The Friday Five

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:

Ok, playlist time! I’ve still got a bit of patriotic hangover from the other day, so let’s see what “Life,” “Liberty,” and “Happiness” nets us.

“Life Is Sweet” by The Chemical Brothers (from, Exit Planet Dust, 1995)

Now this is how you kick off a Friday Five! Mix equal parts breakbeat and snotty vocals and wrap it up in an groove scientifically designed to get some asses wigglin’ and you’ve got “Life Is Sweet.” I make no bones about my affinity for ’90s electronica, and The Chemical Brothers are in the top five reasons for that.

“Pop Life” by Prince & The Revolution (from Septembre, 1992)

Recorded on September 9, 1986 at the Parade Tour Finale in Yokohama, Japan, Septembre is one of my favorite Prince bootlegs.

“It’s My Life (extended mix)” by Talk Talk (from The Original 80s Remix Box Set: Massive Eighties Hits Extended and Remixed, 2007)

Boy, we are sure hearing a lot about “life.” Where’s “Liberty,” and “Happiness”? As much as I love “It’s My Life,” this mix gets stale about halfway through.

“Happiness” by Stephen SondheimPassion (1994 original Broadway cast), 1994)

Dammit, I’m sorry I asked. I went through a short, ill-advised phase of purchasing Broadway cast recordings in the early ’90s. Ill-advised, as I would often purchase them sight unseen. Sondheim’s Passion wants so badly to be an intense affair, but often just trips over itself.

“Liberty” by Desktop (from Desktop, 2009)

Desktop is Keith Thompson and Zach Curd. Desktop is the shit. They have only released trio of EPs, but each is better than the previous. Listen to Desktop.

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.

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