The Friday Five: March 18, 2011
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:
“Everyone Knows It but You” by David Mead (from The Luxury of Time, 1999)
I hear strains of Don Henley in Mead’s voice, but that is where the comparison ends. I have not given this record enough of a listen, guess it’s time to do so.
“Dear Old Nicki” by Nicki Minaj (from Pink Friday, 2010)
I think I was wooed by this record when it was first released. Subsequent listens have proven otherwise. It is still, however, one of the hottest hip-hop records of the last few years.
“Into the White” by Pixies (from Death to the Pixies, 1997)
I could listen to the Pixies all day.
“It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” by Billy Joel (from Glass Houses, 1980)
Hearing this tune is a powerful nostalgia churning experience. As much as I’ve listened to this record over the years, I’m still the little kid in the back seat—with no seat belt, mind you—with my head titled backwards, looking up towards the sky, daydreaming about a galaxy far, far away.
“All I Wanna Do” by Sheryl Crow (from Top of the Pops 1994, 2008)
I’d skip this, but then I’d feel guilty.
What’s on your shuffle today?
44 Comments
Jeanne Marie
1. Jerimiah Surrender – Foamfoot
2. Mean Mr. Mustard – The Beatles
3. Other Side of the World – KT Tunstall
4. You Are Home – Levi Weaver
5. Strength – The Alarm
steph326
1. Evangeline – Matthew Sweet
2. Let The Whisky Take The Reins – Old 97’s
3. La Isla Bonita – Madonna
4. Kiss On My List – Hall & Oates
5. Myriad Harbour – The New Pornographers
dslifton
“It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” – Bob Dylan (from the Scorcese doc soundtrack)
“Jaimme’s Got A Gal” – You Am I
“Dead Flowers” – Steve Earle & The Dukes with Springsteen (2-6-98)
“Human Touch (Alternate Version)” – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
“Finishing The Hat” – Mandy Patinkin (Sunday In The Park WIth George Original Cast Recording)
Dopeburger
1. “Festival” – Country Mice
2. “After the Car Crash” – Aeroplane Pageant
3. “In The Court of the Crimson King” (live) – Greg Lake (with Gary Moore on guitar)
4. ” Miniature Birds” – Grand Archives
5. “Maquiladora” – Radiohead
Mike Duquette
Frrrrrrrrrriday!
1. Billy Joel, “Miami 2017 (Live at Shea Stadium, 2008)”: Still not a fan of this show compared to anything else in Billy’s discography (even the Soviet album is starting to grow on me), but I can’t hate the song. Who can? You’d be crazy.
2. R.E.M., “Nightswimming”: I don’t know how to read music, but I do know there are some chord changes that make me feel really good – like, a warm feeling washes over you when you hear them. This song is full of moments like that. Beautiful.
3. John Williams/The London Symphony Orchestra, “Airplane Fight”: one of the best cues from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” when Indy fights the hulking brawler in front of the Flying Wing. There’s a really good secondary theme introduced in this cue, an action fanfare that plays through the rest of the desert scenes.
4. John Mayer, “Home Life”: I’ve been a huge John Mayer fan for some time. That fandom cooled after his last album (which was only OK) and that Playboy interview, but I have no problem reminiscing about listening to “Heavier Things” in high school and thinking pop music wouldn’t get any better. (I was wrong, but who wasn’t at that age?)
5. The Crystals, “He’s Sure the Boy I Love”: At some point before the year is out, I’m considering compiling a list of the best box sets ever. I imagine “Back to Mono” will get really close to the top of that list; there’s surprises coming out of every disc. That sax riff in the middle eight is killer!
Anonymous
Home from work today, so get the advantage of shuffling through my entire ginormous library.
“Din Daa Daa” by George Kranz from Breakin’ Two: Electric Boogaloo Soundtrack (1984) – The movies may not be very good (but they are!), but the soundtracks are fantastic.
“Beat the Clock” by Sparks from No. 1 in Heaven (1979) – I love this band so much. That is all.
“Problems d’Amour” by Alexander Robotnick from National Lampoon’s European Vacation Soundtrack (1985) – I heard this playing in Sephora the other day and I expected half naked French women to come dancing out of the store’s back room.
“Highly Suspicious” by My Morning Jacket from Evil Urges (2008) – Channeling Prince.
“Mountains (Extended Version)” by Prince & the Revolution from Mountains 12″ Single. – You know Prince means business when he busts out the flute in an extended mix of one of his songs.
Apu
1. Hold You – OMD – Just saw them live for the first time ever…they are old…but still sounded great.
2. Deadbeat – Revenge – New Order spinoff
3. What Happens Tomorrow – Duran Duran
4. Black Boys on Mopeds – Sinead OConnor – weird title for a song…
5. To Love Me More – PM Dawn
Mindy
1. S&M – Rihanna
2. Heads Will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. We are the Champions – Queen
4. Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meatloaf
5. Twice as Hard – Black Crowes
Michael Parr
That is one hell of a ride…
Anonymous
1. “Nobody Loves Me But My Mother” – B.B. King
2. “I’ll Fly Away” – Goose Creek Symphony
3. “I Thank You” – ZZ Top
4. “Go Back Home” – Stephen Stills
5. “Clap Your Hands” – Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Chris Holmes
Woot! Brought to you once again by Slacker Radio.
1. Live, “Lakini’s Juice” – This is easily the best song Live ever recorded. It’s the perfect balance of power and melodrama. When that soaring chorus kicks in I want to break a wall. With my face.
2. Travis, “The Last Laugh of the Laughter” – Look guys, this song isn’t helping anyone’s case that you aren’t a clone of Bends-era Radiohead. Add all the sitar you like. Decent song though.
3. Louis Armstrong, “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” – Most of these Dixieland-era jazz tunes tend to sound the same to me. But it’s still a really fun song, and you could listen to a lot worse with that 3 minutes.
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Say What!” – Most of these amplified guitar blues tunes tend to sound the same to me. But Stevie Ray Vaughan kicks so much ass it’s OK.
5. Scorpions, “Passion Rules the Game” – Never was a huge Scorps fan, other than maybe half a dozen songs. This isn’t going to help that. It’s not awful at all, just fairly typical example of an old school metal band giving in to all the trappings of Hair Metal (glossy production, shitty electronic drums, etc.).
Anonymous
Here’s mine!
1) The Beatles — “No Reply.” I hate that when I hear the first few lines of this song, I think of the guy imitating John on the “Stars on 45” single.
2) Wilson Phillips — “Release Me.” I totally had this in my head yesterday, too!
3) Michael Jackson — “Fly Away.” I guess this is from the Bad Special Edition. I’ve never heard it before. Not bad, but leaving it off the original album was definitely the right move.
4) Livingston Taylor — “I Believe (live).” Livingston is a good live performer and wrote a great book on stage performance (called, um, Stage Performance), and he gets props for kissing my grandmother’s hand when we took her to see him in concert, but he was kind of obnoxious to my dad and I and came off as fake-sincere. I dunno.
5) Barry Manilow — “Somewhere Down the Road.” No comment.
Anonymous
“Release Me” = Awesomeness.
Anonymous
Thank you. I totally needed some validation on that one today. 🙂
Matt Springer
I can’t “like” this because it has Wilson Phillips in it.
Anonymous
I think you’re prejudiced against fat people.
dslifton
Matt is prone to self-loathing, yes.
Michael Parr
I don’t have a problem with the Wilson Phillips track, per se, but the fact that it was somehow in your head and you willed it to pop up on your shuffle is troubling.
Zack Stiegler
Someone did “Hold On” at a recent karaoke outing. Reminiscing on that and “Release Me” led to my drunken vow to buy a copy of that album. Faced with this reality weeks later in a thrift shop bargain bin, I couldn’t make good on it. Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol. But I do have a soft spot for the singles on that album. Nostalgia.
That christmas fiasco last year looks fucking atrocious.
Didn’t Carny Wilson have a talk show for a spell?
Ok, I’m done.
Shannon J
Stars on 45! I hate that I remember it so well. Didn’t they end that medley singing a verse about themselves?
Anonymous
They ended AND started it with that verse!
Anonymous
Haha, “All I Wanna Do” is one of my least favorite songs EVER. Nails on a chalkboard, I tell ya!
My five (which will not include one single Sheryl Crow song… guaranteed):
1) First Night – Survivor
2) Angelyne – The Jayhawks
3) Angel of Harlem – U2
4) Here With Me – REO Speedwagon
5) Everyone’s On Tour – Nada Surf
Michael Parr
The honor of my least favorite song ever goes to another Sheryl Crow tune, “Soak Up the Sun.”
Anonymous
Oh yes, that one is a doozy too.
And while we’re on the subject, Jewel’s “Who Will Save Your Soul” is right up there on my list. And I can hear it in my head right this very minute. Make. It. Stop. Please.
Mike
“Who Will Save Your Soul”, and to a lesser extent, “You Were Meant for Me” and “Foolish Games”, are songs that make me want to kill people.
de10ero
Duke & the Drivers-Angel
The Duke gets hipped to the power of love from Mr. Solomon Burke
The Soul Survivors-Expressway To Your Heart
Who’s playing that horn on the intro?…brilliant!
Peter Wolf-There’s Still Time
This guy’s a genuine rock god, catch him live if you can
The Saw Doctors-n17
A day late but all together now…”stone walls and the grass is green”…
UB40 & Chrissie Hynde-I Got You Babe
The Sonny and Cher standard grows some dreadlocks
Matt Springer
Jeez, I have over 40,000 tunes in my iTunes library. Help me.
1. “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore,” Kathy Mattea: A suggestion from a friend that I’ve never properly listened to. Acoustic folk country. A bit of a downer for Friday; let’s see what’s next…
2. “Star Trek V: An Angry God,” Jerry Goldsmith: One of the first CDs I ever owned was Star Trek: The Astral Symphony, a collection of cues and themes from the (then) five Trek films. It’s a good cue; it’s got that patented Goldsmith Trek tone. But if God is angry at me, I don’t want to hear about it on FRIDAY.
3. “Finest Worksong,” REM: From a bootleg recorded at William & Mary College in 1987. Now this is more like it. Sound quality is iffy but you can’t fault the energy and excitement.
4. “A Day In The Life,” The Beatles: From the soundtrack to their Cirque Du Soleil show Love. Man, I hate Cirque Du Soleil.
5. “Slim Jenkins Place,” Booker T. & the MGs: From their best-of compilation. Everytime I listen to Booker T, I wonder why I listen to anything else.
Jason
Let’s see, all I have is what’s on my phone, but here we go:
1. Daft Punk – Too Long/Steam Machine (from Alive 2007): Probably my favorite live album right now. They’re at the top of my list of people I have to see live right now.
2. The Changes – House of Style: The Changes are a thoroughly OK band.
3. Duke Ellington – The Star Spangled Banner (from Ellington at Newport): Great album, and our national anthem is pretty great too.
4. Spongebob Squarepants – The Goofy Goober Song: I have kids. Don’t you judge me.
5. Afghan Whigs – Now You Know (Live): Wouldn’t be Friday without at least on Whigs song, you know.
Connie
1) Philadelphia Freedom – Elton John – everytime I hear EJ, I think of my Dad and how much fun we had at an Elton John concert… so always happy to hear him.
2) Flower Child – Lenny Kravits
3) Love Song – Adele
4) Only Girl (in the World) – Rihanna
5) One and Only – Adele again… strange, I mean I only have 462 songs on there right now, but you’d think the odds would have been that I wouldn’t get a repeat, stranger yet – song six was another Kravits song…
Zack Stiegler
@Michael – there have been days where I’ve listened to nothing but the Pixies. That ish never gets old.
Zack Stiegler
1. The Very Best/MIA- Boyz. From their excellent mixtape, which preceded their excellent album.
2. Gnarls Barkley-Just a Thought. From their excellent debut, which was followed by a totally uninteresting sophomore effort. I love this song’s twist, making suicidal thoughts seem a part of life.
3. Dr. Octagon-Girl Let Me Touch You. Probably my favorite Kool Keith disc, and this one of my favorite tracks. “You want some birth control, you can smoke a cigarette.”
4. Detroit Cobras-My Delight. From their most recent album, Tied and True.
5. The White Stripes-As Ugly As I Seem. From my favorite WS disc, Get Behind Me Satan. RIP
terje
1. Thievery Corporation – Exilio (Exile)
2. Sparks – The Director Never Yelled ‘Cut’
3. Natalie Cole – (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
4. Gladys Knight & the Pips – Daddy Could Swear, I Declare
5. REO Speedwagon – Time for Me to Fly
jefito
1. Jennifer Warnes, “Bird on a Wire”
2. Thompson Twins, “You Take Me Up”
3. Pete Seeger, “The Old Hen”
4. The Rolling Stones, “Citadel”
5. Anita O’Day, “Star Eyes”
Mike
01-“What’s Going On?” by Cyndi Lauper- I’ve always been a fan of her voice (not so much her material), but she did Marvin justice here.
02-“Kozmic” by Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers- I like the fact that Ziggy’s music isn’t as easily defined as you’d expect Bob’s son’s music to be. This song is sort of pop/dance/funk…barely any hint of reggae at all.
03-“The World is Rated X” by Marvin Gaye- Nice little coincidence here. Interesting how we have Marvin, who was a world class perv, discussing how nasty the world has become. This was on the “Let’s Get it On” special edition. It sounds a little too “modern”, I think they did some sweetening by overdub here.
04-“Erotica” by Madonna- Proof of how nerdy my friends were in high school: we occasionally changed the lyrics and title of this song to “Psychotica” and “Neurotica”.
05-“On Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men- Apparently, my iTunes has decided to resemble a Top 40 playlist of the mid-Nineties this week. Coming up next, the latest from Hootie & the Blowfish!!
(Tootie was in this video!!!)
Michael Parr
Tootie was in “On Bended Knee”? Damnit, now I have to go watch it!
Mike
Hells yes. Damn, Kim Fields grew up fine.
Mike
Next song was “Janie Jones” by The Clash. My iTunes has a sense of humor.
Anonymous
1. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band- “Earth: The Circle Part 1” from Solar Fire
2. Santana- “Guajira” from Santana III
3. Dave Edmunds- “From Small Things (Big Things Come)” from D.E.7th
4. Bert Jansch- “Poison” from Birthday Blues
5. Black Oak Arkansas- “Our Eyes Are On You” from If An Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel At Home?”
Shannon J
OK, here we go (please, iTunes, just make me look cool):
“Angel”, Bonnie Raitt, from Nine Lives. A gem from an oft-overlooked Bonnie Raitt album.
“Me and Bobby McGee”, Janis Joplin, from Pearl. Over time, I usually get tired of classic songs like this one. But not this one. I can’t not love it.
“Takin’ My Time”, Bonnie Raitt, from Sweet Forgiveness. My shuffle likes Bonnie today.
“Hello Grandma”, Lyle Lovett, from I Love Everybody. Nice tune for a laid-back Friday afternoon.
“How Deep is the Ocean”, Ray Charles, from Love Songs. Great song. I also love the Billie Holiday version.
Dennis Corrigan
First games of the evening all have double digit leads, so time for some Friday Five:
1. “Till The Morning Comes (Live At Winterland October 4, 1970)” by the Grateful Dead from the deluxe version of American Beauty. I have to admit I’ve never been a big Dead and really only started listening to them semi-seriously in the past year. The fine folks over at Concert Vault steered me toward some great shows as introduction, thanks @dopeburger!
2. “Little Honda” by Yo La Tengo from I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. Fantastic cover of the Beach Boys classic
3. “Skyway” by the Replacements from All For Nothing, originally on Pleased To Meet Me (hum it every time I plow the road between Chicago and South Bend).
4. “Steve’s Last Ramble” by Steve Earle from Transcendental Blues
5. “If It Is Growing” by Fanfarlo from Reservoir. I bought this record on a whim because I think they were offering it fro $1.99 or something like that on their web site, and was glad I did. Not to go all Lefsetz, but more bands should do this.
There you go – happy weekend! Hope your brackets aren’t already busted!
whiteray
I’m always doing this from home, and the library now sits at more than 51,000 mp3s. (Almost time to upgrade the external hard drive.)
1. “Flashing Lonesome” by Quicksilver Messenger Service from “Shady Grove,” 1969. Not my favorite QMM album or track. In fact, close to my least favorite of both from the studio stuff. The dissonant stuff at the end either saves it or is hopelessly self-indulgent. Make your choice.
2. “Somewhere in the Middle” by Dishwalla from the Cities Sampler No. 14, 2002. A very nice version live in the radio studio. I like it more than the original version.
3. “Lonely One In This Town” by Steve Dawson from “Things About Comin’ My Way – A Tribute to the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks,” 2009. Not as good as some tracks on this enjoyable tribute to one of the great string bands of the 1920s and 1930s, but still a good listen.
4. “Shame Shame” by the Magic Lanterns, Atlantic 2560, 1969. A catchy tune from an English group that went to No. 29 in late 1969. “He’ll only break your heart and leave you standing out in the rain . . .”
5. “Prairie Rose” by Roxy Music from “Country LIfe,” 1974. Not as fussy and brittle as some Roxy Music stuff, but still pretty mannered.
m1chael0
‘Boy About Town’ – The Jam
‘Sister’ – Mumford & Sons
‘Book of Rules’ – The Heptones
‘Nobody’s Darlings’ – Lucero
‘Slate’ – Uncle Tupelo
EightE1
A little late, but what the hell …
Amy Petty, “Spinning Plates.” My favorite song of the moment. Odd that it’d come up first.
Ramones, “California Sun.” The greatest rock and roll band ever.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Fortune Teller.” Thank God for Allen Toussaint.
Ryan Adams, “Tomorrow.” From Demolition, quite possibly the last record of his I enjoyed the whole way through.
Boz Scaggs, “Lido Shuffle.” One of my favorite songs.
Michael Parr
Woah-oh-ah-ohhh