Elton John — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

Find a castaway Most requested Browse the archive About Report a fault

Tuning in…

desert is.land

“And if you could take only one…” — a semantic wireless tuned to the Desert Island Discs archive.

The listing

Find a castaway
Most requested
Browse the archive
About

Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
Report a fault

Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Elton John — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

Find a castaway Most requested Browse the archive About Report a fault

Composer

Elton John

15 episodes

Chosen over the decades

15

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Billie Jean King
Colin Montgomerie
David Baddiel
David Wall
Gene Pitney
Jamie Cullum
Jean Rook
Joseph Allen
Lord Deedes
Mark McCormack
Marti Caine
Martin Clunes
Saeed Jaffrey
Trevor Brooking
Will Carling

Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King on sleeping with her purple tennis racket
Castaway · 15 July 2018Kirsty Young
David Baddiel
David Baddiel on his father calling English a waste of a brain
Castaway · 27 May 2018Kirsty Young

desert is.land

“And if you could take only one…” — a semantic wireless tuned to the Desert Island Discs archive.

The listing

Find a castaway
Most requested
Browse the archive
About

Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
Report a fault

Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Jamie Cullum on finding himself at 3am in a house he didn't know

Castaway · 25 March 2012Kirsty Young

08°01′S 078°56′W

Martin Clunes

Martin Clunes on learning his father had left his family before he died

Castaway · 18 September 2011Kirsty Young

06°53′S 018°09′W

Gene Pitney

How Gene Pitney's mother told him to take back his earnings

Castaway · 2 March 2003Sue Lawley

16°45′S 085°54′W

Lord Deedes

How a gun deal landed Bill Deedes his first journalism job

Castaway · 5 August 2001Sue Lawley

Colin Montgomerie

11°42′S 096°44′W

Colin Montgomerie

Colin Montgomerie on turning heckling into determination at the Ryder Cup

Castaway · 12 March 2000Sue Lawley

03°26′S 005°40′W

Saeed Jaffrey

Saeed Jaffrey on his mother's letter after his Broadway debut

Castaway · 20 April 1997Sue Lawley

10°58′S 003°41′W

Will Carling

Will Carling on being slapped by his mother after losing his temper at cricket

Castaway · 10 May 1992Sue Lawley

18°44′S 145°38′W

Jean Rook

Jean Rook on waking to find three masked men in her bedroom

Castaway · 15 July 1990Sue Lawley

18°00′S 153°11′W

Mark McCormack

Mark McCormack on being hit by a car at six and taking up golf

Castaway · 2 July 1989Sue Lawley

19°21′S 038°06′W

Joseph Allen

Joseph Allen on the one-second transition from three times his weight to zero in orbit

Castaway · 13 April 1985Roy Plomley

Trevor Brooking

05°58′S 048°53′W

Trevor Brooking

Trevor Brooking on being forced to practise with only his weaker foot as a child

Castaway · 2 January 1982Roy Plomley

06°09′S 146°17′W

Marti Caine

Marti Caine on stealing a penny from under a milk bottle

Castaway · 10 November 1979Roy Plomley

23°02′S 078°05′W

David Wall

How David Wall helped a Japanese ballet company understand Swan Lake

Castaway · 25 March 1978Roy Plomley