Saturday, January 28, 2017

As Desert Island Discs celebrates three quarters of a century, there are still plenty of big names who have not picked the music they would take with them as a castaway.

So who else should get ready to sail away with nothing but their music, the bible and the collected works of Shakespeare (plus their luxury item)?

Barack Obama

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

We all know that the 44th president is a massive music fan.

Last summer he dropped not one but two summer playlists of his day time and night time jams (they included tracks by Jay-Z, Common, Nina Simone and Chance The Rapper) so what would he pick for his desert island retreat?


Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep (Ian West/PA Wire/PA Images)

Meryl is a musicals girl and she has sung in many of her films including Mamma Mia, Into The Woods, Postcards from the Edge and A Prairie Home Companion to name but a few.

She was just nominated for an Oscar for her role as tone-deaf opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins but we can probably rule out her notorious recordings for her island playlist.

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour (Ian West/PA)

Anna has sat in the front row of all Kanye West’s fashion shows, but would she pick any of Yeezy’s hits for her desert island discs?

Rapper Desiigner also showed off his skills for her when he modelled at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award panel, so would he feature on her list? We are dying to know.

Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn (Jonathan Brady/PA)

During last year’s Labour leadership contest, Jeremy received a high profile endorsement from UB40, but would they make it into his castaway collection?

At the 2015 party conference he exited the stage to the obscure 1971 track Working On A Building Of Love by Michigan act Chairmen of the Board. Maybe all his picks would be that random?

Madonna

Madonna (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

In a Reddit AMA in 2013 Madonna said one of her favourite songs was Oceans by Jay Z and Frank Ocean but also admitted she thinks her album Erotica is “a great record”.

So would she include some of her own work in her track list? We need to know!

Prince Charles

(Victoria Jones/PA)

For his fourth birthday the band of the Grenadier Guards played The Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Charles’s then-favourite song, in the Palace courtyard.

We assume his tastes have evolved since then but while you might guess the next in line to the throne is now all about classical music, back in 2006 he made a surprising revelation – he’s a massive fan of the late and great Leonard Cohen.

Victoria Beckham

(Ian West/PA)

Would she pack her playlist with Spice Girls hits? Probably not.

She has declared herself a huge fan of Uptown Funk from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars so that might be a good bet for some solo dancing on the island.


Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey (Ian West/PA)

Oprah is majorly into both Josh Groban and Johnny Mathis. In fact, she said her dream Christmas duo would be those two singing together.

Expect their back catalogue to feature heavily.

Adele

Adele (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

In 2015 Adele told The Observer her favourite musicians and they would make for a pretty awesome episode of Desert Island Discs.

They included Alabama Shakes, The Maccabees and Karen Dalton.


Donald Trump

Donald Trump (Matt Rourke/AP)

The US president has name-checked Aerosmith, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson in the past, though he seems to think they’re rocking as much for their personalities as their songs.

He apparently programmed his own campaign rally playlists but his go-to campaign song was Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It.

He might try to get Hail To The Chief in there too.

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