Friday Five

The Friday Five: January 7, 2011

January 7, 2011 / 21 Comments

Friday Five

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?

21 Comments

  • @ilmEditor
    January 7, 2011 at 4:28 pm Reply

    Oooo – cool idea 😀 Here’s mine…

    1. Death In Vegas – Rocco
    2. Elbow – Friend of Ours
    3. Nina Simone – I Put A Spell On You
    4. Run DMC – It’s Tricky
    5. Black Grass – Oh Jah

  • Anonymous
    January 7, 2011 at 4:40 pm Reply

    Here’s my five:

    1) Bill Champlin – “Lover Like That”
    2) Sara Bareilles – “Bottle It Up”
    3) Edwyn Collins – “A Girl Like You”
    4) Def Leppard – “Animal”
    5) The Cranberries – “Empty”

  • Dopeburger
    January 7, 2011 at 4:42 pm Reply

    1. “Glowworm” by Apples in Stereo. Outer Space.
    2. “Simple Way” by Port O’Brien. Haunting.
    3. “Squares” by The Beta Band. Daydream.
    4. “Island on the Coast” by Band of Horses. Adrenaline.
    5. “Warning Sign” by the Local Natives. Barnstormer.

  • Anonymous
    January 7, 2011 at 4:52 pm Reply

    1. “A Place In The Line” by Jude Cole
    2. “My Problem Is You” by Jackson Browne
    3. “I Can’t Stand The Rain” by Lowell George
    4. “Tonight Will Be Fine” by Teddy Thompson
    5. “Rio” by Michael Nesmith

  • grayflannelsuit
    January 7, 2011 at 6:21 pm Reply

    1. “I Got the Feelin’ (Oh No, No)”, Neil Diamond – Nothing puts me in a better mood for the end of the week than a cut from the Jewish Elvis!
    2. “Lo, the Hard Times”, Smalltown Heroes – Never thought I’d hear rootsy Christian Americana, but here you go. This has the kind of vibe Mellencamp was trying for on his last album.
    3. “Gentlemen Take Polaroids”, Japan – RIP Mick Karn
    4. “Martyrdom Of Saint Sebastian: Prelude To The Council Of The False Gods”, Claude Debussy – Damn, Debussy snapped up this title before Yes could use it.
    5. “Murders in the Rue Morgue (live)”, Iron Maiden – Classic Maiden will never get old for me. Never.

  • Chad Zimmermann
    January 7, 2011 at 6:26 pm Reply

    1. “Black Sheep” by August Burns Red
    2. “The House is Rockin'” by Stevie Ray Vaughn
    3. “Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue
    4. “Panama (Live)” by Van Halen
    5. “Message in a Bottle” by The Police

    1 song from the 70s, 3 from the 80s, and 1 from the 00s…nice little mix right there.

  • Anonymous
    January 7, 2011 at 7:04 pm Reply

    1. “April in Paris” – Charlie Parker (Essential Charlie Parker) – Bird with Strings!
    2. “Union Square” – Tom Waits (Rain Dogs) – Great album
    3. “Suspicious Minds” – Elvis Presley – Oh dear
    4. “Gospel Plow” – Screaming Trees (Dust) – Three different themes in this one
    5. “Headache” – Splitsville (Incoporated) – Baltimore Power Pop

  • Bill C
    January 7, 2011 at 8:29 pm Reply

    Cyndi Lauper-Mother Earth-Memphis Blues. I was really excited about getting this, but her voice is note meant for the blues. I love Cyndi, but this album is average. This song is probably the highlight

    Graham Paker – Saturday night is Dead-From Live at the Test. One of his best albums. A live import. Great song. GP is the man.

    Hootie and the Blowfish-Honeyscrew-From Fairweather Johnson. I had no idea this was in my collection. Typical Hootie. Not great, but you aren’t running for the “skip” button.

    Allison Krause and Robert Plant-Gone, Gone, gone. I liked this album a lot more when it first came out than I do now.

    Lisa Stanfield-The Way I Want It-From Affection. Long before Amy or any of other white chicks who sing the blues there was Lisa Stanfield. And she ruled.

    Lisa Stanfield-the Way I Want It. From Affection. Long before Amy or any of the other British blues singers of this day there was Lisa Stanfield.

  • Mike
    January 8, 2011 at 12:31 am Reply

    Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway-For All We Know: Great, haunting soul from a pair of legends. Remind me to tell you my Roberta Flack story someday.

    Sting-I Was Brought to My Senses: I’m not sure why I even have this on my iPod. “Mercury Falling” pretty much sucks all the way through.

    Kanye West feat. Lupe Fiasco-Touch the Sky: When I first heard this song, I was like “who the hell is Lupe Fiasco? This guy stinks.”. I stand corrected…

    The Clash-Groovy Times: I like experimental dubby-disco-rap Clash better than I like straight-ahead rock Clash, but this is a pretty good song.

    The Wallflowers-Letters from the Wasteland: I don’t listen to “Breach” much, but the Sam Cooke line in “Sleepwalker” is enough reason to keep it around.

    • EightE1
      January 8, 2011 at 1:46 am Reply

      I love Breach, and “Letters” and “Sleepwalker” are two big reasons (“Hand Me Downs” is a third). I remember Greil Marcus obsessing on that “Sam Cooke didn’t know what I know” line in several of his old “Real Life Rock Top Ten” pieces from that time.

      If I’d only had “Hand Me Downs,” “Letters,” and Grant Lee Buffalo’s “Testimony” back in my mid-teens, I’da felt more like there was someone else out there feeling like I did. Ah, well …

  • EightE1
    January 8, 2011 at 1:42 am Reply

    Friends are fighting tonight, so I’m heading offline to escape the neggy vibeage, do some reading, and watch some boxing, where they at least wear padded gloves. Not before I do my Five, though:

    The Hold Steady, “Stuck Between Stations.” I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — all rise for the playing of our national anthem.

    Jayhawks, “Settled Down Like Rain.” Lately, I feel myself really craving new Jayhawks music, so I treat with great happiness and more than a little longing the news that the ’95 era of the band is recording new stuff. Though I don’t REALLY want to wait long for it, I hope they release it in, like, May or June, cuz new Jayhawks in early summer would be fine listening, indeed.

    .38 Special, “You Keep Runnin’ Away.” This is from the Special Forces record, which featured on its cover a painting of a woman’s backside in Daisy Dukes (back when the original Daisy Duke was still on TV), staring at a rather phallic .38 Special logo bustin’ out of the ground. Had to hide that record from my mom’s eyes, so I could, you know, avoid having it confiscated. I think this is one of the 700 or so of the band’s songs that the great Jim Peterik co-wrote. Very cool.

    Beastie Boys, “Intergalactic.” Just read today that Adam Yauch is cancer-free. Awesome news.

    Deep Purple, “Lay Down, Stay Down.” Coverdale/Hughes-era Purple, from the Burn album. Definitely hairy-chested, big-willied, bluesy Brit hard rock, to the max — the aural equivalent of Derek Smalls’ foil-covered cucumber, and only slightly less ridiculous.

  • Anonymous
    January 8, 2011 at 2:03 am Reply

    St. Vincent, “Laughing with a Mouthful of Blood” from Actor (2009)
    The Beta Band, “Dog Got a Bone” from The Three E.P.s (1999)
    Morrissey, “First of the Gang to Die” from Greatest Hits (2008)
    Rural Alberta Advantage, “In the Summertime” from Hometowns (2009)
    Whodini, “Rap Machine” from Whodini (1983)

  • whiteray
    January 8, 2011 at 5:16 am Reply

    1. “Too Much of Nothing” by Bob Dylan and The Band from the “Sounds from Big Pink” boot, 1967. Audio not the greatest quality, but still an interesting artifact.

    2. “Hey Jude” by the Beatles from “Love,” 2006. Some of the stuff on “Love” works, in that it makes a listener pay attention anew to things that are so familiar, but I’m not sure about this edit.

    3. “Tonight I’ll Be Lonely Too” by Alison Krause from “I’ve Got That Old Feeling,” 1990. Authentic. That’s all one I can say about Alison.

    4. “If I Could Touch You” by Kathy Smith from “Some Songs I’ve Saved,” 1970. Pleasant singer-songwriter stuff but nothing astounding.

    5. “Did You Know” by Jake Holmes from “The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes,” 1967. Another okay singer-songwriter tune, this time from the writer of the purloined “Dazed & Confused.”

  • judd6149
    January 8, 2011 at 10:10 am Reply

    My Friday Five…on a Saturday:

    1. Dave Gleason: Midnight California. Oh boy, Dave had his Gram Parsons on when he set out to make music. I’m not sure if he is all that well know. I have most of his stuff and love it. Usually played on hot, sunny days with chilled, cold beers in hand. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzc4Hy8

    2.Lenny Kravitz: Let Love Rule. Every high-school click has that one friend whose parents let them run amok in. We had one and we ran like wild banshees. This album was played non-stop in this house. Not a party went by where we didn’t let love…and a few other things…rule. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd8T-Q

    3.Tammy Wynette: Don’t Home With a Drinkin’ With Love on Your Mind. Ah, the girl with a tear in her voice. This is REAL country. Interpret that statement however you want…but it is true. Listen to her sing! Loretta Lynn wrote this. She said she wrote it after her husband, Boo, came home, well…with lovin’ on his mind. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd0Fvc

    4. Pete Townshend: English Boy. Was I the only one who loved Pete’s ’80’s rocker opera effort, Psychoderelict? I think so. I like a lot of Townshend’s solo material. This one hit a few buttons for me. This was the only thing close to a single on it. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd2FEM

    5.Bob Dylan: Stuck Inside of Memphis With the Mobile Blues Again. One of my top 10 fave rave Bob songs. The chorus kills and that pumping organ is great. Plus, you can’t go wrong with these lyrics: “one was texas medicine the other was just railroad gin. Like a fool I mixed them and it strangled up my mind…” http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdqjl4

  • Dennis Corrigan
    January 8, 2011 at 2:16 pm Reply

    My iPod had the blues sure enough last night:

    “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” by the Who from My Generation – covering Martha & the Vandellas. Maximum R&B at its best
    “I’m Ready” by Muddy Waters from the Chess Box – great harmonica solo by Little Walter
    “How Blue Can You Get” by B.B. King from Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out – best part of the rerelease in ’09 was the inclusion of the B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner tracks
    “Drowning on Dry Land” by Roy Buchanan from the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection – great overview of the first 20 years of the label
    “When Your Way Gets Dark” by Charlie Patton from Founder of the Delta Blues – back where it all began

  • dslifton
    January 8, 2011 at 4:15 pm Reply

    “The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry)” – Sly & The Family Stone
    “Boulder To Birmingham” – Emmylou Harris
    “Anna (Go To Him)” – The Beatles
    “Round Here” – Counting Crows
    “Take Me Down To The Hospital” – The Replacements

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