The Friday Five: July 25, 2014

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:

“Space (acoustic remix)” by Prince (from Space, 1994)

If there are any truly under-appreciated Prince singles, I’d nominate “Space” to the top spot. Despite the decidedly ’90s production, the structure, lyrics, and overall melody is more 1984 than 1994.

“Flashing Lights (feat. Dwele)” by Kanye West (from Graduation, 2007)

Speaking of under-appreciated, could Graduation be Yeezy’s most under-appreciated effort? The man has yet to put out less than an A+ record, so who is to say.

“I’m a Believer” by Tin Huey (from Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the ’80s, Volume 1, 1994)

I thought love was enough to keep from awful versions of this song from existing, then I was forced to repeatedly hear the Smash Mouth version via its inclusion in one of the Shrek movies (and having a young one at the time of Shrek meant you watched that shit, repeatedly.) This version doesn’t fare much better, if you ask me. It’s too slow, too forced, too ironic for its own damn good.

“Fun Time (Sadlands demo)” by The Smashing Pumpkins (from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (disc 4: High Tea), 2012)

This demo sounds as if Billy and James (or prehaps just Billy) are trying to find their way to a Hawaiian slack-key thing, and failing miserably. Demos are demos for a reason, people. You aren’t always going to get into the head of the musician by listening to them. (Editor’s Note: I’m clearly lecturing myself here, for the record. —MP)

“Finally” by CeCe Peniston (from Power Workout: High NRG Megamix, Volume 1, 1996)

Oh 1996, you silly year… with your commercially-viable mix CDs, and what not. While I was absolutely a part-time DJ during these years—which explains the inclusion of this in my library—I will 100% cop to loving the bejeezus out of this song. Unfortunatley, there isn’t much of this song to be had in this mix. Hell, CeCe doesn’t even show up until 2:50!

What’s on your shuffle today?