The Friday Music Shuffle (15/11/19)

by Rick Johansen

On days like this, I can barely raise my sorry arse from my bed and after I have finally managed that I barely want to do anything else. The dark days and the even darker nights are well and truly upon us and it’s not even winter for two weeks. Never mind. I’ve got my music.

And what music? Well, I don’t know yet. I’m about to set my iTunes library to shuffle and it will play ten tunes at random, which I shall then tell you about. The sky is grey and there is no blue to improve the view. So, let’s rock.

  1. Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys. Astonishingly, the magnificent Licensed To Ill album from which this absolute classic comes was released 33 years ago today. Still pretty well perfect, produced of course by Rick Rubin and featuring the back of a Boeing 727 on the front cover.
  2. You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones. Described by Mick Jagger as “a doomy song about drugs in Chelsea”, Donald Trump used the song for his election campaign in 2016, without permission and clearly without knowing its meaning. This features the London Bach choir and is 50 years old.
  3. Wasted On The Way by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Some gorgeous harmonies by CSN on this 1982 Graham Nash tune, aided and abetted by future Eagle Timothy B Schmit.
  4. Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen. Class Boss music from Born In The USA.
  5. Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. As well as being one of the most beautiful women on earth, it turns out our Natalie can also hold a tune and in this case a not-bad-at-all tune. And she says she is “lying naked on the floor…” NURSE???
  6. Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) by the Doobie Brothers. Great version from 2018’s Live from the Beacon Theatre double album.
  7. The Last Mall by Steely Dan. From their final album Everything Must Go in 2003, this is classic Dan.
  8. You Wear The Sun by the Delays. As lead singer and brilliant songwriter Greg Gilbert continues to deal and live with cancer, it’s wonderful to listen to this lovely song from their Faded Seaside Glamour album, which remains one of my favourite records ever.
  9. Um Um Um Um Um Um by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. I had literally no idea, until just now, that this song was actually written by Curtis Mayfield. I’m stunned.
  10. Child’s Anthem by Toto. The first track on their first album and it’s a brilliant instrumental.

That’s all, folks!

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