Friday, September 16, 2005

Music: Friday Random Ten

1. " One More Time" Joe Jackson
2. "Walks Like a Lady" Journey
3. "Sister Morphine" Rolling Stones
4. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" dada
5. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" Chicago
6. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" Cake
7. "Lonely as You" Foo Fighters
8. "Driving South" The Stone Roses
9. "New World Man" Rush
10. "Fatman in the Bathtub [live]" Little Feat

To save space on the front page, go to the comments for the breakdown of this most excellent streak of tunes.

4 comments:

Mr Furious said...

This could easily have been expanded into a Random 15, the iPod was on a roll...

1. " One More Time" Joe Jackson — Before college, Joe Jackson was just the "Steppin' Out" guy to me. My old roommate Neal exposed me to whole new worlds of non-AOR* music that I'd missed out on. Joe Jackson was one of the first, and best, of these artists of enlightenment. Look Sharp! is a staple. 9.0

2. "Walks Like a Lady" Journey — In the words of the immortal Bob Guinea, "Anyone who says they don't like Journey is a damn liar!" I'll second that. This is from Captured. The live version of the average "studio" ballad is bookended with a nice blues jam at the front and a screaming guitar solo at the end that does what Eddie Van Halen attempted with "Eruption." 9.0

3. "Sister Morphine" Rolling Stones — One of the best Stones songs ever. Tremendous. 10.0

4. "Every Day I Write the Book" Elvis Costello — A guy I have no problem with, but never really rallied behind. In fact, I was given tickets to his show here in Ann Arbor this year, and I passed 'em along to a friend i knew was a much more devoted fan. True aficiĆ³nados might dismiss this as too mainstream, but I love it. Especially on headphones. 10.0

5. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" Chicago — Solid K-Tel Seventies. 8.0

6. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" Cake — My favorite Cake song. When I listen to these guys, I wish I stuck with the trumpet...what band is more cool or sounds like they more fun than Cake? 10.0

7. "Lonely as You" Foo Fighters — Good song from the best rock band out there. 8.0

8. "Driving South" The Stone Roses — What happened to the cocky English bands like the Roses and Oasis? Audaciously naming the album Second coming? If Eric Clapton learned to play guitar in the 80s he would have been in this band. 8.0

9. "New World Man" Rush — Probably the fourth best song on the album and still a 9.0.

10. "Fatman in the Bathtub [live]" Little Feat — Opening track on the best live album of all time. (John Cole agrees w/me) As good as it gets. 10.0

An astonishing 9.1 average. I'm not sure I could pick a better run of music.

*Album-Oriented Rock. Is that even a radio format any more?

Mr Furious said...

Otto posts the rules of the game:

Scale of 0-to-10, with 0 being the absolute uncoolest thing you'd ever hear (Rudee Vallee) and 10 being something so mind-blowingly cool you wish you could walk into a bar to it, in slow motion. The middle part gets complicated, but I'd say a classic rock song everyone knows would be a 4-5, an alternative hit your friends all know a 6-8, something that would impress a college DJ or record store geek a 9.

I would probably dial some of my past scores down to meet this, but not very much this week.

Thrillhous said...

Rush, Chicago, and Journey? Truly, a list to make a man proud! I concur with your self rating. (Which, of course, qualifies you for a free can of hair spray at your local CVS.)

Anonymous said...

I've been in a rocking mood of late, so here's mine:

1. She Sells Sanctuary-The Cult. The seven-minute 12" version. Yeah, they were a big, dumb production that wanted to pretend to be the Doors, but it always got me driving over the speed limit. Better than coffee first thing in the morning.

2. Five-Foot One-Fetchin Bones. Wild-assed version of the Iggy Pop song, and with the lead singer being a woman giving the height disadvantage of the protagonist in the song a kind of feminist angst in our dimorphic world, you know.

3. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Prong Crown)-Fleetwood Mac. "Makin' me do things I don' wanna do..." If you know the song.

4. I'm On Fire-Dwight Twilley Band. Loved their first album. The lead guitarist and the high harmonies. Wow.

5. Evening Gown-The Left Banke. Yeah, the guys who did "Walk Away Renee." This was from their first album. After all these years I don't know what the hell the song was about. Something like, "at the top of the stairs" and "my eyes a turned up and down...on her evening gown! Said yeah!!!" Always gets me excited.

6. Alex Chilton-The Replacements. This shoulda been a contender, this should have gotten them AM airplay, that is, if there had been AM by then.

7. Life Stinks-Pere Ubu. A great two minutes written by a guitarist who drank himself to death. "Life stinks 'cause I need a drink 'cause I can't think 'cause I need a drink." Perfect sentiment for the late sentiment for the beginning of the Reagan Administration.

8. Someday You'll Be King-MX-80 Sound. Weird band that sometimes recorded for Ralph Records and contributed to the soundtrack of "Eraserhead" (I think). This was straightahead and euphoric.

9. Game Of Pricks-Guided By Voices. Great song for anyone who's gone through a divorce.

10. Two-Headed Dog-Roky Erickson. The Mushroom Records single version, there's a lot of versions floating around.

Or not.