Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.

The Five:

“Touch of Madness” by Night Ranger (from Midnight Madness, 1987)

Discussion around the Popdose water cooler has been buzzing about Night Ranger’s upcoming release, Somewhere in California, touting the return of “classic Night Ranger.” Perhaps predictably, Matt Wardlaw and Dave Steed are in a tizzy and Jeff Giles (Y’all) has to replace his monitor.

Oh, and will you look at that; Matt even wrote about it!

“Dance the Night Away” by Van Halen (from Best Of, Volume 1, 1996)

Since we’re all doomed in the next 48 hours, I might as well go ahead and let you all know that this is, hands down, without a doubt or question, my favorite Van Halen song. It’s the perfect example of the band’s ability to balance pop perfection and hard rock hooks.

“Can’t Buy Me Love” by The Beatles (from A Hard Day’s Night, 1964)

I’m debating listening to Abbey Road, Let it Be and Purple Rain all day Saturday. I’m not buying into this rapture bullshit, but if something is going down, I might as well go ahead and listen to my favorite records, right?

“Porch” by Pearl Jam (from Ten, 1991)

“What the fuck is this world running to?” Okay, enough of this end of the world crap.

“The Best of My Love” by The Eagles (from The Very Best of The Eagles, 2003)

When I heard the first strum, I was reminded of a story I read once. You should go and read it, but make sure you come back and leave your five!

What’s on your shuffle today?