The Friday Five: January 20, 2012
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:
“Stay” by Erykah Badu (from Live, 1997)
“I’ma test this out…” admits Badu at the beginning of this track, copping to the fact that she intended to cover the Rufus classic at the Soul Train awards show, but “got scared.” She then proceeds to absolutely kick the type of performance that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
“Pope” by Prince (from The Hits/The B-Sides, 1993)
“You don’t understand … I ain’t scared of you mutha fuckers!”
“Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen (from Greatest Hits, 1995)
I suppose I’m beholden to discuss The Boss’ new tune in this space, but I have only listened to it once or twice. The jury is still out, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not a bad song, it just seems a little heavy handed. While not as big a Springsteen fan as most of you that read the Five, I still felt the absence of Clarence at the close where his solo clearly should have been.
“Home Sweet Home” by Mötley Crüe (from Theatre of Pain, 1985)
Vince Neil recently played a show locally. I don’t know why that matters, I just found it odd to think he’s still out there trying to sustain some form of a career without the Crüe. I suppose that will all stop once their Vegas residency starts.
“Stuck With You” by Huey Lewis & The News (from Time Flies… The Best of Huey Lewis & The News, 1996)
“Stuck With You” is only behind “If This Is It” in my list of favorite Huey Lewis tunes.
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: November 25, 2011
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:
“Deck the Halls” by John Denver & The Muppets (from A Christmas Together, 1977)
I swear, I did nothing to rig this. I opened iTunes, hit shuffle, and this is the first thing that played. I’ll let you in, however, on a little secret: on a normal Friday I will skip any random holiday tune that presents itself during the Friday Five. Since today is “black” Friday, I’m going to let this one play. Besides, it’s from one of my favorite Christmas records!
“Goin’ Against Your Mind” by Built to Spill (from You in Reverse, 2006)
I always forget how much I like Built to Spill. Drive-By Truckers, too! They fall into that category of bands that when I hear them I instantly fall in love with all over again.
“Still Water (Love)” by Four Tops (from The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 10: 1970, 1996)
Still the most intimidating collection in my library, The Complete Motown Singles continues to turn up tunes that I’ve not heard before.
“New Tattoo” by Mötley Crüe (from New Tattoo, 2008)
Naming your record after a lazy mid-tempo ballad can never lead anywhere good. Did Vince really just sing “I will be your Dorian Grey”? You can’t see it, but I’m sitting at the kitchen table shaking my head in disappointment.
“Never” by Gravity Kills (from Gravity Kills, 1996)
You know, I was kind of hoping that this Friday Five would finish strong. C’est la Vie!
What’s on your shuffle today?