It’s my wife’s birthday in the coming week and as a special wink and nod to her I thought it appropriate to dedicate this week’s entry of “The Theme Days of Summer” to her (cue the “aww’s”).  That said here’s the playlist:

Match ANY of the following conditions

NAME contains Happy
NAME contains Birthday
NAME contains Wish
NAME contains Cake
NAME contains Party
NAME contains Celebrate

This pulled up considerably less tracks then I expected and at least half of them were “Partyup” or “Partyman” by Prince.

Last weeks “Question the Answers” playlist is the first that has been promoted to a full-time playlist. From the comments from the Faithful Friends of Five it would seem that you are all enjoying these as well. So much so that I’d like to invite some of you to send me your ideas for future playlists. There are four Fridays left this summer and I’m giving two of the four back to the Fivers! So send your ideas to michael at ickmusic dot com with the subject line “The Theme Days of Summer” and I’ll choose the best two to be featured in a coming Friday Five.

For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with some words for each track (and on occasion the song itself).

Then it’s your turn! You can play along with the themed playlist or just share the first five of your shuffle, either way the fun is in playing musical voyeur for the day.

Here are this week’s tracks:

1. Van Halen – Poundcake (from Best Of, Volume 1)

Originally from the cheeky titled For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, this was, to me, the second pinnacle in the bands career. Sure 5150 and OU812 were both excellent in their own right, but it was on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge that the band hit their stride. From the Makita vs. Guitar intro of “Poundcake” to the smash hit “Right Now” to the closer “Top of the World” (the opening lick which, for you astute students of Ed know, is actually the closing tag to “Jump”) the record never let up and delivered. It also was the last good record that the band has put out (save for the single “Humans Being” which kicks all sorts of ass).

2. DJ Shadow – The Number Song (Cut Chemist Party mix) (MP3) (from Midnight in a Perfect World)

DJ Shadow showing up twice in two weeks, what’s the chance? This is a great remix of “The Number Song” by Shadow’s partner in crime Cut Chemist, with a bit of Latin flair to bring that real party vibe. Seeing how it’s out of print, here is your chance to hear it as well.

3. Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry Be Happy (from Billboard Top Hits: 1988)

Here’s an admission of a guilty pleasure, I absolutely dig “So You Think You Can Dance?” and this week the aptly named Twitch performed his solo piece to this track and I’ve got to say he perfectly embodied the joy that this song brings. For the record I’m predicting Joshua to win, though any one of them really could and I’d be satisfied.

4. Prince – Life ‘O’ the Party (from Musicology)

Mama said if you ain’t got nuthin nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I will say that this is the only track on Musicology that I skip. Not as bad as “Jughead”, but damned close.

5. Beastie Boys – (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party) (from Def Jam Music Group Inc.: 10th Year Anniversary)

Now this is a send off into the weekend! From the box set that no one on this earth should be without this is the single that made all of suburbia sit up and take notice (and tremble a bit). The Beasties trademark blend of Hip-Hop and Rock with a three chord punk aesthetic. For the record, I tried to find and embed the video but apparently Universal does not like that. Hrmph!

So that’s the Five for this week, Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife Christine and if you see Pete around be sure to buy him a drink and give him a pound as I believe he’s got a birthday coming up in the next week as well… so now what’s helping you party through the day?