The Friday Five: March 30, 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:
“Every Day I Have the Blues” by Count Basie (from Verve Jazz Masters 2, 1994)
You know, despite the title, this number swings like mad. I’m not sure I’d swing so hard if I had the blues everyday. Memphis Slim sure didn’t write it this way.
“Got Me Under Pressure” by ZZ Top (from Greatest Hits, 1992)
Driving beat; thumping bass line; Berry-esque boogie–yep, it’s a by-the-numbers ZZ Top hit.
“Hot Thing (dub version)” by Prince (from 12″ Archive 2.0, 2001)
Makes me long for the days when Prince would put out singles stuffed to the gills with b-sides and remixes.
“Kit (What’s the Scoop)” by Slick Rick (from The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, 1988)
Rick the Ruler! I wore out at least two copies of this cassette back in the day.
“Dancing Nancies” Dave Matthews Band (from 1995-02-25: DMBLive: Lafayette College-Allan Kirby Field House, Easton, PA, 2010)
This is a pretty subdued version of the DMB live staple.
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: March 9, 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:
“Drown” by The Smashing Pumpkins (from Singles, 1992)
By virtue of its inclusion on the Singles soundtrack this could be my favorite Smashing Pumpkins track. On second thought, that right probably belongs to the the album cut “Mayonnaise” from Siamese Dream, but I’d still place “Drown” at a close second.
“Mishale” by Andru Donalds (from Andru Donalds, 1994)
Okay, raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of Andru Donalds. I’m not going to lie, I’m astounded to find that this tune actually charted in Billboard’s Hot 100.
“The Monster’s Heart” by The Damnwells (2009)
During the recording of No One Listens to the Band Anymore, Alex Dezen opened the studio doors and gave the fans that pledged to fund the record access to the demos, outtakes and sketches from the proceedings. This is the early bones of “The Monster,” and is just as powerful in its quiet acoustic take.
“I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” by ZZ Top (from Greatest Hits, 1992)
Do you think that for a moment the boys in ZZ Top considered for a moment while writing all these blues infused tunes they’d serve as the soundtrack for shilling everything from automobiles to beer?
“The Magic Number” by De La Soul (from The Best Of. 2003)
Ending on a funky note, nice!
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: July 22, 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:
“Rewrite” by Paul Simon (from So Beautiful or So What, 2011)
There aren’t enough hours in the day to listen to Simon’s latest record as much as I’d like. “Rewrite” is just one of the many reasons why.
“Another Lonely Christmas” by Prince & The Revolution (from 12″ Archive 2.0, 2001)
Christmas in July? With temperatures across the country reaching well into the triple digits, I’d bet everyone could stand a little holiday cheer to remind them that snow and sub-zero temperatures that’ll be here in just six short months. There’s not much cheer to be found here, though.
“Legs (dance-enhancing version)” by ZZ Top (from Greatest Hits, 1992)
I know, I know … what is “Legs” without the video, right?
That’s better, right?
“The Scientist” by Johnette Napolitano & Danny Lohner (from Wicker Park, 2004)
Take the already haunting Coldplay cut, amp it up with the incomparable vocals of Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano, and you’ve got yourself a perfect cover.
“[silence]” by Nine Inch Nails (from Broken, 1992)
They say silence is golden. I swear, this is the next track that shuffled up, though I feel like I might be cheating you guys. Maybe I should elucidate on just how … oh, forget it. I used the word elucidate and I want to kick my own ass right now.
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: September 18, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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:
The Smashing Pumpkins – “1949 (vocal mix)” (from Rarities and B-Sides, 2005)
It seems like a lifetime ago when Billy Corgan was actually relevant. Despite his ongoing attempts to further bury his Smashing Pumpkins into the ground I will hold the bands early work near and dear to my heart. While clearly ego-driven, the ambitious Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness to this day stands as one of my favorite records of the mid 90’s. This particular track was part of a remix single featuring remixes by Roli Mosimann and Moby.
Counting Crows – “Goodnight Elisabeth” (from Recovering the Satellites, 1996)
Easily one of my favorite songs in Counting Crows repertoire, “Goodnight Elisabeth” is a perfect example of the band’s strength and moreover Adam Duritz’s ability to craft the most lovelorn tale and wrap it up in a beautiful package. The lyric “If your the Queen of California I am the King of the rain…” continues in the tradition of the storyteller tying back to his past tales.
OutKast – “B.O.B.” (from Big Boi and Dre Present…Outkast, 2001)
This track is – in a word – relentless. At a frenetic 155 BPM it is the definition of banging and was the first OutKast single that really caught my attention. I was familiar with the group prior and loved the track “Elevators (Me & You)” but had not connected with the southern hip-hop duo outside that. That all changed with this track.
Paul Davis – “’65 Love Affair” (from Sweet Life: His Greatest Hit Singles, 1999)
This track just takes me back to days without a care, riding bicycles and running around during the summer. For that simple fact I cherish this track.
ZZ Top – “Rough Boy” (from Greatest Hits, 1992)
A few years later and maybe a little less “riding bicycles and running around during the summer” but this holds a similar place in my heart. Growing up just outside of the reach of NYC’s Z100 the Hudson Valley pop radio landscape in the ’80s was dominated by K104.7 WSPK and its Saturday Night all request with Dr. John Barron. It was through these shows that I discovered not just pop, but rock, new wave, AOR and of course the Power Ballad. “Rough Boy” was the third single from ZZ Top’s Afterburner and was their last in the ’80s.
I’ve got my five, what’s coming up in your shuffle today?