Desert Island Discs Revisited

Last year, I did a post about the whole idea of Desert Island Discs, which is basically a way to list albums you just love and are the person who you are because of them. The question again is if you were on a desert island, assuming you had food and water for the rest of your life but were stuck somehow miraculously with electricity, which albums would you want with you? I posted a good list, but the other night I was playing Lego Rock Band, and "Free Fallin'" is one of the tracks. As I was singing it, I thought, was this on my desert island discs list? Well, I just re-read it, and it's not, so I've decided to add to it. And assuming I'm the only one on the island, I probably have enough space for a lot of albums.

Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty
I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first time in 1995 with my friends Jason, Shelley, Beth, and Seth. Before the show, Jason asked me how many encores I thought he would do, and what the last song would be. I thought about it and I said "Well, there IS this song at the end of Full Moon Fever called "Alright For Now" that is like a lullabye, and I think that would be super cool. I doubt it though, it's kind of obscure and not a Heartbreakers song." And guess what the last song was of that night? It was amazing, I cried. My friends gave me this album for my 14th birthday, and I played it to death. It's still one of my favorites.

Graceland, Paul Simon
I felt so grown up when I bought this record. Paul Simon was/is such an icon of American music, and I felt like I really was learning something about being a grown up when I bought this in the 5th grade. As an only child, I didn't have kids around or older siblings to look up to, so I couldn't wait to be an adult. Any time I was seen as older than I was, or did things adults did I felt like I was on my way to being a grown-up. And I still think being an adult, for all of the bad sides of it, is pretty damn cool. You can drive, stay up late and eat ice cream, order pizza whenever you want, and if you budget, you can buy whatever toys you want.
Anyway, this album was recently re-released, and I finally replaced my old cassette with a cd, and I still love this album. "Crazy Love, Part 2" was always one of my favorites, but there isn't a bad one in the bunch. Carrie Fisher said in her autobiography, "How could I not love the man who wrote 'Medicine is magical and magical is art, think of the boy in the bubble and the baby with the baboon heart'? The answer is I couldn't not love that man." I think a lot of people believe that it is just impossible to not love Paul Simon. Personally, I can't not love the man who wrote "Hey Senorita, that's astute, I said. Why don't we get together and call ourselves an institute?"

Powerslave, Iron Maiden
This album contains "2 Minutes To Midnight". I really don't need to say much more than that.

Switched On Bach, Wendy Carlos
I love the Moog. Love it. And I love Bach, so Wendy Carlos' album of Bach pieces done on the Moog is one of my favorite things ever. I love all of Wendy's work, from her fantastic Kubrick soundtracks to the version of "Peter and the Wolf" that she did with "Weird" Al Yankovic, but this album holds a special place for me. It was one of those albums that at the time it was released was a bit of a novelty, but Wendy's musicianship prevents it from being one of those flash in the pan records that everyone had and everyone sold at their garage sale. She is an amazing woman, and if anything rivals her musical talent it is her talent for eclipse photography. Seriously.

Titanic Days, Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty is my favorite female musician of all time, and really, all of her albums would need to come with me to a desert island, but this was the album that I first heard of hers, so it's special. "You And Me Baby" is one of my all time favorites, and as weird as "Titanic Days" and "Can't Stop Killing You" can seem, this album is amazing. I can't say enough wonderful things about Kirsty. My feelings about her run from respect, admiration, jealously, love, grief. If I keep talking about her, I'll never stop.