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:

“Hurts So Good” by John Mellencamp (from The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988, 1997)

Now there is nothing wrong with kicking the Friday Five off with a little kick in the ass. This is especially true when it comes to the particular brand of ass kicking that Mr. Mellencamp circa 1984 was dealing out. Despite having a kick ass video, I still associate this tune with the visual of Lori Singer and Sarah Jessica Parker getting down at the cowboy bar in Footloose.

“The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson (from Bad, 1987)

Why anyone doubted that this man had a ton of game is beyond me. Case in point: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” which finds Jackson singing the praises of his lady friend’s physical attributes with that same bravado that I mentioned last week — the difference here being nearly 20 years.

“Without You” by The Doobie Brothers (from The Captain and Me, 1973)

While this soundly fits in the ass kicking, rock ‘n’ roll mood set by the first tune in the five; I’m more of a fan of the Michael McDonald chapter in the Doobies history. That said, this definitely kicks some ass.

“Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon (from Excitable Boy, 1978)

I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here, so if you are fan of Kid Rock, you may want to skip to the next track. I’ll be damned if this isn’t the first time that I’ve heard Zevon’s calling card since that lazy, half-assed, poor excuse for a rock star, Kid Rock, went and appropriated it for his own use. I swear, the first time I heard his co-opting of “Werewolves” and Skynard’s “Sweet Home Alabama” I let a string of obscenities fly that would make George Carlin blush.

“Dance the Night Away” by Van Halen (from Van Halen II, 1979)

Being a “drooling fanatic” when it comes to Van Halen, I could talk until I’m blue in the face about Eddie’s influence alone. But this song is my hands down, all time, without a doubt favorite Van Halen song. Oh, and it kicks ass.

What’s on your shuffle today?