The Friday Five: November 4, 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:
I hear that my little town—Newtown, CT—has made the news recently as being “ground zero” for the power outages effecting the Northeast, thanks to the Halloween snowstorm this past weekend. I say “hear” as I’ve been living life a little bit more simply the past few days, relying on the kindness of friends and family to get warmth, recharge my batteries and catch up on the world.
So … live, from my Mother-In-Law’s dining room, it’s the Friday Five!
“This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” by Fall Out Boy (from, Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits, 2009)
“All My Tomorrows” by Frank Sinatra (from, Nothing but the Best, 2008)
“Hated” by The Afghan Whigs (from, Up in It, 1990)
“Mr. Bojangles (live)” by Nina Simone (from, To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story, 2008)
“Datskat” by The Roots (from Buy-Product 1, 1995)
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: January 7, 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:
“Heaven” by Bryan Adams (from Reckless, 1984)
Oh, the melodrama! Now, I’d be lying if I said that I did love this song for every bit of its Journey inspired power balladry. Hell, the entirety of Reckless provided the soundtrack to my tween years.
Here’s a fun little bit of trivia: the drum part on “Heaven” was played by Journey’s own, Steve Smith.
“Get Over It” by Amy Petty (from House of Doors, 2010)
If you follow me on the twitter, you’ll no doubt already be aware of my deep seated love for Amy Petty’s songwriting and seductive voice. This record earned a spot among my favorites of 2010.
“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes (from Billboard Top Hits: 1979, 1991)
I really don’t care for Piña Coladas, but I love this song.
“Creep” by TLC (from Now & Forever: The Hits, 2003)
While I prefer the Afghan Whigs version, I have nothing bad to say about this track.
“O.P.P.” by Naughty by Nature (from The Hip Hop Box, 2004)
Seems like a great track to kick into the first Friday dance party here in the office.
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: October 16, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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:
Shai – “If I Ever Fall in Love (a cappella)” (from If I Ever Fall in Love, 1992)
1992 was absolutely dominated by New Jack Swing crooners Boyz II Men; more specifically their monster single “End of the Road” which spent the better part of the summer and fall on the top of the Billboard charts. It was only a matter of time before record labels began searching for clones to cash in on the market. Enter Shai, a group of fraternity brothers from Howard University who fell into the business after handing a demo of “If I Ever Fall in Love” to a local DJ who brought the track to radio where it was an instant hit. The group struggled to match the success of the track, only coming close with the top 10 hits “Baby I’m Yours” and “Comforter” and fading into obscurity after that despite releasing several records in the years since.
Prince – “Chelsea Rodgers” (from Planet Earth, 2007)
Here’s the problem with writing a tune that name checks your current squeeze, when she’s gone and you’ve got a new Stella on your arm she might not take kind to you rocking a tune about your former. Now this is all hearsay as Prince and Chelsea both maintain that they were purely platonic friends, but you sure haven’t seen her ‘round since Bria Valente came on the scene. Regardless this track’s disco-funk inspired groove was a stand out on the otherwise groove-less Planet Earth.
The Afghan Whigs – “Creep” (mp3) (from Honky’s Ladder, 1996)
Greg Dulli is one morose motherfucker. The Afghan Whigs front man is also a genius taking TLC’s 1994 hit about a woman displeased with her current lover and “creeping” around to get some ass into the dark and, well, creepy place that Dulli is the master of.
Bee Gees – “More Than a Woman” (mp3) (from Saturday Night Fever, 1977)
I’ll admit this tune shuffled up and I started to dance in my chair. I’m going to let the music do the talking for this tune, click that link above and enjoy!
Radiohead – “Creep (radio edit)” (from Pablo Honey, 1993)
“You’re so very special” doesn’t quite have the ring and bite of “You’re so fucking special” but despite that this is the version – as featured in the video as well – that the kids went nuts for and catapulted the band to the uncomfortable heights they’ve eschewed in the years following the success of the single.
What’s creeping up in your shuffle this week?