or sleeping pills.