This month in 1941, Roy Plomey came up with the idea for Desert Island Discs and wrote to the BBC, who jumped at the idea and the first programme was broadcast on 29th January 1942. Here is a list of the top 40 most popular-chosen tracks and their overall ranking is shown in the right-hand column. Next week it will be the top 40 classical tracks.
| Rank | Artist | Title | Overall rank |
| 40 | The Beatles | Strawberry Fields Forever | 76 |
| 39 | Dave Brubeck Quartet | Take Five | 75 |
| 38 | Marvin Gaye | I Heard It Through The Grapevine | 74 |
| 37 | The Beatles | Yesterday | 73 |
| 36 | Bob Dylan | Tangled Up In Blue | 71 |
| 35 | Don McLean | American Pie | 68 |
| 34 | Abba | Dancing Queen | 67 |
| 33 | David Bowie | Heroes | 66 |
| 32 | The Smiths | There Is A Light That Never Goes Out | 65 |
| 31 | Joy Division | Love Will Tear Us Apart | 63 |
| 30 | Procol Harum | A Whiter Shade of Pale | 62 |
| 29 | Gerry Rafferty | Baker Street | 61 |
| 28 | Bruce Springsteen | Born To Run | 60 |
| 27 | Bruce Springsteen | Thunder Road | 58 |
| 26 | Rolling Stones | Sympathy For the Devil | 56 |
| 25 | Miles Davis | So What | 55 |
| 24 | Johnny Cash | Hurt | 53 |
| 23 | Louis Armstrong | What A Wonderful World | 51 |
| 22 | The Who | Won’t Get Fooled Again | 50 |
| 21 | Elbow | One Day Like This | 49 |
| 20 | The Eagles | Hotel California | 48 |
| 19 | Electric Light Orchestra | Mr Blue Sky | 47 |
| 18 | David Bowie | Life On Mars? | 46 |
| 17 | The Beatles | Here Comes the Sun | 44 |
| 16 | Jimi Hendrix Experience | All Along the Watchtower | 39 |
| 15 | John Lennon | Imagine | 38 |
| 14 | Derek & The Dominoes | Layla | 37 |
| 13 | Pink Floyd | Shine on You Crazy Diamond | 31 |
| 12 | The Beatles | A Day In The Life | 29 |
| 11 | The Beatles | In My Life | 27 |
| 10 | Bob Dylan | Like A Rolling Stone | 25 |
| 9 | Beach Boys | God Only Knows | 23 |
| 8 | Simon & Garfunkel | Bridge Over Troubled Water | 20 |
| 7 | Rolling Stones | Gimme Shelter | 19 |
| 6 | The Kinks | Waterloo sunset | 17 |
| 5 | The Beatles | Hey Jude | 14 |
| 4 | Pink Floyd | Wish You Were Here | 13 |
| 3 | Led Zeppelin | Stairway To Heaven | 11 |
| 2 | Pink Floyd | Comfortably Numb | 5 |
| 1 | Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody | 4 |