Desert Island Discs

Paul Johnson in the Spectator this week was ruminating on what records he would pick if he were to be asked (again) to Desert Island Discs. Because of the nature of the programme - short excerpts rather than complete works - he thought it best "not to put in any classical stuff, for the excerpts are too short", so he chose Hutch singing "These Foolish Things", Marlene Dietrich doing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have" and Sam in Casablanca singing "As Time Goes By"; Gracie Fields with "Sally" and finally Richard Tauber singing "In a Shady Nook" and John McCormack singing "I Hear You Calling me".
A good choice of records, though I think I prefer Tauber singing "You are my Heart's Delight" which my mother used to sing (not very well) and McCormack singing "Keep the Home Fires Burning" which made him a fortune - as well as it's composer, Ivor Novello.
I recall Alfred Hitchcock on Desert Island Discs choosing Dohnanyi's "Variations on a Nursery Rhyme" - he liked jokes in music - and saying he had just made a film called "Psycho" which he described as "a gentle horror film". Gentle, my foot!
One of the best on the programme was Professor Joad ("it depends on what you mean by....") who chose all classical records up to about 1850. At the end he said "children should be forced to listen to this sort of music until they liked it."
I can think of only one record I am certain I'd take if I were given the opportunity to choose eight records for Desert Island Discs: Sousa's march "Liberty Bell". Nothing like it to lift the spirits - except, of course, a large Bells.