The Friday Five: July 27, 2012

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:

“Darling Nikki” by Foo Fighters (from Medium Rare, 2011)

I vividly remember the first time I heard the Foo’s take on this particular purple classic; I was driving home from work as the 2003 blackout was going on, and I caught the tail end of the track on the radio as I was flipping through the stations to find out what the hell was going on. I also totally had to look up what year that was. Baby addled brain is a mofo. Did I mention that I absolutely love this version?

“Nanci” by Toad the Wet Sprocket (from Acoustic Dance Party, 1994)

Dulcinea may well be my favorite Toad the Wet Sprocket record, and this simple little tune is a great example of the reasoning behind that praise. Who can resist a tune that includes the line, “you bend your words like Uri Geller’s spoon”?

“Express Yourself” by Madonna (from Immaculate Collection, 1990)

iTunes has been serving up a glut of Madonna songs in my general shuffling of late, including a sampling of her most recent effort which summarily gets skipped nearly every time.

“Great Expectations” by The Gaslight Anthem (from The ’59 Sound, 2008)

The Gaslight Anthem is easily one of the most disappointing acts of the last few years. The ’59 Sound is such a fantastic record, and everything that has followed has fallen well short of the mark. I’m not sure what I expected, but I sure was let down.

“Do You Believe in Love” by Huey Lewis & The News (from Live at 25, 2005)

We’ve covered this tune before, right? You all know the history? No? Okay, here’s the quick version: for their second record, Chrysalis decided that Huey and the boys needed a hit so they rang up Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Mutt just happened to have this track titled “We Both Believe In Love” ready and waiting, as his band had previously recorded it. One thing led to another, and “Do You Believe in Love” became the group’s first big hit. Flash forward twentythirty-some-odd years, and the band continues to trot out the number in this incredibly toothless form.

What’s on your shuffle today?