Desert Island Discs - The Fish - 7th September 2011

[The Fish]

Looking back, the thing that only now strikes me as odd is that for a lifelong musical obsessive, I grew up in a house without any recorded music. I was and indeed am, an only child, so there was no elder brother with any hip jazz or rock and roll to refer to and my parents never owned a record player.
Of course it isn’t strictly true to say there was no music in the house. We had radio and TV like most families. Although radio back then of course meant Round The Horne, The Goons, Family Favourites and The Clitheroe Kid. TV served me better. I have vague recollections of Ready Steady Go, but in the days before Top Of The Pops, the two shows which helped inform my early musical years were Juke Box Jury and Thank Your Lucky Stars.
I suppose like many others I grew up with The Beatles, but back then they would have been accompanied by the likes of Adam Faith and Helen Shapiro and then Dave Clark and Billy J Kramer.
Finally at the age of 9 or 10 I asked for and got for Christmas not a record player but a tape recorder. No not a cassette, a tape recorder as in reel to reel. Having exhausted the novelty of being able to record your own voice, I switched my attention to music. This of course was before the days when electrical appliances came equipped with sockets and leads in abundance and so I would hold the microphone up against the TV. Piracy is nothing new folks, it’s just the quality has improved. This would still be Beatles era and so I imagine I must have recorded some (and indeed Stones) However my first choice is slightly later and is the one song I categorically recall having taped, and so let’s call this the first piece of music I ever owned (stole) even though it probably wasn’t. The Move and Flowers In The Rain



It would have been around the same time, not long after this that I finally got a record player. The first single I bought, for the record, was Joe Cocker’s version of With A Little Help From My Friends. Of course by now we had Radio 1, although I probably continued to listen to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes (listening to Radio Luxembourg is NOT a euphemism in this context). The reception was of course terrible. Anyway with all this new source material at my disposal, my musical obsessions grew exponentially. My second choice surprises me in that it is only 18 months or so after the first, although in my mind listening to The Move I was little more than a child, whereas listening to the second I am suddenly a hip teenager. Anyway I like to think that first hearing this stopped me in my tracks but I really can’t recall, but I’m sure I heard something here which intrigued me and was possibly the first time I “got” soul. Even today that intro gets me every time. There is some kind of menace there like thunderclouds on the horizon. Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through The Grapevine




The third choice is one that did kind of stop me in my tracks. I can’t remember exactly when I first bought Astral Weeks, although I know the first Van album I owned (when it came out) was St Dominic’s Preview and I must then have filled the earlier gaps, so around 1973 I’d guess. I suppose things like Almost Independence Day and Listen To The Lion should have prepared me, but even so it took a while. Every few plays a different track would click and it remains my favourite album to this day. This was maybe the first to register. Van Morrison – Sweet Thing



And around this time I did actually see Van with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra at one of the Rainbow shows that was recorded for It’s Too Late To Stop Now, so I was also starting to realise just how great live music could be,
At this point we hit fast forward, so before we do I’ll fill in some of the gaps. Most of what constituted my musical landscape at this time mostly originated in Detroit (natch!!) or San Francisco (Dead/Airplane/Quicksilver) or Los Angeles (Byrds/Love/Doors) although I can also date my initial dabbling in country music to this time (Commander Cody/Pure Prairie League/Poco/John Stewart etc) It would alas take me a few more years to discover the “real” stuff. I may have dabbled in prog too but I’m not owning up.
I spent but one year at university (Southampton reading Spanish) before dropping out. However lest you think my one year was entirely wasted, I had the opportunity to see Love with Arthur Lee, Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny and Little Feat with Lowell George.
And so to work. Having dropped out of university I got a job initially for the summer pumping gas which somehow lasted longer. Eventually feeling in need of a “real” job, I did a government sponsored course in Computer Programming and have worked in IT ever since.
One early IT job was at a software house that folded. The client we were working for at the time, offered me the chance to finish the work on a contract basis. This however meant working nights on their site as the computer was in full use during the day. And so for about 6 months I’d travel to Eastbourne and come home on the first train back as the sun was rising. I had a walkman and must have had more than one tape, although the one I remember playing over and over had Cocteau Twins, Treasure on one side and Frank Sinatra, Where Are You on the other. As Liz puts in an appearance later we’ll go with Frank for track 4. Frank Sinatra – The Night We Called It A Day



And I’ve been working and acquiring new music ever since.
And so to change tack, the next two choices are made specifically with solitary life on the island in mind.
The above is enough of my history as I need in all probability (it is all in my head after all), and so as a reminder of humanity and all that I’ve left behind, track 5 is unnamed prisoners recorded by Alan Lomax, which would probably help lighten my spirits if I begin to think my life is hard. These guys probably suffered a particularly brutal prison regime and yet here is music with no other purpose than the pure joy of singing. Alan Lomax/Unnamed prisoners – Rosie.



I’m surprised no one else (at the time of writing) has considered this, but if I knew what day I was shipwrecked, it would be easy to keep a calendar and so once a year it would be Christmas. I think it would be great to have one day that would be special still, and so track 6 is The Ronettes – Frosty The Snowman



I know this isn’t purely an exercise in your favourite tracks. The above may well look different if it were. More Blues ,soul, country maybe.
However I’m finishing with two I’ve selected just because I love them and for no other reason.
I think it was the erstwhile poster Aloysius who spent a day on Now Playing once playing all of The Bathers albums. I recall being intrigued by his comments and investigated further, even though with the rarity of some, this ended up costing me a fair bit. I still think this is just the most gorgeous thing ever. Anyway track 7 is The Bathers – The Dutch Venus featuring guest vocals from Liz Fraser



And finally for track 8 we switch to classical. This won’t be to everyone’s taste but this just absolutely floors me every single time. This is often described as “orgasmic” which is to me a cheap simplification (as if Wagner would write the soundtrack to a quick shag) It is in short everything - love and death for starters (there’s a clue in the name) It is the very embodiment of the notion of “rapture” I scoured youtube for different versions and came across this. The singer was unfamiliar to me, but she pretty much nails it for me as to how I want this to sound. Wagner – Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde sung by Nina Stemme



Which would, following the rules of the game, be my one pick if that were all I was allowed.
Book: I’d probably quite happily immerse myself in the freebie Shakespeare but let’s say a decent annotated Ulysses by James Joyce. I have read it but I’d be the first to admit there’s much more to understand, hence the notes. In any case for a book that is at times so dense and at times impenetrable, the closing pages featuring Molly Bloom’s monologue features writing of such simple transcendent beauty that if all else fails I’ll be happy to read that over and over.
Luxury: DVD player and copy of Once Upon A Time In America
And if you think that’s cheating
If the BCB D.I.D Nazis insist on having their way then I’ll have an unlimited supply of marmite.

So that was me in a nutshell. Thanks for reading. Hopefully some of you feel you know me a bit better, and for those who want to know more I’ll be appearing at a jolly up near you soon (actually near me but you get the idea)

[Jock]

Thanks for that Paul. A good read.

[ConnyOlivetti]

nice one!

[BlueMeanie]

although I probably continued to listen to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes (listening to Radio Luxembourg is NOT a euphemism in this context). The reception was of course terrible.

It was, wasn't it. Funny, with all the technology these days, I still miss it.

And around this time I did actually see Van with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra at one of the Rainbow shows that was recorded for It’s Too Late To Stop Now, so I was also starting to realise just how great live music could be,

And now I officially hate you.

[whodathunkit]

Nice one Paul! Juke Box Jury! Diana Dors giving her opinion of the Nice's "Thoughts Of Emerlist DavjacK". Classic and robust.

I saw the Caledonia Soul Band tour as well though at Brum Town Hall. Lovely looking bird (or "chick" as we would have said ) on the cello. Terry Adams? And Van decided to sing in the aisle in front of the stage for the second half. A great night.

[Belle Lettre]

I envy you those gigs in Southhampton. A great read.

[Muskrat]

[Six String]

Nice one Paul. One of the things I've enjoyed about the JU's I've attended is getting to know people better in person and since you've attended quite a few I've been to, I've had that opportunity with you. You're real easy to hang out with and your JU discs are always pretty great. I guess that means we enjoy a lot of the same music.

[copehead]

I loved the prison song you chose.

I'd love to get all the Lomax's recordings but they are ferociously expensive when you see them on Ebay.

[The Fish]

Yeah, just checked on Amazon and it seems all the Southern Journey series is OOP. I think there's a set available somewhere here.

[copehead]

Yeah, just checked on Amazon and it seems all the Southern Journey series is OOP. I think there's a set available somewhere here.

You get quoted prices of £70 and upwards for vinyl recordings of their various trips.

What we need is a nice cheap CD release of all their work, you'd think ( post Moby ) it must all be out of copywrite by now.

There must be a market for all their recordings.

[Thesiger]

Having dropped out of university I got a job initially for the summer pumping gas which somehow lasted longer.

Surely no one ever 'pumped gas' on the Sussex coast?

I enjoyed your contribution, Paul. Glad to hear there's another Clitheroe Kid fan on BCB.

[never/ever]

Thanks mate! Another fine addition to the canon. Loved the Lomax-pick and I'll check out the Bathers-album!

[The Fish]

Surely no one ever 'pumped gas' on the Sussex coast? .

I was one of the "stars that never were"

I enjoyed your contribution, Paul. Glad to hear there's another Clitheroe Kid fan on BCB.

Well I probably enjoyed it at the time, although these days "fan" might be pushing it. Obviously a major influence on the work of the Krankies

[Thesiger]

Surely no one ever 'pumped gas' on the Sussex coast? .

I was one of the "stars that never were"

Do You Know the Way to Bracklesham Bay?

[The Fish]

So I didn't manage to convince anyone on the Wagner then ?

Just listen from 3:30 to 4:00 - exhilirating.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Nice work, Fish! Enjoyed it -- you've always got a curveball up your sleeve, you crafty bastard!

So I didn't manage to convince anyone on the Wagner then ?

Just listen from 3:30 to 4:00 - exhilirating.

I gave it a spin and dug it!
But I haven't given over to Wagner. My mom and brother certainly have.

[fange]

Great stuff, Fish! Given me a much better picture of the man behind the mackerel.

[Minnie the Minx]

Great stuff Paul! Undoubtedly, I love reading the stuff that people write about their childhood the most.

Thanks!

[kath]

a great read. i love the musical choices in particular, and not only the first three, which are inherently kathish.

oh, and you've got me on the wagner, not that it took much. i've been a closet freak for most of my life. my brother's fault/credit. even without my bro, wagner has always just fit in with my weird lil arthurian/epic/darkly beowulfian-slash-germanic, UP with ARMOUR!!! side. you understand, i'm sure.

marmite scares the crap outta me. this, coming from a person who has eaten some pretty bizarre things.