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:

“One Way or Another” by Cheryl Case (from The Rugrats Movie, 1998)

Oh, for flipping hell’s sake. This does not bode well, friends. Yes, I own the soundtrack to The Rugrats Movie; no, I cannot tell you the context in which this cover of the Blondie classic “One Way or Another” is presented, but I can assure you, it is pretty horrific.

“Silk Pillow (feat. Beck)” by Childish Gambino (from Silk Pillow (feat. Beck), 2012)

Seriously, who else could get Beck back behind the mic to drop a jewel? I know I’ve said recently that Gambino might be my favorite lyricist of the moment, and with each passing release I’m more certain of this fact. “I used to rap about nothin’, now I rap about nothin’, But that nothin’ was somethin’ that ain’t nobody was bumpin’.” The track is hot, to boot. This one was included on his free mixtape, Royalty.

“There’s Money in New Wave” by A.C. Newman (from Shut Down the Streets, 2012)

I’m certain that this tune fell on the pile of songs that could have been part of a New Pornographers’ project. It’s sublimely rooted in the chamber pop / baroque pop genre, sans all the overblown instrumentation. Sure, there’s a harpsichord featured in the bridge and out chorus, but that doesn’t make it bad, does it?

“You Really Got a Hold on Me” by The Beatles (from With The Beatles, 2009)

I read one of those Buzzfeed (I think it was Buzzfeed, I could be wrong) lists the other day about bands that wouldn’t survive in current-day L.A.; one of the types was the “never plays live” band that is eternally working in the studio. The tie to the Beatles is in the fact that the writer of said piece said, “even The Beatles played for years in German strip clubs before ever recording a note.” I forget where I was going with this…

“A Night Like This” by The Cure (from Show, 1993)

Though the track—originally from the 1985’s The Head on the Door—was never officially a single, it’s been well featured on quite a few tours, including the 1992 date that was captured for the bands live album, Show.

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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