Desert Island Discs

[Hank]

I usually enjoy Desert Island Discs and Steven Spielberg was an especially good listen.

There are two Bacharach songs amongst his 8 selections (no spoilers) - although he made no acknowledgement of Burt....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001g8m4

[pljms]

While Jackie DeShannon's recording of 'What The World Needs Now Is Love' wasn't a surprise as one of Steven Spielberg's choices, Gene Pitney's 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' most definitely was. Whenever I hear the likes of Spielberg being interviewed I'm reminded of the Ian Dury song, 'There Ain't Half Been Some Clever Bastards'.

[Sara D]

I only listen to Desert Island Discs if I have a particular interest in the guest, which these days is only very occasionally. From my experience of listening to the show, classical musicians have tended to stick to their own genre for their eight choices, as have pop and rock musicians, although I've noticed a tendency among the prog rockers to include at least one classical piece. Then there are those who have made eccentric choices like the soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf choosing seven of her own recordings, only to be outdone by pianist Moura Lympany going one better by choosing eight of hers! Then there's the British poet Ian McMillan choosing John Cage's '4:33', a piece consisting of nothing but silence. Did they 'play' the complete record of the work on the show? No, the BBC would never have allowed for 4 minutes and 33 seconds of dead air to be broadcast in the middle of the day on a talk station. What a shame that Bacharach was never a guest on the show.