Desert Island Discs

In the midst of this list-publishing which will keep us company for the next couple of months I will end by having a go at producing my top eight.

Yesterday broadcaster Danny Baker chose a deliberate format for his eight records. He picked eight songs that would have been around as he grew up at home as a child. He said these tunes would have, possibly subliminally, influenced him in his choice of music.

They were all pre-pop. He suggested that you could find in them the starting points for the outbursts of late 50s early 60s pop. They included a Cliff song and Bernard Cribbins singing 'I've grown accustomed to her face' which would have been the record he took if only allowed one.

I have, from time to time, wondered about playing with the desert island format. How about eight songs which would be played on the show in full without cutting? They'd have to be less than 90 seconds long I think. Eight songs where the vocal had not cut in by the time the song was faded? Eight songs I hadn't yet heard? Eight songs no listener would be likely to have heard of previously?

I love this sort of thing.