Friday Five

The Friday Five: February 11, 2011

February 11, 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:

Editor’s Note: Another busy Friday for the Five, but fear not … once the dust settles, I’ll be back to drop some thoughts behind the five tunes that found their way to my ears this morning. — MP

“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen (from Live at Wembley ‘86, 1992)

“Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. (from In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, 2003)

“We Want Some P***y” by The 2 Live Crew (from The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, 1986)

“Money (That’s What I Want)” by The Beatles (from With The Beatles, 1963)

“Crush” by Dave Matthews Band (from Before These Crowded Streets, 1998)

What’s on your shuffle today?

21 Comments

  • dslifton
    February 11, 2011 at 3:33 pm Reply

    “Fall On Me” by R.E.M.
    “Zero And Blind Terry” by Bruce Springsteen (rare live performance, 10-31-73)
    “Sweet Virginia Breeze” by Robbin Thompson
    “Misunderstood” by Tommy Keene
    “It Ain’t Long Enough” by Judy Clay (coincidentally, it’s why Jason Hare’s mom had to break up with Michael)

  • Pete
    February 11, 2011 at 3:40 pm Reply

    Happy Friday!

    “Say No Brother (Crack Attack Don’t Do It)” – Boogie Down Productions
    “Give Me Time” – Dawes
    “The Ten Commandments of Love” – The Neville Brothers
    “It’s Only Rock N Roll” – The Rolling Stones
    “This Magic Moment / Dance With Me” – Rick James

  • Anonymous
    February 11, 2011 at 3:56 pm Reply

    “Don’t Ask To Stay Until Tomorrow” by Marlena Shaw
    –theme song from the classic ’70s film Looking for Mister Goodbar. Marlena is still a force of nature, even with her cane and arthritis. Saw her perform last year and she was phenomenal. Jazz and soul par excellence!

    “I’m Easy” by Boz Scaggs
    –from his self-titled Atlantic debut. Classic San Francisco sounds, way more bluesy than his later funky hits like “Lowdown” and “Miss Sun.”

    “Together Forever” by The Blank Tapes
    –looks like today’s shuffle is diggin’ San Francisco, which is fine by me! The Blank Tapes were the featured artist in last month’s Parlour to Parlour at Popdose. All their music is recorded to analog cassette tapes, and Matt Adams is just amazing when it comes to writing and recording good songs at a quick pace. And they stick with you. He would have fit in perfectly during that time when Boz Scaggs and the Dead were first coming up. Check ’em out if you haven’t already.

    “Dream Life” by The Beehavers
    –and ANOTHER San Francisco band! I actually play bass with these guys now. This song is available on a free downloadable compilation called Universal Western Attractions, which was produced and compiled by Matt Adams of the Blank Tapes. Bryant Denison from the Beehavers is part crooner, part goth rocker, part gypsy folk strummer, and all charisma all the time. I wasn’t sure what to think of him at first, since he’s also a master of ambiguous mystery and non-sequiturial humor. But once I “got” him, damn, the fun really started.

    “There’s a River” by Steve Winwood
    –Beautiful tune from Steve’s overlooked Talking Back To The Night album. I first heard it when he sang it with Eric Clapton during their stop in Oakland when touring together a couple summers ago, and I’ve loved it ever since.

  • grayflannelsuit
    February 11, 2011 at 3:58 pm Reply

    “Elusive Butterfly”, Bob Lind (man, 1966 really was a cool year for pop)
    “The E Street Shuffle”, Brooooooce!
    “April Love”, Pat Boone (don’t ask)
    “Rain and Tears”, Aphrodite’s Child
    “Isis”, Bob Dylan

  • Anonymous
    February 11, 2011 at 4:07 pm Reply

    I’ve got mostly new stuff on my player right now.

    “Ooh You Hurt Me So” by Clare & the Reasons from Arrow (2009)
    “Little Bird” by Angus & Julia Stone from Just a Boy EP (2010)
    “Waves” by The Twilight Singers from Dynamite Steps (2011)
    “Matchstick Murder” by Tristen from Charlatans at the Garden Gate (2011)
    “Daphne” by Lia Ices from Grown Unknown (2010)

  • Anonymous
    February 11, 2011 at 5:01 pm Reply

    1. “Rag Mama Rag” by The Band
    2. “Heavy Fuel” by Dire Straits
    3. “It Will Stand” by The Showmen
    4. “Let Them In” by David Wilcox
    5. “She Closed Her Eyes” by Chris Rea

  • Shannon
    February 11, 2011 at 5:48 pm Reply

    “Keep This Heart in Mind” by Bonnie Raitt, from Green Light.
    “The Horses” by Rickie Lee Jones, from Flying Cowboys.
    “Little Bombs” by Aimee Mann, from The Forgotten Arm.
    “Two” by Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger.
    “Nothing Yet” by Tracy Chapman, from Telling Stories.

    The top four are probably my top tracks off each of their respective albums. The last one I don’t honestly know all that well. All in all, the shuffle served me well for this session. Happy Friday!

  • Zack Stiegler
    February 11, 2011 at 9:26 pm Reply

    Finally back in action with a sexy new Zune!

    1. The Clash – The Prisoner (Black Market Clash)
    2. Beastie Boys – Transitions (Ill Communication)
    3. Royksopp – Foresaken Cowboy (Senior)
    4. Van Halen – Dancing in the Streets (Diver Down)
    5. Daft Punk – Burnin’ (Homework)

  • Dennis Corrigan
    February 12, 2011 at 1:23 am Reply

    “The Next Time You Say ‘Forever'” – by Neko Case from Middle Cyclone “I will punch you in your face” If she sang to me, I’d let her, repeatedly
    “Night Flight” by Led Zeppelin from Physical Graffiti – the kickoff to side 4. Love Jones’ bass work and Bonham’s drumming on this
    “Raspberry Beret” by Prince & the Revoluton from the Hits/B Sides/Around the World In a Day. “when it was warm she wouldn’t wear much more”
    “Second Guessing” by R.E.M. from Reckoning. The band of my college days, and apparently this week’s Friday Five. This one fires off side two of a really good, to me sometimes overlooked, record.
    “Waiting” by the Feelies from Time For a Witness. Second-straight appearance in my Friday FIve by the Feelies. April 12 can’t get here fast enough!

  • Mike Duquette
    February 12, 2011 at 5:48 am Reply

    Typed on a Saturday but listened to on a Friday:

    1. Daft Punk, “Derezzed” – from the TRON: Legacy soundtrack, one of my favorite film scores of 2010 and one that deserved an Oscar nomination. This was the lead track for radio, although it lacks the simple, effective main theme heard throughout the film.

    2. Terence Trent D’Arby, “If You Let Me Stay” – there’s a great lilt to this track, and TTD’s voice just nails it. Still one of my favorite LPs of the 1980s. Dumb question but I figure worth asking: after “Introducing the Hardline,” is there any logical next step to this guy’s career that’s worth pursuing?

    3. WHAM!, “Battlestations” – there were maybe three good songs from the last batch of WHAM! tunes (“I’m Your Man,” “The Edge of Heaven” and “Where Did Your Heart Go?”). This ain’t one of ’em – even George’s tight harmonies aren’t doing it for me.

    4. The Ronnettes, “Born to Be Together” – I literally just bought the “Back to Mono” box this week and was pleased to see a track come up once I loaded it to my iPod. Is there any producers/artists out there who can admirably provide a 21st century equivalent to the Wall of Sound and isn’t as murder-y?

    5. Prince, “Automatic” – “1999” is top-loaded with hits – four of the five songs on the first two sides were great singles – so is it fair to call the last two sides underrated? I’d argue it might be, because this song is as great as they come and a hell of a close to a great Friday Five.

  • EightE1
    February 12, 2011 at 6:45 am Reply

    George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
    The Eagles, “The Long Run”
    Sam Phillips, “No Explanations”
    Portishead, “Small”
    Radiohead, “Pyramid Song”

  • judd6149
    February 12, 2011 at 8:37 am Reply

    A belated Friveday…

    1. “Daniel and the Sacred Harp” – The Band: This is one of my fave rave Band songs. Excellent storytelling and a nice spin on a smale old story: selling your soul to the devil. Great use of the Band’s vocalists: Levon is the narrator and Richard Manuel is the soul seller. This is a cool collection of thoughts on the song: http://goo.gl/HpRTx. I was listening to the alternate cut:http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd4ZBA. This is the orig: http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd4ZFg

    2.”Trouble” – Buckwheat Zydeco: Okay, I am not a deep zydeco fan, but I love me a mash of it now and then. Not sure if it matters who it is or the song, I just like it…feels like party music. This song feels like zydeco for the masses; a bit too accessible for my tastes. I want my zydeco to have a bit more stink on it. Nonetheless, this is good shit. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzcf7IA

    3.”Slowpoke” – CSNY: This is from the 200’s “Looking Forward” album. Being the true Neil Freak I am, I really only enjoyed the Neil stuff on this disc. He is (maybe always was) now pulling away creatively from the CSN part of this gang. This song is nothing mind blowing, just a reminder that neil can write a mellow song that cuts through the clusterfuck of bullshit. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdDU6w

    4. “Cumberland Blues” – Grateful Dead: I once took seven hits of acid at a GD show. That was not a good thing. This song is a humdinger. It is a good thing. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdNhGQ

    5. “Lay, Lady, Lay” – Bob: this is the version from the live “Hard Rain” album. I love this entire thing. I love the treatments Bob was giving his songs then. He was on his Rolling Thunder Review tour> having all of those other musicians and artists around allowed him to have a bit of a play with arrangements and sounds. Each song on the album is so flat-out different than what the their original version counterparts…it’s like bizarro-world dylan came down from a square planet and performed this shit for aliens. Be sure to check out this entire album; me think will like it in your ear. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdmsso

  • judd6149
    February 12, 2011 at 8:37 am Reply

    A belated Friveday…

    1. “Daniel and the Sacred Harp” – The Band: This is one of my fave rave Band songs. Excellent storytelling and a nice spin on a smale old story: selling your soul to the devil. Great use of the Band’s vocalists: Levon is the narrator and Richard Manuel is the soul seller. This is a cool collection of thoughts on the song: http://goo.gl/HpRTx. I was listening to the alternate cut:http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd4ZBA. This is the orig: http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzd4ZFg

    2.”Trouble” – Buckwheat Zydeco: Okay, I am not a deep zydeco fan, but I love me a mash of it now and then. Not sure if it matters who it is or the song, I just like it…feels like party music. This song feels like zydeco for the masses; a bit too accessible for my tastes. I want my zydeco to have a bit more stink on it. Nonetheless, this is good shit. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzcf7IA

    3.”Slowpoke” – CSNY: This is from the 200’s “Looking Forward” album. Being the true Neil Freak I am, I really only enjoyed the Neil stuff on this disc. He is (maybe always was) now pulling away creatively from the CSN part of this gang. This song is nothing mind blowing, just a reminder that neil can write a mellow song that cuts through the clusterfuck of bullshit. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdDU6w

    4. “Cumberland Blues” – Grateful Dead: I once took seven hits of acid at a GD show. That was not a good thing. This song is a humdinger. It is a good thing. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdNhGQ

    5. “Lay, Lady, Lay” – Bob: this is the version from the live “Hard Rain” album. I love this entire thing. I love the treatments Bob was giving his songs then. He was on his Rolling Thunder Review tour> having all of those other musicians and artists around allowed him to have a bit of a play with arrangements and sounds. Each song on the album is so flat-out different than what the their original version counterparts…it’s like bizarro-world dylan came down from a square planet and performed this shit for aliens. Be sure to check out this entire album; me think will like it in your ear. http://rd.io/x/QV5SUzdmsso

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