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Nick Cave, singer and writer

Nick Cave, singer and writer, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would take with him if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Nick Cave is a singer and writer who, with his band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has released emotionally intense and provocative music since the mid-Eighties. He is also a novelist, composer and has written film scripts and soundtracks along with his writing partner and Bad Seed Warren Ellis.

Nick grew up in Wangaratta, Australia the third of four children. He formed his first band, the Boys Next Door, in 1973 while he was at school. He studied fine art at the Caulfield Institute of Technology in Melbourne but left to pursue music. In 1980 the band relocated to London, renaming themselves the Birthday Party on the flight over. In 1984 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds鈥 released their debut album, From Her to Eternity, and they have gone on to put out a further 17 albums.

In 2015 Nick lost his son Arthur who died after accidentally falling off a cliff and seven years later his eldest son Jethro died. In 2018 Nick started the Red Hand Files, an online blog in which he answers questions posed by his fans, to try and articulate his feelings about grief. He has described it as a 鈥渟trange exercise in communal vulnerability and transparency.鈥

In 2017 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia.

DISC ONE: Metal Guru - T. Rex
DISC TWO: My Father - Nina Simone
DISC THREE: (I鈥檓) Stranded - The Saints
DISC FOUR: It Serves You Right to Suffer - John Lee Hooker
DISC FIVE: Something on Your Mind - Karen Dalton
DISC SIX: Girl from the North Country - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash West
DISC SEVEN: I Am a God 鈥 Kanye West
DISC EIGHT: Morning Dew - Tim Rose

BOOK CHOICE: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
LUXURY ITEM: A suit
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Am a God 鈥 Kanye West

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Available now

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 31 Jan 2025 09:00

Music Played

  • T. Rex

    Metal Guru

    • The Slider.
    • T-Rex Catalog (Spirit Music).
    • 1.
  • Nina Simone

    My Father

    • Baltimore.
    • Epic/Associated/Legacy.
    • 4.
  • The Saints

    (I'm) Stranded

    • (I鈥檓) Stranded.
    • EMI Music Australia.
    • 1.
  • John Lee Hooker

    It Serves You Right to Suffer

    • The Essential.
    • Geffen*.
    • 13.
  • Karen Dalton

    Something on Your Mind

    • In My Own Time (50th Anniversary Edition).
    • Light In The Attic Records.
    • 1.
  • Bob Dylan

    Girl From The North Country (feat. Johnny Cash)

    • Singles Plus.
    • Columbia Nashville Legacy.
    • 29.
  • Ye

    I Am A God

    • Yeezus.
    • Rock The World/IDJ/Kanye/LP6.
    • 3.
  • Tim Rose

    Morning Dew

    • They Write The Songs.
    • Columbia.
    • 16.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 26 Jan 2025 10:00
  • Fri 31 Jan 2025 09:00

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