52 Weeks, 261 Songs and a full year later ‘The Friday Five’ is officially a year old. It has been consistently one of our most popular features and for that I want to thank the folks that take the time every week to play along. The coming weeks will bring a slight facelift to the five as well as a few guest spots. This week we’ve got a short but sweet list…

For those who have not joined in the Friday Five here is all you need to know; each Friday 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 more the merrier!

The Five:

“Rich Girl” (mp3) – Hall & Oates (from Greatest Hits: Rock ‘n Soul, Part 1)

Hall & Oates never fails to bring a smile to my face.

“1999” – Prince (from Purple Storm in the Coachella Valley)

Live from Prince‘s headline set at last years Coachella festival.

“The Brainsong” (mp3) – Fury in the Slaughterhouse (from Mono)

I never really understood why Fury in the Slaughterhouse wasn’t huge in the states. Has anyone else ever heard of this band, or am I the only one?

“Footprints” – A Tribe Called Quest (from People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm)

Kicking off with a sample of the Stevie Wonder‘s “Sir Duke” this is real hip-hop. Q-Tip is in perfect form spitting a wicked rhyme as only he can over the bouncy funk track.

“Losing a Whole Year” – Third Eye Blind (from Third Eye Blind)

I’ve found out that there is a new genre definition for all the alternative bands of the mid-90’s that we all love (or love to hate), it’s called Post-Grunge…

Tag! You’re it!