Are you familiar with the classic old television series, Gilligan’s Island? It aired on CBS in the 1960s. Yes, that was a while ago, but even if you weren’t around back then, you’ve probably seen a Gilligan’s Island rerun at some point.
The premise of Gilligan’s Island is simple; a group of seven castaways is stranded on a desert island. In each episode, they try to get rescued, but chaos always ensues, and they fail. Sometimes, visitors show up on the island, but they’re usually shady characters who sneak away, leaving the castaways behind.
To add insult to injury, Gilligan, the skipper, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professor, and Mary Ann have no music on the island! They remembered everything else for their three-hour tour; Mr. & Mrs. Howell remembered to bring martini glasses and bundles of cash, and the movie star remembered trunks of clothing and jewelry, but no one onboard remembered to bring records and a record player - a tragic oversight! The professor did remember to bring a transistor radio, but its reception on the island was weak and staticky.
This made me think; if I ever take a three-hour tour on a small boat in the Pacific with a bunch of strangers and an inept crew during a storm, I’m bringing some classical music recordings and stereo equipment along, just in case. The professor would surely be able to figure out how to listen to them should we happen to wash up on a desert island with no electricity. He could figure-out anything, right? Well, except how to plug a hole in a small boat.
So, we’re creating our Gilligan’s Island list - music that we would absolutely bring with us should we ever take a three-hour tour on a small boat in the Pacific with a bunch of strangers and an inept crew during a storm. You can help us create our Gilligan’s Island list! Go to our website, www.wned.org/classical to vote.
That’s the 2022 WNED Classical Top 100 List. Voting runs from September 19th - October 19th. Then tune to WNED-Classical from October 27th – November 2nd to hear the entire updated list played back for you in reverse order until the No. 1 piece is played on November 2nd. Will Beethoven win again, or will it be that young whippersnapper Dvořák, or someone else whom we’ve never even considered? We’ll find out on November 2nd! In the meantime, vote, vote, VOTE!