Ella Shuffle Five

I haven’t done a music shuffle five in a bit, and I was reminded to do it, as I’m halfway through editing a Friday Five collection. That and it’s late and everyone is asleep, so lets slide those studio phones over our ears and hit the play button and see what we get:

Miss Otis Regrets (Ella Fitzgerald)

Now, there aren’t many better things better than a Cole Porter song sung by Ella, but this one, one of the few non broadway Porter tunes, is something special. There are many songs written about love gone wrong, and more still about love gone mad crazy, but this is 1930’s, so it’s not like Joe is going down to shoot his old lady, but instead Miss Otis Regrets she’s unable to lunch today, madam.

G4L - Explicit (Rihanna)

NO hiding how I feel about Ree-Ree. I can’t blame anyone, anything they do for the kind of career they can land, so, serious, God bless, but please, just, please, stop letting her improv.

Carry On (Fun.)

I give them props for everything in this song except this one odd lyric where he says “This I know” I understand it's important to carry the verse to the end of the rhyme, but who says “This I know”? Nobody, nobody, that’s who, you know what they say? They say “Yeah, I know” But I love this whole album with a good pair of headphones and nothing else to do for 45 minutes.

Pop Life (Prince)

I always seem to have to rediscover Prince. I don’t know why I can’t just stick with him like the good little fan I am, but he never makes my Top lists, and then he shuffles up, and I’m like, damn, that shit’s awesome. First he was this weird little dude on MTV, and I didn’t get it. Then there was this girl who invited me over to her house and cranked up Purple Rain on her Daddy’s Hi-Fi, mind blown. Then my wife made me down load a Best Of CD and OMG did that just happen? Then I saw him perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I’m like, “How did he just do that with a guitar?” Then there was the Superbowl Half time show, same thing. Then I read Mo-Meta Blues and Questlove spends chapters talking about Prince.

Jackie’s Strength (Tori Amos)

This album came out the year I played Jesus in Jesus Christ Super Star. I went into day one of rehearsals knowing the show in my sleep, and since I didn’t dance, I spent every rehearsal on the side of the stage with a bottle of water and this on repeat in my DiscMan. Her first five albums were just beyond reproach. And I would have almost preferred to have left her legacy left at the end of this album. Except for the fact that I absolutely need to see her again in concert someday. I feel the same way about Tori Amos that I do about her former lover, Trent Reznor, they were just too perfect out of the gate. History was written with “Boys for Pele” and “Downward Spiral” Time to move on.

Honorable Mention:

Rape Me (Nirvana), this came up right after, and now I have to take back everything I just said about going out while you’re ahead. Tori, Trent, please keep trucking.