Music is an alluring force that seems to seep into every nook of our lives, defining undefinable feelings and acting as tangible mementos of past experiences. For some, it’s that trusted friend that accompanies us on our daily journeys, and for others, the thing that bends and molds with our ever-changing selves, always there to define our current realities.
Taking inspiration from the 1978 book “Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island,” in which author Greil Marcus asked 20 writers what one rock and roll album they would take to a deserted island, we asked a mix of Cal Poly students and staff this very question. What came of it, just like the novel, was an array of interesting and eclectic choices, with in-depth commentary from some on their memories and experiences connected to their selected record. Others shared short yet meaningful odes to their choices, letting the songs themselves do the rest of the explaining.
Read on to look through this musical lens into a small yet interesting sliver of the people who make up Cal Poly’s campus, and be reminded that while we each move through life with our own unique preferences and stories, music remains as our connecting force. Find a playlist with some of these hits at the bottom of this article.
Tony Prado | Journalism Department
I’d have to say that the 1986 album “True Stories” by Talking Heads would be my pick. That was my favorite band in the 1980s. The album was the soundtrack to the fictional documentary of the same name, starring and narrated by lead singer David Byrne. It’s an odd and trippy movie that has a lot of subtle social commentary. Besides the many memories of my high school years, I like how the tone and vibe of the songs vary, from upbeat to humorous to sad or contemplative.
Sara Frantz | Studio Art professor
This is one of those easy questions that is not-so-secretly really hard to answer. I mean, any time you can only have just one thing, you are bound to get sick of it, hate it and then rediscover it, right? When I asked my husband what his would be (and he is a true music enthusiast in a way I could never be) he said, “Spooky Halloween Sound Effects.” Because my husband also can’t resist a joke. Truthfully, I thought this was a pretty good answer and one that I would probably not be able to beat.
So, in determining my answer I asked myself what album do I keep coming back to over and over? That I truly love every song … absolutely no duds allowed on a deserted island after all. I think my answer is Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.” I love the abstraction, range of instruments and compression in sound/production (“lofi”). It is warm and sad and intense and physical and quiet all at the same time. I saw Magnum play at the Moody Theater Austin in 2014 I think, when he briefly toured again.
If you ask me again next week I will probably have a different answer.
Dr. Mira Rosenthal | Associate professor of creative writing
I first heard this album when I was a teenager and loved the interplay between energetic, fast-paced tracks and slow, sultry tracks. The opening of “Fleurette Africaine” captivated me in particular, with the rhythmic stutter that sounds like rain. I love when music mimics the sounds of nature. I was also prone, as a teenager, to take long walks in the rain. There’s nothing better than coming home all drenched and a bit cold to then warm up inside with a hot cup of tea. Now when I listen to the album, it’s also a nostalgic experience, bringing me back to that younger me.
Kari Mansager | Director of Wellbeing and Health Equity
I grew up listening to that album and my mom loved his music. I just love the global vibes, there’s even just certain rhythms or choruses that I’ll hear and will bring back an entire emotion and feeling. And it’s always a positive one, that’s why if I had to listen to something over and over again, that one would be it.
Sheri Donahue | Business administration graduate (2022)
I think it’s a really well-produced album with no skips, which I rediscovered during [COVID-19]. I feel like it really helped me get through that feeling of isolation, and I’m sure a deserted island would feel similarly isolating. It’s a super angsty and introspective album while also being very energetic, so I think it’s the perfect thing to listen to when contemplating life and asking yourself questions like ‘How did I get here?’ or ‘What am I doing on a deserted island?’ Especially the songs “Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay)” and “I Blame Myself” feel like Sky Ferreira is walking you through a therapy session with yourself.
Julie Lucas | Agricultural business sophomore
I would choose “Certified Lover Boy” by Drake as my album to take to a deserted island because, honestly, it was [released] during a really good time in my life and every song portrays the different parts of my life I was going through at that time. It was like high school going into college, so I feel like it was a good transition into me as a high schooler and then me as an adult in college. Each song shows you something different throughout the album and that’s why I don’t think I could ever get tired of it.
Mohnish Rana | Kinesiology freshman
I chose this album to get stuck in the deserted with because I wouldn’t get bored of it, and I could interpret it in a bunch of different ways. It fits the mood for whatever mood I have, and I think music that can kinda meet the listener where they’re at is lit.
Jrue Reese | Physics freshman
I love the “Weezer Blue Album” for many reasons! Firstly, I listened to “Blue” all the way through for the first time in February 2021 — this was one of the most carefree times of my life during online schooling. Hearing “In The Garage” would transport me back to a simpler time when I first listened to the “Blue Album.” Even listening to “In The Garage” today brings me back to walking down to the Redondo Beach strand with a scoop of “oreodough” ice cream in my hand while watching the sky turn pink while surrounded by my friends back in February 2021.
Dudley’s Record Shop in Redondo Beach has an anniversary sale every year on October 13, which happens to be my birthday. For my 16th birthday, my friend Jett Collins went with me to Dudley’s and he bought me the “Weezer Blue Album” vinyl as a birthday present since he knew it was my favorite album ever.
I’ve listened to “Weezer” too many times to count, and every time, I can barely speak after. Every song on the “Blue Album” is special to me.
“Buddy Holly” is one of my favorite songs ever — every time I listen to “Buddy Holly,” I’m singing along because it’s just so feel-good. My favorite memory from high school was when I went to the Homecoming dance in 11th grade and was the lead singer during “Buddy Holly” karaoke, and the entire crowd was jumping up and down dancing, and after the dance, I saw everyone posting their POVs from the audience and it was amazing.
“Blue Album” also has another one of my favorite songs ever, “Only In Dreams.” All seven minutes and 59 seconds of this song are absolutely toe-curling due to Matt Sharp’s bass and the epic instrumental during the second half of the song. Some days when I feel tired, I listen to “Only In Dreams” on repeat for a couple hours straight, and it feels like a mental reset. I could listen to the “Weezer Blue Album” forever.
Presley Sacavitch | Mechanical engineering sophomore
If I was stuck on a deserted island I would definitely want an album that I could never get bored of, so I would say 100% “Tank” by Wayne Manner. Being on a deserted island would probably be quite lonely and I’d need lots of loud music to keep me company. This album would probably drive me to hallucinations if I listened to it on repeat on a deserted island, but I guess that would be a great way to pass the time.
Victor Javadoff | Mechanical engineering sophomore
Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” is an emotional roller coaster, which is exactly why I’d take it with me as my only album on a deserted island.
I grew up listening to rock on local radio stations, so I always loved the genre. When I got older I decided to dive into other genres of rock and found my way into “The Wall.”
It turns out it was more than just hit rock songs — it was a concept album and one of the best at that. The story was compelling and complex, with deep-rooted themes, and I found myself enjoying the album the more I listened to it. The whole album is a perfect mix of choosing out hit songs to listen to and enjoy on their own, and listening to the whole album top to bottom for a nice story.
Mia Anderson | Journalism junior
I’d choose “Banish the Banshee” by Isaac Dunbar. He’s one of my favorite artists and I think that the album has a good mix of different genres. I find all of the songs to be very relatable, being a queer person of color, so it’s a comfort album of mine. My favorite song is “Bleach,” which has an amazing music video; I highly recommend watching it.
Brady Nakamura | Mechanical engineering sophomore
I would bring the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” album because it would transport me off the island. I could die in delusion thinking I was in a cabin in Tahoe rather than dying of hunger on a deserted island.
Whenever I put it on, the spirit of Christmas overcomes me and I feel the urge to embrace the nearest person in loving revelry. So maybe I would hug a coconut and pretend it’s Charlie Brown. I would spend my last days not in mourning, but in anticipation to see Santa’s face before my judgment.
Also, it’s super chill, and if anyone met me on the island they would think, “Oh he’s chill.”
Natalia Celebrini | Art and design sophomore
If I could only bring one album to a deserted island it would be “Currents” by Tame Impala. I was debating between other albums I love, but I honestly couldn’t think of another where I love every single song like I do with “Currents.”
I also love the B-sides of the album, like “List of People (To Try And Forget About)” and “Powerlines.” Even though I’ve been listening to this album for years, I am yet to get tired of it. Definitely a favorite album to blast in the car, which I guess I couldn’t do on my deserted island.
Ed Saliklis | Architectural engineering professor
As a guitar player and classical singer who makes music with his band Professor S and The Stress, Saliklis’ album of choice is their most recent album, “The Vilnius Sessions,” which is yet to be released.
As a Lithuanian citizen whose parents fled the country in World War II and moved to America, Saliklis started the Cal Poly Lithuania architectural engineering (ARCHE) summer program around 10 years ago and is now on sabbatical to focus on research. Having spent countless months in Lithuania in the past year, Saliklis recorded his album in full at a studio in Vilnius.
“My band ‘The Stress’ is a loose collective that changes constantly. This iteration was 100% professionals living and working in Lithuania,” he said.
When Saliklis was younger, he recalls being in his parents’ basement listening to Led Zeppelin, not wondering how they wrote or produced the songs but how they decided the order of the songs — why “Black Dog” was the first song and not “Stairway to Heaven.”
“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to make the order of the songs on your own album?’ … and it happened,” Saliklis said.
While his full album is not yet released, the full score of the song “Fusing Some Musings” is out on Soundcloud.
“I am very happy with the wordplay in the lyrics, and it is a complicated piece with an even more complicated back story,” Saliklis said. “The short version is that I dedicated this song to my friend Michael Fine who lives in Rotterdam and has won a Grammy.”
Listening to “The Vilnius Sessions” on a deserted island, he would remember not only being around so many professionals and young musicians fervently dedicated to make it in the music world but also the Vilnius recording studio, the East German 1970s microphone he used, visiting the capitol’s printing press to look at putting his album on vinyl and the weird rituals of the Lithuanian musicians he was around. He would recall the flute players that he drank coffee and smoked endless packs of cigarettes with before going into the studio and hammering out their song in the quickest time Saliklis has ever seen.
“I would be comforted by this beautiful fact of creativity and can imagine remembering the whole process,” Saliklis said.
