The Friday Five: September 23, 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:
“Snaggletooth” by Motörhead (from No Remorse, 2001)
It’s too damn early for Lemmy. Thankfully, Motörhead tunes tend to be on the short side.
“Before You Were Born” by Toad the Wet Sprocket (from 1992-09-16: Fox Theater, Boulder, CO, USA, 1992)
This is from an excellent soundboard recording of an equally quality performance by Toad. Save for, of course, when Glen flubs the second line.
“Mighty Mighty” by Earth, Wind & Fire (from The Eternal Dance, 1992)
I’ve been listening to a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire lately.
“I Believe” by Chicago (from Chicago 18, 1986)
I spent the entire song waiting for a key change that didn’t happen.
“Traffic” by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (from Brainbloodvolume, 1995)
Brainbloodvolume is a criminally overlooked record.
What’s on your shuffle today?
14 Comments
Phil
Well it looks like it’s classic rock and metal day for me for the Friday Five. Only one song out of the five was released after I was out of elementary school, and the Zeppelin tune came out before I was born. iTunes shuffle is definitely interesting if nothing else.Kansas – “Opus Insert” (Leftoverture, 1976)Kansas’ fourth album Leftoverture launched the group into the stratosphere, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a song that is more of a classic rock radio staple than “Carry on Wayward Son.” “Opus Insert” is chock-full of tight vocal harmonies and thematic shifts, trying (a little too hard perhaps) to be in equal measures grand, progressive, beautiful, and AOR-radio-friendly. Yet I have a hard time finding too much fault in that.Ace Frehley – “Snow Blind” (Ace Frehley, 1978)Easily the most popular of the KISS “solo” albums, Ace Frehley’s release remains to this day the most listenable of the albums and the one that has stood the test of time. “Snow Blind” is a solid song from a solid album by the spaceman that still stands up after all these years and is probably better than anything he has released post-makeup.Led Zeppelin – “Bring It On Home” (Led Zeppelin III, 1969)It’s difficult at times for me to objectively analyze songs that I have heard literally hundreds of times. At some point they simply become part of a musical history that becomes comfortable and familiar. And while some of these songs become tiresome due to overexposure, “Bring It On Home” manages not to fall into that category. I love the main guitar riff and its accompanying harmony part, the groove Bonham lays down, and the complex bottom end provided by Jones. Songs like this one help make III one of my favorite Zeppelin releases.Accept – “Turn Me On” (Balls to the Wall, 1984)The sexually-charged Balls to the Wall was my introduction to Accept, and while I was drawn to the music, I could never quite make out some of the true song meanings due in part to the band’s German-to-English lyric-writing process and the often unintelligible growl/scream/squeal of vocalist Udo Dirkschneider. Already a fan of the Scorpions by this point, Accept had a similar draw for me with their decidedly German-feeling flavor of metal and tasteful guitar solos. “Turn Me On” is probably not the strongest track on the album—the weak link interestingly enough being the chorus in this case—but it’s difficult to pick out a bad track on the entire album.Styx – “Great White Hope” (Pieces of Eight, 1978)Sounding as much like anything off the prior release The Grand Illusion, “Great White Hope” could easily be “Miss America, Part 2.” While I tend to like the Young or Shaw tunes more than the DeYoung-penned ones, it’s hard for me to get too excited about this one.Kind of a “meh” way to end my Friday Five, but it is what it is.
dslifton
“For Her Love (remix)” – Marshall Crenshaw. From that Bootleg City piece that ran at Popdose a year or so ago. It sounds kind of like a Crenshaw-by-numbers than one of his classics, but that’s nto such a bad thing.
“The Ties That Bind” – Bruce Springsteen (Washington, 9-3-99). I was really worried that I wasn’t going to get a Springsteen song on his birthday because Parr would give me a #liftonfail. This was from the third and final night of his stand at the MCI Center on the reunion tour. The first night was my first-ever E Street Band show. I think my sister was at this show.
“Passenger Side (punk version)” – Wilco (Troubadour, 11-12-96). Much as I love Wilco’s new work, I think they were at their best in the Jay Bennett era. I got this bootleg from my buddy Matt Wardlaw at Addicted To Vinyl, and so can you.
“Get Outta London” – Aztec Camera. One of those bands I knew more about from reputation. They were always liked by people whose tastes I respected, but they always passed me by. I picked up their Walk Up To Winter compilation when it came up (early this year or last year) and have been enjoying it ever since.
“Hitchin’ A Ride” – The Replacements (DeKalb 4-5-85). Only The Replacements could punk up a cheesy 70s pop song like this and do it unironically.
Anonymous
On
Mike Duquette
1. R.E.M., “Orange Crush”: Well, that’s fitting. I’ve got a raging issue with this song I’ve been trying to figure out: at 2:10 in the song, right before Stipe’s “we would circle” chant, there’s some sort of militaristic chant way back in the mix. That same chant later ended up at the end of “Break It Down Again” by Tears for Fears and the beginning of Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” – and I have NO CLUE what it’s from. An incredibly nerdy musical mystery!
2. Robert Palmer, “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming”: “Heavy Nova” is such a copy of “Riptide” that both have their own cover of a moderate R&B hit from a famous producer. “Riptide” has “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On,” written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, while “Heavy Nova has this one, co-written by Michael Omartian and first performed by Jermaine (and Michael) Jackson in 1984. I like the Jackson version better.
3. Duran Duran, “Proposition”: one of my favorite tracks from the band’s late-’80s trio period. Like most Duran songs, I have no clue what the words mean, but the high-register chorus and horn section mean it generally doesn’t matter.
4. Bob Dylan, “Hard Times in New York Town (Witmark Demo)”: the worst jingle for NY tourism ever?
5. Crowded House, “I Feel Possessed”: I don’t listen to “Temple of Low Men” as much as the self-titled or “Woodface,” but I think I may try to change that. A nice song to close out on and start the weekend, which I hope all of you enjoy!
Pete
What? iTunes showing no love for the Boss on his birthday? So it is… Just the same, happy birthday Bruce!
1. “Let’s Go Crazy” – The Clash (Sandinista, 1980)
2. “Kamera” – Wilco (live at the Abbey Pub in Chicago, 2001)
3. “The People Tree” feat. David Byrne – N.A.S.A. (The Spirit of Apollo, 2009)
4. “Can’t Take My Style” – Terminator X (Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beats, 1991)
5. “In a Large Room With No Light” – Prince (live, Montreaux Jazz Festival, 2009).
EightE1
Jerry Garcia Band, “It’s Too Late.” Sweet soul ballad from the dead hippie. Cool gee-tar solo.
HTRK, “Skinny.” Creepycool electronic stuff. I don’t remember putting this on the iPod, but there it is.
Umphrey’s McGee, “Booth Love.” From the new Death by Stereo. Bass heavy, groovy, short. Me likey.
Weezer, “Trampoline.” Reminds me of 1994. In fact, it might even be from 1994 (Death to False Metal was an odds and sods thing, wasn’t it?). I haven’t listened to much of Tha Weez of late; could use an adrenaline shot of nostalgia right about now.
Adele, “Rolling in the Deep.” What a great song.
Anonymous
1. “Gimmie Shelter” – The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
2. “Caught Up In You” – 38 Special – Flashback- The Best of .38 Special
3. “Mexico” – James Taylor – James Taylor Live, Disc 1
4. “That’s All” – Genesis – Platinum Collection, Disc 1
5. “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)” – The Band – The Band
Mike
1) “Dangerous” by The System: Wasn’t there supposed to be a new album coming soon? I still say that my best Popblerd moment since launching the site was seeing a comment from David Frank.
2) “The Man I Love” by Etta James: One thing I miss about New York City: good jazz clubs.
3) “In The End” by Green Day: I was just bemoaning the fact that I don’t have enough angry music on my iPod. This song…right speed, wrong mood.
4) “I Hear Heartbeat” by Jermaine Jackson: Almost as obnoxiously ’80s as Jermaine’s Miami Vice getup and hairdo on the album cover (“Precious Moments” from 1986 in case anyone is Googling. Actually, I take the “obnoxiously” part back, kinda. This song is fun.
5) “A Ray of Sunshine” by Wham!: Good Lord, were these guys happy at the beginning of their career. Tortured George makes better music.
Dennis Corrigan
Before I fade out completely after a week that I could have never ever imagined having, here’s my Friday Five:
1. “Stretch Out and Wait” by the Smiths from The Sound of The Smiths Johnny Marr riffs + Morrissey singing about sex = a lot of Smiths songs (but OK by me)2. “Point Blank” by Bruce Springsteen from The River. Well, happy birthday to the Boss. The verse where they’re standing the bar, and she pulls him to dance floor is one of my fave in the canon3. “Mary Lou” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. Welcome to the 21st century, Bob4. “This Is The One” by the Stone Roses from the outstanding first record. Seriously, they didn’t need to do anything else and of course barely did. A large part of the soundtrack to my post-college Army days
5. “Have You Ever Been Lonely?” by R.L. Burnside from A Ass Pocket Of Whiskey this one’s more noise rock than blues, but if you haven’t checked out this album, I’d recommend it.
Alright, I’m going to stumble off to sleep. Hope you hear something good this weekend
Pete
I’m just gonna come out and say it – will someone send me Seger’s ‘Against the Wind’ record?
Dennis Corrigan
That’s the one I’m looking for, too, so come on, folks, do us a solid here
Pete
We’re in luck. It seems I will soon attain said album. I shall share.
Dennis Corrigan
sweet
Anonymous
1) Lyle Lovett — “My Baby Don’t Tolerate” (My Baby Don’t Tolerate, 2003)
2) Patty Griffin — “Stolen Car” (1,000 Kisses, 2002)
3) Lyle Lovett — “La To The Left” (I Love Everybody, 1994)
4) Brian Blade Fellowship — “Mohave” (Brian Blade Fellowship, 1998)
5) Lucinda Williams — “Essence” (Essence, 2001)