Dear followers
Happy New Year all. The Sage has returned from a spell wintering in Burton upon Trent, and decided to while away a couple of hours selecting my Desert Island Discs in anticipation of an imminent invitation from Kirsty Young. Whittling down a lifetime of music to just eight songs proved to be no mean feat, and I feel I've betrayed some great artists like Neil Young, Van Morrison and Black Lace by not including them.
But I've finally made my choices, so in no particular order, here are the songs the Sage has selected should I ever find myself abandoned on a remote South Pacific archipelago. You can view YouTube clips of each of my choices by clicking on the song titles. Enjoy!
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
Covered and played to death, the greatness of this song still remains undimmed for me. The piano led melody is almost hymnal, the strings gradually build to an epic, swirling conclusion, and above it all is Art Garfunkel singing like an angel. A towering work of perfection.
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
Another golden oldie, but has there ever been a more skilled arranger in popular music than Brian Wilson? The harmonies in this song are quite simply spine-tingling, backed by some sublime orchestration and another wonderful lead vocal from Brian's brother Carl.
Blue Monday - New Order
I'd need something to tap my toes to on that desert island, and this immensely influential record was arguably the first to successfully blend dance music with indie. Menacing, funky, catchy and cool all at the same time, so much of what's followed over the past 25 years owes its existence to Blue Monday.
This Charming Man - The Smiths
Staying with Manchester in the 80s, and The Smiths are in the view of the Sage up there with the Beatles as the best British band of all time. I nearly didn't choose this particular song after hearing that David Cameron included it in his Desert Island discs recently, but it's such a perfect distillation of everything that made The Smiths great that I swallowed my pride in the end.
The Swan from Carnival Of The Animals - Camille Saint Saens
The Sage quite likes a bit of classical music on the sly, and in the interests of a balanced octet I've included this heartbreakingly beautiful recording from The Carnival Of The Animals to soothe me in my seclusion. The cello playing is so expressive it almost weeps.
Just Like A Woman - Bob Dylan
I could have picked any one of a dozen Dylan songs from his formidable back catalogue, but this one has always been my favourite. It's Bob at his most accessible, with a lilting, yearning melody, floating organ, bar room piano, harmonica and a lovely Spanish-style guitar. Plus the lyrics make more sense than usual.
Saturday - The Clientele
My one left field choice - a marvellously melancholy song by the most criminally underrated band of modern times. Virtually noone's ever heard of London's The Clientele, but if you want an atmospheric soundtrack to a late night alone, you'll struggle to find better than this.
God - John Lennon
Like Dylan, I could have chosen any one of a large number of Beatles songs, but this track from Lennon's solo debut is to me more powerful than anything he recorded as part of the Fab Four. Unlike the rather sickly proselytising of the much more famous but vastly inferior Imagine, this shows John at his most angry but also his most poetic.
So there we have it - my Desert Island Discs! It will probably change next week, but in the meantime, feel free to share your views on my choices.
Kind regards
The Sage
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