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:

“Inside Out” by Phil Collins (from No Jacket Required, 1985)

Not altogether awful, but an ultimately forgettable album track from Mr. Collins which begs the question: if “Sussudio” is his attempt to rewrite Prince’s “1999,” what is this supposed to be? Truthfully, this could just as easily have been on Invisible Touch, save for the awful guitar work.

“Baby I’m for Real” by The Originals (from Motown: The Complete No. 1’s (disc 3), 2008)

Much more accessible than The Complete Motown Singles collection, this was my gateway drug to the larger world of Motown. Sure, I knew all the essential tunes, and a smattering of album cuts; this took my Motown game up to a whole other level.

“Martha” by Rufus Wainwright (from All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, 2010)

I don’t recall listening to this before, though iTunes tells me different. I feel like I would remember this. Disappointment reigns.

“Bellissima” by DJ Quicksilver (from Top of the Pops 1997, 2008)

EURODANCE!

Holy generic mid ’90s techno, Batman. I can’t say that I know a single thing about this tune, save for the fact that it was clearly a big hit in the UK. I listened to approximately as much of this track as it took for me to type out this blurb. I type pretty damn fast.

“Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)” by Heart (from The Essential Heart (disc 1), 2002)

Matt Wardlaw, cover your ears.

Toss Heart on the pile of vaunted acts that just do nothing for me. Don’t get me wrong, I respect the shit out Nancy Wilson as a guitar player, and Ann has an ungodly good voice. That said, save for the big ’80s hits, I just don’t bother listening to the sisters Wilson. This is not for a lack of effort on my part, either. I have sat through countless Heart records in an attempt to find the connection that many of you have, and every time I come up short. Eh, c’est la vie.

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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