The Friday Five: January 27, 2012
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:
“A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend (from Vampire Weekend, 2007)
Opps! Somebody forgot to hit shuffle before hitting play! I imagine that this is the first song in many folks library —sorted by track, that is. So let’s add that to the sharing today: if you sort your library by song name, what is the first track?
“Right on Time” by The Brothers Johnson (from Right on Time, 1977)
Hot damn, if I don’t love me some Brothers Johnson. Funkier than Dave LIfton’s gym socks, the one-two combo of Louis’ monster bass lines, and George’s fluid guitar work absolutely kills.
“Running With the Night” by Lionel Richie (from The Definitive Collection, 2003)
I can’t listen to this without the video:
“Cold as Ice” by Foreigner (from The Very Best…and Beyond, 1992)
Matt Wardlaw has ruined Foreigner for me.
“Out 4000” by Rappin’ 4-Tay (from Don’t Fight the Feelin’, 1994)
I rarely rate tunes with one star. This is a one-star tune.
What’s on your shuffle today?
9 Comments
Phil
Short and sweet pre-vacation Friday Five today. And my first track sorted by name is Anthrax’s “A.D.I./Horror of It All” from Among the Living.
Saosin – “The Worst of Me” (In Search of Solid Ground, 2009)
Possibly the best song on this emo/screamo band’s most commercial (and most recent) release to date.
Glen Phillips – “Got to Get On” (The Unreleased Songs Compilation: Vol. 1)
Interesting track from a set of live versions of songs Glen had not released prior to its compilation. A bit different from the norm for Glen, but still really good.
King’s X – “Marsh Mellow Field” (Please Come Home…Mr. Bulbous, 2000)
Equal parts groove, sludge, and psychedelic. Love it.
Owl City – “Dental Care” (Ocean Eyes, 2009)
OK, confession time. Although I purchased this for my son during his brief obsession with this artist, I have kept it around since I find it catchy and not too annoying—at least most of the time. “I’ve been to the dentist a thousand times, so I know the drill.” Funny.
Smashing Pumpkins – “Siva” (Gish, 1991)
Michael recently questioned what he ever saw in Smashing Pumpkins. This is it. The slow, mellow middle breakdown is why I Mother Earth reminds me of Smashing Pumpkins at times.
Michael Parr
“Mayonaise” is the tune that reminds me why I liked The Smashing Pumpkins.
Anonymous
My first track, sorted by name, is “A-Tisket A-Tasket” by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb and his Orchestra.
“You Can Be Replaced” by Dot Allison from We Are Science (2000). Funny that this should be the first song to pop up in this week’s shuffle. I was listening to a mix cd I made, like, five years ago in the car the other day and this song was on it. I coudn’t remember what it was or who the artist was, but made a note to look it up today. Shuffle did it for me!
“House of the Rising Sun” by Dolly Parton from 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980). This cover is kind of hysterical. I can’t take it seriously for one minute. And that is why it is the greatest.
“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” by Michael Jackson from Bad (1987). I used to be kind of obsessed with this song. I distinctly remember one of my “taped from the radio” mix tapes having it on both sides. Incidentally, I did the same thing with Fleetwood Mac’s “Little Lies,” Prince’s “U Got the Look,” and the Grateful Dead’s “Touch of Grey.” 1987 was the year of “I don’t care if this song is on both sides of this mix tape” for me.
“Electric Intercourse” by Prince and the Revolution from 8-3-83 Rehearsal (bootleg). We all know by now that this song was originally supposed to be in Purple Rain, but was replaced by (my favorite Prince song) “The Beautiful Ones.” I like this song a lot, but it’s no “The Beautiful Ones.” I do wish he would’ve released a studio version of it — as far as I know, he didn’t, but correct me if I’m wrong. This particular recording features a moment in which Prince yells, “Wake up, Wendy!” to Wendy Melvoin, who would make her debut as a member of the Revolution at the show that was being rehearsed here.
“Red Red Red” by Fiona Apple from Extraordinary Machine (2005). This is from the unreleased Jon Brion-produced version of the album, which is my favorite version of the record. Also, Fifi has a new album coming out this year. FINALLY. She seriously needs to not take so goddamn long releasing records.
Mike Duquette
A happy Friday playlist (despite the terrible NJ weather). (Playing along with today’s subquestion, the first three songs in my iTunes, when arranged alphabetically, are “A.D.D.” by System of a Down (ehh), “Aaj Ki Raat” from the “Slumdog Millionaire” soundtrack (huh?), and “Abacab” by Genesis (yeah!).)
1. Aretha Franklin and George Michael, “I Knew You Were Waiting for Me”: I *definitely* didn’t sing along to this entire song and improvise grace notes toward the end. Nope. Definitely didn’t do that.
2. Girl Talk, “Here’s the Thing”: from the excellent “Feed the Animals.” I counted samples of Elvis Costello, Kelly Clarkson, ? and The Mysterians, The Quad City DJs, Leo Sayer…I’m sure there were more. I remember when this album came out, how many times I was rewinding tracks to see if I could remember the samples.
3. Terence Trent D’Arby, “Wishing Well”: oh HELL yes. I love “Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby” – it might be one of my favorites of the 1980s. This song never gets tiresome for me.
4. Jay-Z, “Some How Some Way”: my least favorite of Blueprint albums (2), meaning I really didn’t know this one. It might have made more sense to sing about gettin’ out the hood *before* the first Blueprint, but what do I know? I didn’t have a baby with Beyonce.
5. Phil Collins, “Another Day in Paradise”: Phil and David Crosby gettin’ their sad on about poverty. One of the first 10 or 20 pop songs I can recall from my youth. (I await your jeers for being a child.)
Anonymous
Kind of a subdued set today but kind of what I need today.
1) Branford Marsalis — “Trieste” (Requiem, 1999).
2) Lucinda Williams — “Greenville” (Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, 1998).
3) Brian Blade Fellowship — “Mohave” (Brian Blade Fellowship, 1998).
4) Keb Mo’ — “Lullaby Baby Blues” (Just Like You, 1996).
5) Fleetwood Mac — “The Chain” (The Dance, 1997).
Anonymous
My first track alphabetically is “Abuelita” by Richard Shindell from the CD Somewhere Near Patterson.
1. “The Naked Ride Home” – Jackson Browne – The Naked Ride Home
2. “The First Cut Is The Deepest” – Rod Stewart – Super 70s Rock
3. “Hey Nineteen” – Steely Dan – A Decade of Steely Dan
4. “Floating Bridge” – Eric Clapton – The Blues
5. “Car Wash” – Rose Royce – One Hit Wonders
Dennis Corrigan
The first track in my library alphabetically is “A-11” by Richard Thompson from his 1000 Years of Popular Music album, but I keep my library sorted by album by artist by year, so the usual track I start to shuffle from is “Riff Raff” from AC/DC’s If You Want Blood You’ve Got It. Here’s a question for the house – how do you sort your artists – alphabetically by first name or by last name? I do the latter, e.g. Richard Thompson shows up under T, not R. Anyway, without further ado:
1. “Beautiful Day” by U2 from All That You Can’t Leave Behind. I think I’ve documented this here before, but they’re the ultimate band I’ve grown apart from, and this record & tour was was what did it.
2. “Ruby Baby” by Donald Fagen from the Nightfly. Fagen’s jazzy, Dan-like take on the Leiber & Stoller classic
3. “You Gotta Dance” by the Hold Steady from A Positive Rage.
4. “Spirit In The Night” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band from the Main Point ’75 bootleg – my absolutely favorite Clarence showcase song. I think we’re all anxious to see how the sax gets handled on this tour.
5. “Love Me With A Feeling” by Magic Sam from The Cobra Records Story: Chicago Rock and Blues 1956-1958. It’s Magic Sam, what’s not to like?
Hope you hear something great this weekend!
Michael Parr
Last name, all the way! When I hit “shuffle” I always do so from the
I listened to The Nightfly this week for the first time in probably 20 years. I heard “I.G.Y.” while at the doctor’s office on Monday, and had to run home and pull out the CD.
Dennis Corrigan
NIghtfly is one of those records that I never listen to enough, either, but every time I do I enjoy it.