Hello I'm Krusty Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1978 and the presenter was Roy Plumley. On our Desert Island this week is John Wayne, poet, novelist, critic, biographer, and for a

short time yet Professor of Poetry at Oxford. John before we elaborate on all

those facets of your work let's have a record do you play discs a lot

Yes, I do I need music all the time though I haven't got any good musical taste or anything

Do you use this background?

Sometimes when I'm writing I do, I never use it as a background to anything else.

I might play some music while I'm struggling with the next bit that I'm writing in which case it is really helping me

I never play records as a background when I'm just staring out of the window adding up the family budget

or anything like that. I'm told you're a considerable performer on the mouth organ.

Yes I play the mouth organ superbly.

Good. Any other musical skill, any other instrument?

No, that's quite enough.

Right, what's your first record?

Well, I think sometimes, however nice the Desert Island is,

I might get depressed and lonely,

and the one musician who has never failed to take me out of a fit of depression is Fat's Waller.

So it would have to be Fat's Waller and over the whole range of his recordings I think I would choose.

Your feet's too big.

Up in Harlem at a table for two.

There were four of us, me, your big feet, and you.

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