Fats Waller

desert is.landest. 1942

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Tuning in…

desert is.land

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

The listing

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Most requested
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Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
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Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Fats Waller — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

9 episodes

Chosen over the decades

Total castaways

1980s

Peak decade

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Alan Jay Lerner
Frances Partridge
George Chisholm
John Fortune
Paddy Ashdown MP
Peter Ackroyd
Richard Ingrams
Robin Cousins
Victoria Wood

Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd on his partner singing in the bath the day before he died
Castaway · 20 May 2012Kirsty Young
Richard Ingrams
Richard Ingrams on confusing God and J. S. Bach
Castaway · 3 August 2008Kirsty 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

John Fortune

John Fortune on the English master who changed his life by reading T.S. Eliot

Castaway · 12 December 2004Sue Lawley

Frances Partridge

20°51′S 149°32′W

Frances Partridge

Frances Partridge on losing her faith in a seaside boarding house aged 11

Castaway · 27 February 1994Sue Lawley

Paddy Ashdown MP

18°50′S 006°39′W

Paddy Ashdown MP

Paddy Ashdown on being asked to call himself Captain Jeremy John Durham Ashton

Castaway · 10 February 1991Sue Lawley

Victoria Wood

21°50′S 093°11′W

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood on writing a song after being rejected for a part in Loot

Castaway · 8 February 1987Michael Parkinson

George Chisholm

02°00′S 165°37′W

George Chisholm

George Chisholm on playing piano for silent films in Glasgow aged 14

Castaway · 13 March 1982Roy Plomley

Robin Cousins

12°56′S 127°57′W

Robin Cousins

How yawning helped Robin Cousins release competition nerves

Castaway · 3 January 1981Roy Plomley

Alan Jay Lerner

18°59′S 063°37′W

Alan Jay Lerner

How losing an eye in an accident led Alan Jay Lerner to musical theatre

Castaway · 23 September 1978Roy Plomley