Friday Five : |ˈfrÄ«dā – fÄ«v| : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button in iTunes and 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 the media player of your choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.

The Five:

“We R Who We R” by Ke$ha (from Cannibal, 2010)

“Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

“Don’t Pass Me By” by The Beatles (from Anthology 3 (disc 1), 1996)

The Anthology series was interesting for the peek behind the curtain that it provided. The Beatles had such a fascinating process and one of the world’s most amazing studios as their personal sandbox, so most of these takes could be the finished product. This particular track is takes 3 and 5, recorded on June 5, 1968 and features a less-than-inspired vocal from one Richard Starkey.

“Let Me Down Slow” by Bobby Wilson (from The Complete Stax-Volt Singles: 1959-1968 (disc 7), 1991)

Now this … this is what I’m talking about. While there is virtually no information available about Mr. Bobby Wilson, he sure knew how to knock out a soulful tune and leave you beggin’ for more—especially after just two minutes and ten seconds. According to the liner notes: There were two mystery records cut nearly back-to-back for Volt released in early 1967. The first was the very gospelish “Let Me Down Slow” by one Bobby Wilson. The song is self-written and no one at the company can remember anything about him, which makes one think that it might have been a lease job. Liner notes, people. I miss liner notes!

“If You Love Someone Set Them on Fire” by The Dead Milkmen (from Death Rides a Pale Cow: The Ultimate Collection, 1997)

“You know that it would be untrue / You know that I would be a liar / If I were to say to you / I didn’t set your house on fire”

I love The Dead Milkmen. I strongly dislike The Doors. I kind of love this song for taking the piss out of one of the latter’s “hits.”

“I Hear a Symphony” by The Isley Brothers (from The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 6: 1966 (disc 30), 2006)

“Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

I’m not gonna lie, Ron: no one, but no one, does it better than Miss Diana Ross.

What’s on your shuffle today?

About the Author

Michael Parr

Husband, Father, Writer, Musical Voyeur, Pop Culture Glutton, Gourmet in Training. I'm the tall guy behind all these short guys. You can find me on the Twitter.

View All Articles