Friday Five : |ˈfrÄ«dÄ – 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:
“Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Thelma Houston (from Motown: The Complete No. 1’s (disc 6), 2008)
Thelma clearly set out to burn the disco down and bring it straight back to church with this one. No disrespect meant to Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, but Thelma owns this tune.
“She’s a Heartbreaker” by ZZ Top (from The ZZ Top Sixpack (disc 3: Tejas / El Loco), 1987)
Connecting the dots to reconcile the sheen of ’80s ZZ Top and the rough and tumble Texas boogie of ’70s ZZ top takes some doing, but is ultimately found in the driving force of drummer Frank Beard.
“Soul Clappin'” by Sly & The Family Stone (from Dance to the Music, 2007)
I’ve been deep in a classic soul / early funk hole for the past week, so this is par for the course.
“Mishale” by Andru Donalds (from Andru Donalds, 1994)
There are a handful of records that I can say—probably with some certainty—only record store employees ever bought. This is one of those records, and not a particularly good one at that. Homogenized, pseudo-reggae, albeit with one hell of a hook at the chorus; I can picture the record executive that pitched this being really excited about capitalizing on the success of Maxi Priest.
“December” by Weezer (from Maladroit, 2002)
Rivers Cuomo has a real knack for writing these “Golden Oldies” inspired ballads and making them sound far less insipid than they truly are. Most feel like an after thought, tossed in at the end of the recording session. “December” continues this well-worn tradition, but fails to live up to the other stronger tracks on Maladroit.
What’s on your shuffle today?
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