Friday Five

The Friday Five: February 4, 2011

February 4, 2011 / 28 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:

“Naima” by John Coltrane (from Giant Steps, 1959)

I spent the better part of my 20’s as a full on record store junkie—albeit, a paid one. On the occasions where I found myself opening the store on a Sunday morning, I had only one requirement: Coltrane was to be played for the first three hours of the day. It’s a ritual that I carried for years, and to this day, when I’m up early on a Sunday morning I’ll revisit one of his classic sides.

“P Control” by Prince (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

Oh, Prince … you dirty motherfucker, how I miss you.

“Boy” by Ra Ra Riot (from The Orchard, 2010)

I’m still quite smitten with The Orchard.

“Burning Up” by Madonna (from Celebration, 2009)

I think it was my musical “brother from another mother” Mike Heyliger who started the discussion on Madonna’s lesser appreciated singles a few weeks back. I completely forgot about “Burning Up,” opting instead for “Angel.”

“Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” by U2 (from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 2004)

Speaking of under-appreciated singles, this should have been every bit as big a hit as any of the band’s hits of the aughts.

What’s on your shuffle today?

28 Comments

  • judd6149
    February 4, 2011 at 2:55 pm Reply

    My Friday 5:

    1. James Carr: “You Got My Mind Messed Up”. Carr, soul sender to be ranked amongst the greats, was probably cutting it a little close to the bone with the title of this gut-wrencher. He had a bit of trouble handling the scene and receded away from the lime, spot and bright lights of fame. Be sure to check him out. http://goo.gl/2EHof

    2. Gregg Allman: “Will The CIrcle Be Unbroken”. This is a demo cut off of Gregg’s solo anthology. It is just him and acoustic, playing a melancholy, heartstring puller. He captures the essence of the song. His voice is shaky, but imperfectly perfect. http://goo.gl/SZqS1

    3. Keith Richards: “She Still Comes Around”. This is a very famous bootleg outtake from a session Keef did while holed up in Toronto after his very legendary heroin bust. He is covering George Jones here. When you listen to the music, you get swept up in Keef’s romantic notions of the country singer life. When you listen to the lyrics, you have to laugh…they are spot on for the situation. Anita came back around for sure…or was he talking about his other common-law-wife, H?

    4. Tom Petty: “Free Fallin'”. This is off the grandiose ‘Live Anthology”. Great song when it came out. Great song now. Great sing-a-long, too. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdIj7Y

    5. The Doors: “Who Do You Love”. Nice rowdy, thumping, live cover song to start the day…powered by the Bo Diddley Beat, of course. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdOwuU

  • Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas
    February 4, 2011 at 3:19 pm Reply

    1) “Mr. Motion” by Marc Bolan & T. Rex (from Messing With The Mystic, 1994)
    2) “Give Me It” by The Cure (from The Top, 1984)
    3) “Rock Of Ages” by Grant Lee Buffalo (from Mighty Joe Moon, 1994)
    4) “I Must Be High” by Wilco (from A.M., 1995)
    5) “Deathwish” by The Police (from Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings, 1993)

  • Pete
    February 4, 2011 at 3:22 pm Reply

    Greetings from the chilly Arizona desert, where it’s currently 25 degrees. While I warm up with my 3rd cup of java, let the tunes fly…

    1. “Call Me On Your Way Back Home” – Ryan Adams (‘Heartbreaker’, 2000)
    2. “Many Rivers To Cross” – Jimmy Cliff (Soundtrack to ‘The Harder They Come’, 1972)
    3. “Soy Luz Y Sombra” – Ry Cooder (‘Chavez Ravine’, 2006)
    4. “What Comes Funky” – Parliament (‘Chocolate City’, 1975)
    5. “Wrong Side of the Street” – Bruce Springsteen (‘The Promise’, 2010)

    This shuffle’s going so good, I’m gonna let it ride… Happy Friday y’all!

  • Connie
    February 4, 2011 at 3:33 pm Reply

    Love Me in a Special Way – El DeBarge
    Starstruc – Lady GaGa
    Stutter – Maroon 5
    Old Dirt Hill – Dave Matthews
    Golden Boy – Natalie Merchant

  • Mindy
    February 4, 2011 at 3:43 pm Reply

    1. Caress Me Down – Sublime
    2. Sheena is a Punk Rocker – Ramones
    3. Fix You – Street Corner Symphony
    4. Hello Goodbye – The Beatles
    5. One Night in L.A. – Thomas Lee

  • Mike Duquette
    February 4, 2011 at 4:30 pm Reply

    Morrissey – “Sunny”: I think this was released by one label (EMI?) while Moz was on another label, and it sounds like more of a B-side. And not one of Morrissey’s better A or B-sides, either.

    Maroon 5 – “If I Ain’t Got You (Live)”: a bonus track off the deluxe edition of their last album. I’m enough of a Maroon 5 fan to have bought said deluxe edition, but the extra tunes aren’t much of a patch on the underrated album in general, as this succinctly proves.

    Elvis Costello and The Attractions – “Pump It Up (Live at Hollywood High)”: there are like four or five live albums taken from the 1978-1979 tours, and they all kind of sound the same. But this is still one of Elvis’ best singles with The Attractions, and it’s always lively in concert. (The news that EC’s next tour will bring back the Spinning Songbook made me excited to have this one pop up, too!)

    Queen – “Save Me”: not one of my favorite Queen singles – the verses kind of just sail along, but the ascending keys in the chorus are kind of uplifting. I wasn’t entirely sold on the excitement of this week’s five until…

    Terence Trent D’Arby – “If You All Get to Heaven”: the opening track off the criminally underrated “Introducing the Hardline According to…” A killer groove, a powerful vocal and a perfect teaser of what’s to come as the album progresses. Come back, TTD/Sananda Maitreya – all is forgiven.

  • Anonymous
    February 4, 2011 at 6:08 pm Reply

    1. “The Oh Of Pleasure” by Ray Lynch
    2. “Walking In Memphis” by Marc Cohn
    3. “Rave On” by Steeleye Span
    4. “Freeway View” by James McMurtry
    5. “Faithfully” by Clem Snide

  • Anonymous
    February 4, 2011 at 7:20 pm Reply

    I’m still quite smitten with The Orchard too. And I LOVE that U2 song.

    Ok, my Five:

    1) The Damnwells – WWXII
    2) Patti Rothberg – Dish It Out
    3) Better than Ezra – Laid
    4) Genesis – Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
    5) Sleigh Bells – Crown on the Ground

    Man alive, I love Sleigh Bells and that album. Still think it’s one of the corniest band names ever though. Sigh.

  • dslifton
    February 4, 2011 at 7:27 pm Reply

    “Turn On Me” – The Shins
    “The Thought Of You” – This Is Me Smiling
    “World Inside The World” – Rhett Miller
    “Just The Motion” – Richard Thompson (New York, 10-21-09)
    “New Slang” – The Shins

  • Anonymous
    February 4, 2011 at 7:51 pm Reply

    George Michael – I Want Your Sex from Faith (1987)
    Robyn – Love Kills from Body Talk (2010)
    Kid Sister – Don’t Stop Movin’ from Kiss Kiss Kiss Mixtape (2011)
    Fleetwood Mac – Caroline from Tango in the Night (1987)
    U2 – Lemon from Zooropa (1993)

  • Amy Petty
    February 4, 2011 at 8:07 pm Reply

    I love this crap.

    1) Hit and Run – Sarah Masen (The Dreamlife of Angels)
    I went to Jr. High School with Sarah. I can’t decide if I like her because she’s good or just cuz I know her.

    2) Possibly Maybe – Bjork (Post)
    She’s certifiably insane, but I love love love love love her voice.

    3) All I Could Do Was Cry – Etta James (The Best of Etta James)
    Every time I hear her voice, I can’t identify that it’s her. I’m always like ‘wow, awesome…who is that?’ Dummy. I would love to be in a wedding band that only covered Etta James songs. Who’s in?

    4) Best Imitation of Myself – Ben Folds Five (Ben Folds Five)
    I saw BF5 live in Detroit 65 years ago and it was probably my favorite concert I’ve ever been to. Every song ended about 40 clicks faster than it started.

    5) Weird Science – Oingo Boingo
    Five points for me.

  • Bill C
    February 4, 2011 at 9:36 pm Reply

    Piggies-Beatles Cure, irreverant song. Great way to start.
    Last Night’s Lovin’ Dolly Parton from Jolene. Dolly can shake the paint off the walls with her voice. This is a great song. True country.
    Drowning-Joe Jackson from Laughter and Lust. Not my favorite JJ song, but a good song.
    Sould Jones-Wet Willie from Keep on Smilin’. Back in the day Wet Willie was one of the few Southern Rock bands that mattered. Great southern soul.
    City of the Dead-The Clash. From some bootleg I can’t recall. It is the Clash. Enough said.

  • EightE1
    February 5, 2011 at 12:24 am Reply

    Love that “Pussy Control.” Awesome stuff. Miss that filthy Prince shit.

    AC/DC, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train.” My kid loves this song. For once, he’s right.

    Pearl Jam,”Animal.”

    Johnny Cash, “Highway Patrolman.” My favorite song off Springsteen’s Nebraska. Cash steals it from The Boss here.

    David Bowie, “Modern Love.” One of my favorite intros — that “DROOK-uh-drook-uh-drookadrookadrooka DROOK-uh-drook-uh-drookadrookadrooka” thing I assume is Stevie Ray Vaughan. Love it. Love the rest of the song, and the rest of Let’s Dance. Love Bowie. Love, love, love Bowie.

    Warren Zevon, “Mutineer.” I miss Zevon. I really do.

    Mr. Big, “To Be with You.” I can play the solo on this song. No, seriously, I can. Drove my college roommate and neighbors crazy til I got it right.”

  • Dennis Corrigan
    February 5, 2011 at 3:12 am Reply

    Listened to the Sound Opinions review of 1991 on the way home from work the other night, so I hit shuffle on my ’91 playlist:

    1. “Something Got Me Started” by Simply Red from Greatest Hits. Originally off Stars, I remember wearing out the cassette (!) tape I had of this while driving to/from the Alps on weekend ski trips.
    2. “Many Miles Travelled” by B.B. King from the King of the Blues box set. A previously unreleased track written and produced by Vernon Reid
    3. “For Now” by The Feelies from Time For a Witness. Their last release until this coming April’s Here Before. I’m beyond excited for this. Head over to Pitchfork to download a preview track. Love me some Feelies.
    4. “Hi-Heel Sneakers” – Paul McCartney from Unplugged. Bought this in a German record store, lost it the move back, and bought a really expensive Japanese import to replace it. Then, of course, Sir Paul finally released it in the States to which I said “F you Paul”
    5. “On Every Street” by Dire Straits from On Every Street. Love Dire Straits & Knopfler, but I never warmed up to this record, although this is my favorite track on the album

    1991 was a great year for music. Left the playlist going and got tracks from Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, Nirvana (naturally), Sam Phillips’ Cruel Invention, Southside Johnny’s Better Days andTeenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque. Good times!

  • Mike
    February 5, 2011 at 3:44 am Reply

    Great five here, MP. I can certainly speak for “P Control” being one of Prince’s last truly great freak-out moments, as we discovered the moment we opened up the “Gold Experience” CD at Tower during evening rush on the day it came out and played it on the sound system. Oops…

    My five:

    1) “Girl Next Door” by Musiq Soulchild (from “Aijuswanaseing”, 2000)-I like this dude a lot, and his first album’s a pretty good slice of “neo-soul” (I hate that term). However, he’s been stuck on repeat for ten years now.

    2) “Snake Hips” by The Brand New Heavies (from “Brother Sister”, 1994)-These guys were cool, and it’s not like there were a lot of funk bands making waves in the Nineties. They were just kinda…I don’t know, polite for me. They needed some stank in their funk.

    3) “Could” by Brian McKnight (from “Anytime”, 1996)- Speaking of polite, McKnight was about as milquetoast as it got. Like a Nineties version of Lionel Richie. My music player is being extra wimpy tonight. I need some gangsta shit!

    4) “Why Does it Hurt So Bad?” by Whitney Houston (from “Waiting to Exhale”, 1995)- So much for that gangsta shit, but this song does have a little bit of grit. One of Whitney’s better vocal performances. I, for one, think that whatever bullshit she went through with Bobby screwed her up as a person, but made her a MUCH better vocalist.

    5) “Big Fun” by The Gap Band (from “The Ultimate Collection”)- Kool & the Gang made a song with the exact same title around the same time and I’ll be damned if you can tell the two songs apart. Damn shame.

    I’d go with “Angel” over “Burning Up” when it comes to great but unheralded singles only because “Angel” was so effervescent and light, like it should’ve been a #1. “Burning Up” is arguably a better song, but I don’t think it has the same level of ear candy. Then again, the way they played it in New York City, you’d have thought it *was* a hit the first time around.

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