The Friday Five: March 16, 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:
“Lemon Yellow” by Plasticene (from BASEketball, 1998)
I have absolutely no recollection of this song. Clearly, there was no short supply of soundtrack fodder in the ’90s.
“Rock in This Pocket (Song of David)” by Suzanne Vega (from 99.9 F°, 1992)
I was duped into purchasing this record for the oh-so-catchy title track, and the even more efficient earworm, “Blood Makes Noise.” The juxtaposition of Vega’s folksy leaning against the pseudo-industrial production of Vega’s husband Mitchell Froom.
“I Found a Girl” by The Valadiers (from The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 3: 1963, 2005)
Motown’s first white vocal group, and they don’t even rate a Wikipedia page? Ain’t that a bitch.
“Green Room” by Dig (from Dig, 1993)
“All I really want to do is get high …” Well, it would appear that my shuffle is attempting to expose just how much bad ’90s music is lurking in the dark bowels of my library.
“The Betrayer” by Kaki King (from Junior, 2010)
I’m not going to lie: I preferred Miss King when she just played guitar.
What’s on your shuffle today?
12 Comments
Phil
Extreme – “Smoke Signals” (Extreme, 1989)
Super-tight funky groove? Check. Great guitar tone and showy solo from Nuno? Yup. Vocal harmonies? Got ’em. What did we leave out? Oh, what about lyrics? Let’s see …
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Don’t be playing ball in the street. What you sow is what you will reap.”
Horrible. Just horrible. I get the joke. It’s just not funny.
Dream Theater – “Far From Heaven” (A Dramatic Turn of Events, 2011)
I really haven’t given this disc the listen it deserves. I think I just got tired of the drama surrounding the departure of founder and former drummer Mike Portnoy and the ensuing he said, he said media storm. The only LaBrie-penned tune on the latest from Dream Theater, “Far From Heaven” is a soft, sweet ballad, and clocking in at only 3:56, it has to be the shortest Dream Theater song of all time.
Counting Crows – “Colorblind” (This Desert Life, 1999)
Another ballad, this time from Adam Duritz and company. And yes, it has the expected pretentiousness and self-deprecation, but for some reason it just works for these guys.
KISS – “I Want You” (Alive II, 1977)
I never got into Alive II the way I did with Alive!, even though it has some of my favorite KISS tunes on it. I didn’t notice it at the time—cut me a little slack, I was a bit too young and starstruck—but the overdubs and the fake crowd noise gets a little unbearable after awhile. And then Paul completely destroys the song with his antics at the end. Nice.
Accept – “Head Over Heels” (Balls to the Wall, 1984)
I love it when iTunes surprises me with a song I haven’t heard in awhile. I literally wore out this album and the its followup Metal Heart when I was in high school. Like the Scorions, Accept didn’t have a good grasp on the English language, and it really showed in most of their lyrics. But at this point in their career, they, like their fellow countrymen, had mastered the ability to craft a heavy song with good melody and a wide range of dynamics. And Udo Dirkshneider’s squeely, growly voice was just enough to remind you that this wasn’t “poser” metal.
Michael Parr
I listened to Alive! for the first time in twenty (or so) years earlier this week. This somehow led me down the rabbit hole in which I actually listened to Unmasked without a hint of irony, it was an odd week.
Phil
Call me strange (no, seriously, everybody else does!), but I really like Unmasked. It’s not really a KISS album in my opinion, but it has some really good tunes on it. “Easy As It Seems” popped up on shuffle just last night while I was doing some work.
Michael Parr
Oddly enough, what led me there was “Shandi” shuffling up and me realizing how much I dig that tune.
Dennis Corrigan
I was listening with irony mixed with nostalgia
Mike Duquette
A palate-cleansing Five between spinning some tunes for review on my various haunts!
1. The Temptations, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)”: four minutes of truth in 1970, four minutes of truth in 2012.
2. System of a Down, “Jet Pilot”: I loved Toxicity immensely in high school. Still prefer it to ever other System album. I wonder if they’ll ever spin these reunion tours into a new album.
3. Elton John, “I Don’t Wanna Go On with You Like That”: who approved this rhythm track? Who? And holy shit, this went to #2 in 1988? My brain’s going NUTS.
4. The Clash, “This is England”: from Cut the Crap, an album that did not. Has there been a band whose last single was as blindingly awful as The Clash’s? They might as well have called themselves “Joe Strummer and The Synths.”
5. Cheap Trick, “Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)”: from 1986’s The Doctor – rote, kind of lumpy verses give way to a surprisingly pretty good chorus. (Not surprising for Cheap Trick, mind you; surprising for Cheap Trick in 1986.)
High fives and happy Fridays, everyone!
jhallCORE
1) Ryan Bingham — “Bluebird” (Roadhouse Sun, 2009).
2) Prince — “Rasberry Beret” (Around The World In A Day, 1985).
3) Steve Earle — “N.Y.C.” (El Corazon, 1997).
4) Ben Harper — “Amen Omen” (Diamonds On The Inside, 2003).
5) Pat Martino — “Think Tank” (Think Tank, 2003).
Reverend Blerd
Twenty four hours until I officiate my first wedding. That wet spot in front of my pants? Oh, it’s there all the time.
01-Leavin’ For A Dream by Heatwave (from “Central Heating,” 1978): Rod Temperton is a songwriting genius. Johnnie Wilder, bless his soul, was a fantastic singer. The first two Heatwave albums are genius. This song is pure beauty.
02-I’ve Had Enough by Earth, Wind & Fire (from “Raise,” 1981): EW&F lost the plot in the early Eighties, became followers as opposed to leaders. However, this is a pretty funky dance/pop track. Philip’s falsetto is still amazing.
03-I Care by Tony! Toni! Tone! (from “The Revival,” 1990): iTunes is loving the R&B bands today, huh? A sweet, innocent love ballad from the three Ts.
04-Blurry by Puddle of Mudd (from “Come Clean,” 2001): Oh, screw you. You liked this song then, too.
05-It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday by Boyz II Men (from “Cooleyhighharmony,” 1991) After BIIM’s success, every dude in my high school decided he wanted to be in a harmony group, so I heard various renditions of this song bouncing off the school walls over the next two years. Took a while before I could listen to this song again without groaning.
whiteray
1. “Feel the Breath” from the soundtrack by Eric Serra to “Leon the Professional.” 1994. I love soundtracks, and this one was pretty good. The movie is best known, I suppose, for the casting and performance of a young Natalie Portman.
2. “Dear Prudence” by the 5 Stairsteps, Buddah 165, 1970. A cover of the Beatles’ tune on the B-side of “O-o-h Child” turned out pretty well.
3. “Four O’Clock Blues” by the Original Memphis Five, Vocalion 14506, 1923. Early blues-titled tune that owed a lot more to Dixieland jazz, if anything. Fun, but a little bit of this likely goes a long way for most folks.
4. “I’ll Change My Style” by Delbert McClinton from “Cost of Living,” 2005. Not sure what he’s been doing since, but seven years ago Delbert could still bring it.
5. “Small Town Girl” by Brewer & Shipley from “Down In L.A.,” 1968. A slice of country-ish folk from the guys who hit a couple of years later with “One Toke Over The Line.”
Dennis Corrigan
It’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I’m half Irish, so here’s an Java-themed Friday Five of Irish bands. Slàinte!
1. “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Sinéad O’Connor from I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. One of the more straight-ahead rockers from here excellent 1990 release. I’ve given her new record, How I About I Be Me (And You Be You), is really good.
2. “Moonshine Whiskey” by Van Morrison from Tupelo Honey. Can this album be underrated? It’s got that great early ’70’s laid back vibe
3. “Pride (In The Name of Love)” Single edit from The Unforgettable Fire special edition release. You knew these guys were going to show up.
4. “See Me Through Part II (Just A Closer Walk With Thee)” by Van Morrison from Hymns To The Silence. I really like this album, but not this particular track when about halfway through Van starts his spoken interlude about how great it was when he was growing up. He does name check SIdney Bechet which you don’t get a lot.
5. “In God’s Country” by U2 from the Joshua. I swear I have a lot more Irish acts than these guys and Van. This album turned 25 last week, but like a lot of us, I’m not sure it’s aged all that well.
Hope you hear something great this weekend!
Michael Parr
Sláinte bradán bod mor agus bás in Éirinn!
Gbv40299
1. Freedy Johnston – “Tearing Down This Place” (Can You Fly)
Was the lucky recepient of a free ticket to a Sheryl Crow show years ago. Opening the show was a then unknown Freedy promoting the soon-to-be classic Perfect World. Needless to say, Freedy opened a lot of eyes that night.
2. Van Halen – “As Is” (A Different Kind of Truth)
I, for one, was happy to see Van Halen come back strong. After all the reunions that seem to be arising for the wrong reasons, it’s refreshing to see one where there is still some gas left in the tank. In fact, Eddie V seems reborn.
3. Peter Frampton – “Lines On MY Face” (Frampton Comes Alive)
Frampton owned the mid-70’s and Comes Alive spearheaded the live album gold rush. His post Comes Alive choices (Sgt. Pepper movie with the Bee Gees and the ill-fated follow-up I’m In You) killed his credibility and by the 80’s he was a prime example of 70’s excess.
4. The Breeders – “Do You Love Me Now” (Last Splash)
It was great to see what Kim Deal could do when she wasn’t under the iron-fist of Black Francis.
5. Guided By Voices – “God Loves Us” (Let’s Go Eat The Factory)
Although I’m on record as being more of a Dog Gillard GBV era fan, it’s still exciting to see the boys back together. Here’s a Toby tune that outshines Robert Pollard’s contributions.
GO CARDS!