FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

I neglected to post the usual Friday Random Ten last week owing to our being out-of-town... and, after receiving hundreds of angry e-mails, I won’t be letting that happen again anytime soon.

Right.

But, after all, it is Friday again... and you’ll be wanting some Choons fresh outta the Little White Choon-Box, won’t you?

Here we go:

1. Mr. Moonlight - The Beatles
   
   From the Beatles For Sale album, probably the weakest one in their entire discography.
   
   
2. Idioteque - Radiohead
   
   
3. Backed Up - Bill Hicks
   
   
4. Lovers & Pinheads - Bobby Slayton
   
   
5. Common Sense - Michael Leviton
   
   
6. Lautturin Viivat - Alamaailman Vasarat
   
   
7. Golden Birdies - Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
   
   Those little golden birdies - look at them
   
   And the mystic Egypt tassel dangling down
   Old sleeper-man shish, don’t wake him
   Up one hand broom star was an obi-man
   Revered throughout the bone-knob land
   His magic black purse slit creeped open,
   Let go flocks of them
   
   Shish sookie singabus
   Snored like a red merry-go-round horse
   And an acid gold bar swirled up and down,
   Up and down, in back of the singabus
   And the pantaloon duck white goose neck quacked
   Webcor, webcor
   
   
8. Green Earrings - Steely Dan
   
   
9. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
   
   
10. Stagger Lee - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
    
    Hmmm... two songs in a row having to do with murderous head-cases. Yowza!
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY SATURDAY RANDOM TEN

Yeah, I know, I know. It’s not Friday.

But I spent Friday well away from the Infernal Electronickal Computational Device, running around Georgetown and other parts of the District of Columbia with Elder Daughter and the Mistress of Sarcasm. We spent the evening at Washington, D.C’s first Slideluck Potshow, an event comprising a potluck dinner and slideshow featuring the work of various visual artists. After all that, who had time to monkey around on Teh Interwebz?

Today’s non-Friday Random Ten is drawn from the selection of choons on my iPhone, given the the iPod d’Elisson sits 650 miles away back home. But there’s still plenty of Good Stuff:

1. Free Bird Jam (live) - Ben Folds Five
   
   
2. Act II, Scene 2: Flesh Rebels - John Adams, Nixon in China
   
   
3. Mr. Freedom X - Miles Davis
   
   From 1972’s hyper-funkadelic On the Corner album, AKA “the most hated album in jazz.”
   
   
4. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
   
   I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
   Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
   He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook’s
   Going to get a big dish of beef chow mein
   
   Refrain:
   Ah-ooooo, werewolves of London
   Ah-ooooo
   Ah-ooooo, werewolves of London
   Ah-ooooo
   
   If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
   You better not let him in
   Little old lady got mutilated late last night
   Werewolves of London again
   
   [Refrain]
   
   He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent
   Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
   You better stay away from him
   He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
   Ha, I’d like to meet his tailor
   
   [Refrain]
   
   Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
   Doing the werewolves of London
   I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walking with the Queen
   Doing the werewolves of London
   I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s
   His hair was perfect
   
   Ah-ooooo, werewolves of London
   Ah-ooooo, werewolves of London
   
   
5. Merikäärme - Alamaailman Vasarat
   
   
6. Inca Roads - Frank Zappa
   
   
7. Lo Yo Yo Stuff - Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
   
   
8. Rat Race - The Specials
   
   
9. Birdland - Weather Report
   
   Covered by numerous artists, most people are familiar with Manhattan Transfer’s version of this piece... but Weather Report’s original is far superior.
   
   
10. Dead Man’s Dream - Procol Harum
    
    

It’s Friday Saturday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Holy crap! Is it Friday already?

Why, yes. Yes, it is. And that means the weekend is almost here... so close I can practically taste it, along with the Bison Hungarian Goulash I have prepared for this evening’s repast. It also means that it’s time for yet another Friday Random Ten, the weekly Morass o’ Music as puked up by the Little White Choon Box. Oh, boy!

So - what’s on today? Lessee:

1. All Along the Watchtower - Dave Matthews Band
   
   This Bob Dylan song has been covered by a small army of other notable bands, including the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Dave Mason. What does it mean? Damned if I know... but it is awfully catchy.
   
   “There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief
   “There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief
   Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth
   None of them along the line know what any of it is worth”
   
   “No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke
   “There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
   But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate
   So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late”
   
   All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
   While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too
   
   Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl
   Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl
   
   
2. Three Is A Green Crown - The Incredible String Band
   
   
3. Incognito - The Judybats
   
   
4. Look at the Sky - Original Cast, Urinetown - The Musical
   
   
5. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - The Beatles
   
   
6. Morning Bell - Radiohead
   
   
7. Right Off - Miles Davis
   
   
8. Gimme Some Loving - Spencer Davis Group
   
   When I was a freshman in high school, I would listen to the radio (AM, of course) as I washed up in the morning - and I have very clear memories of listening to this 1967-vintage song.
   
   
9. I Lost All My Money At The Cock Fights - Minus The Bear
   
   
10. Careless Love - Madeleine Peyroux
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Viernes. Freitag. Yom ha-Shishi. Vendredi. Venerdi. Vrijdag. Perjantai. Jumat. Xīngqí wǔ. Kin yōbi.

Any way you say it, it’s Friday... and time for the Friday Random Ten, the weekly Mess o’ Musicality as coughed up by the iPod d’Elisson. Let’s see what’s playing today:

1. Act I, Scene 1: The People Are The Heroes Now - John Adams, Nixon in China
   
   
2. Lumeen nukkuneet - Alamaailman Vasarat
   
   
3. The Hussein Skank - Skankin’ Pickle
   
   
4. Señorita - Chick Corea and Béla Fleck
   
   
5. Absolutely Free - Big Swifty & Associates
   
   Being an instrumental cover of the Frank Zappa tune.
   
   
6. Lonely At The Top - Randy Newman
   
   I’ve been around the world
   Had my pick of any girl
   You’d think I'd be happy, but I’m not
   Ev’rybody knows my name
   But it’s just a crazy game
   Oh, it’s lonely at the top
   
   Listen to the band, they’re playing just for me
   Listen to the people paying just for me
   
   All the applause - all the parades
   And all the money I have made
   Oh, it’s lonely at the top
   
   Listen all you fools out there
   Go on and love me - I don’t care
   Oh, it’s lonely at the top
   Oh, it’s lonely at the top
   
   
7. Bogus Pomp - Frank Zappa
   
   
8. Euphonius Whale - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
   
   
9. Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers
   
   
10. Killer Inside Me - MC 900 Foot Jesus
    
    You’ve probably seen me hanging around
    I’m a very familiar face in this town.
    A day doesn’t go by that I don’t meet
    A lot of my friends walking down the street.
    I’m never too busy to stop by the way
    And I’ve always got something pleasant to say.
    Maybe some perceptive thoughts about the weather
    Or the latest news from Wall Street, whatever.
    I could stand around all day making small talk
    Gushing platitudes, blocking the sidewalk
    Tying people up for hours with ease,
    My one big talent is shooting the breeze.
    When they start to squirm, I really get going
    But only my happy-face smile is showing.
    Why can’t they see what I’m trying to hide,
    I’m bustin’ a gut, laughing on the inside.
    It’s in their smile when I say hello
    I can see they think I’m a little bit slow.
    But after a while with me, they look dazed
    Their eyes covered with a donut glaze.
    I really start to cook when I see that look
    I hit ’em with every cliché in the book.
    Their knees wobble and they start to weave
    It’s like they’re begging for permission to leave,
    They think they are having a brush with stupidity
    I don’t laugh, even though it’s killing me.
    Watching them wilt like day-old flowers
    Ticking off the minutes as they turn to hours.
    They are wondering how much more they can take
    I give ’em a friendly smile and a handshake.
    We say goodbye very politely
    Now say hello to the killer inside me
    
    Now say hello to the killer inside me.
    Everybody has their doubts about my sanity
    But nothing happens ’cause they all feel sorry for me
    I’ve got the whole town under my thumb
    and all I’ve gotta do is keep acting dumb.
    “Oh that boy Lou,” they say, “what a guy,
    A little on the slow side but wouldn’t hurt a fly”
    “And such a gentleman!” “Oh yes, I know.
    He sure can talk your ear off though!”
    I tip my hat and pretend I don’t hear
    Grinning like a half-wit from ear to ear
    I can think of a thousand ways to say hello
    So I start through ’em all, and go real slow.
    They listen hard, and act like they care.
    How can they be so completely unaware
    Of the truth the answer is always denied me
    So I introduce them to the killer inside me.
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

“Say, kids - what time is it?” - Buffalo Bob

Those of us of a certain age (“old as dirt”) might remember the above Ritual Greeting that opened each episode of the Howdy Doody Show. And if you’re that old, you remember when most music was purchased in the form of LP’s - long-playing vinyl records that sat on a turntable where a needle, carefully balanced on a tonearm, would ride a spiral groove and vibrate according to the minuscule undulations molded therein. Those vibrations, fed into a preamplifier, amplifier, and pooped out through a set of speakers, provided the soundtrack for our early lives.

I still have a library of some 400-odd LP’s residing the the bowels of Chez Elisson, but it is only rarely that I will take one out and play it. Which is a shame, because there’s plenty of fine music embedded in those grooves... and I cannot bear the expense of repurchasing everything in digital form.

Which leaves me with only some 3,300 tunes to randomize for the sale of our Weekly Exercise. [So if you feel like you’re seeing the same songs over and over, perhaps you are. Deal with it.] All of these tunes, of course, sit comfortably in the electronickal brain of the iPod d’Elisson, smaller than a pack of cigarettes. Remarkable... and yet I suspect that one day our grandchildren will wonder how we could stand lugging that big white Choon-Box around. No doubt they will have devices that can store the entire musical output of Western Civilization on a doohickey the size of a grain of rice.

So: What’s on the box today?

1. Celestial Terrestrial Commuters - Mahavishnu Orchestra
   
   
2. Helmi otsalla - Alamaailman Vasarat
   
   
3. Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra
   
   
4. Illegal Smile (Live) - John Prine
   
   
5. Demons - Fatboy Slim
   
   
6. Alice Childress (iTunes Original Version) - Ben Folds
   
   Some summers in the evening after six or so
   I walk on down the hill
   And maybe buy a beer
   I think about my friends -
   Sometimes I wish they lived out here
   But they wouldn’t dig this town
   No they wouldn’t dig this town
   
   Try not to think about it, Alice Childress
   Try not to think about it any more
   Try not to think about it, Alice Childress
   Any more, no not any more
   No
   
   Alice, the world is full of ugly things that you can’t change
   Pretend it’s not that way
   That’s my idea of faith
   You can blow it off
   And say there’s good in nearly everyone
   Just give them all a chance
   Give them all a chance
   
   Try not to think about it, Alice Childress
   Try not to think about it any more
   Try not to think about it, Alice Childress
   Any more, no not any more
   No
   
   No it didn’t work out
   No it didn’t work out
   The way we thought it would
   No it didn’t work out
   An arranged marriage is not so good
   
   Thank God it’s you - you know your timing is impeccable
   I’m not fooling you
   I don’t know what to do
   Some dude just knocked me cold
   And left me on the sidewalk
   Took everything I had
   Everything I had
   
   Try not to think about it, Alice Childress
   Try not to think about it any more
   It’s getting late where you are, Alice Childress
   Any more, no not any more
   Any more, no not any more
   
   
7. A Night in Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
   
   
8. Just a Gigolo - Louie Prima
   
   
9. Brandenburg - Beirut
   
   
10. Kolomeyke - The Klezmatics
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

It’s another beautiful spring day here in the Atlanta metroplex. The dogwoods are in bloom, my hay fever seems to have subsided a bit, and, of course, it’s Friday... time for the weekend.

Also, it’s time for the Friday Random Ten.

The iPod d’Elisson, packed with 3,294 little chunks of audio miscellany, is ready to disgorge its weekly randomized selection of ten tunes. Let’s see what’s on the playlist today:

1. The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine - Jeff Wayne, War of the Worlds
   
   
2. Repent Walpurgis - Procol Harum
   
   
3. Klezmer - Itzhak Perlman
   
   
4. Samson and Delilah - The Barry Sisters and Jan Bart with Sam Medoff and the Yiddish Swingtet
   
   
5. Ladytron - Venus In Furs & Radiohead
   
   
6. She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own) - The Judybats
   
   
7. Danny Diamond - Squirrel Nut Zippers
   
   
8. Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
   
   
9. Blame It On Cain (Alternate) - Elvis Costello
   
   
10. Brandenburg Concerto #5 In D, BWV 1050 - 1. Allegro - Trevor Pinnock; English Concert
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

It’s a gorgeous spring day, the Masters tournament is in full swing, and, to top it off, it’s Friday... time for the Friday Random Ten.

Please try to curb your enthusiasm.

Alas, the iPod d’Elisson, AKA the Little White Choon Box, is 850 miles away at Chez Elisson. But all that means is that we shall exercise the standard Fallback Option, using the iPhone d’Elisson from which to extract today’s Choon-List. There’s a smaller pile of Choons from which to draw, but with over 900 song files, there are still plenty for our purposes.

One nice touch: Our rental car is one of those late-model Korean SUV’s that comes equipped with (!) Bluetooth. Good Gawd! Now I can pair up my iPhone with the car’s stereo system and play my Random Crap without even having to plug anything in.

What’s on the ol’ playlist today? Let’s take a peek:

1. Lugubrious Whing Whang - Squirrel Nut Zippers
   
   
2. How Could I Be Such a Fool - Frank Zappa
   
   
3. Because - The Beatles
   
   This is the a capella version from the Love mashup album.
   
   
4. Boxing - Ben Folds
   
   
5. Hine Ani Ba (Here I Come) - HaDag Nachash
   
   Israeli rap music. Who’d a thunk it?
   
   
6. Blind Love - Tom Waits
   
   
7. Piggy in the Middle - The Rutles
   
   A clever parody of “I Am the Walrus” by Neil Innes and Eric Idle of Monty Python fame.
   
   
8. E Luxo So - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd
   
   From the incandescent Jazz Samba, the record that started the Bossa Nova craze in the United States... 48 years ago.
   
   
9. Uncle Meat - Frank Zappa
   
   
10. Urinetown - Urinetown, Original Cast
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Welcome to the Friday Random Ten, my weekly post in which I list an assortment of Choons spewed forth at random from the Little White Choon-Box. “Blogging Without the Brainpower!”

Spring seems to have finally come to Atlanta just before its formal arrival date. It’s a bright, sunny day, the trees are in bud, and the temperature is expected to sneak past 70°F. And I’m in here like a dolt, sitting in front of the damned computer...

...but the Mistress of Sarcasm is home for a visit (primarily to do a couple of laundry loads, but I’ll take what I can get!), so it’s really a pleasant day overall. And did I mention that it’s Friday?

Let’s see what’s playing this week:

1. Jump Up - Elvis Costello
   
   
2. Back In The U.S.S.R. - The Beatles
   
   
3. Tank Graveyard - Paul Cantelon, Everything Is Illuminated
   
   
4. Exaltation - Matisyahu
   
   
5. Fixing A Hole - The Beatles
   
   
6. Heavenly Bank Account - A Tribute Band for FZ
   
   
7. Act III: The Maos Dance - John Adams, Nixon in China
   
   
8. Luck Be A Lady - Skanatra
   
   
9. The Laughing Song - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
   
   There once was a boy who lived all alone by the sea
   He was a charmer, a charmer of highest degree
   But he was lonely and sometimes there was no one to charm
   So this clever boy had a way to charm himself - he meant no harm
   He’d dance and sing and laugh and smile
   And after a while he’d roll right on the ground
   He’d sing his song all day long -
   Had no words, just this crazy sound...
   
   Called the Laughing Song (all day long)
   Called the Laughing Song (all day long)
   Called the Laughing Song, all day long
   The Laughing Song, he’d laugh, he’d laugh, he’d laugh
   Ha ha ha - he’d laugh, he’d laugh
   
   There were days when this boy was so wound up
   He’d practically laugh his head off
   Dancing and singing and giggling and wiggling
   He got so silly, he could hardly let off
   On one such day, a ship came by
   And, to its surprise, heard the funny noise
   The captain noticed the giggling swimmer and with a laugh cried,
   “Look at that boy!”
   When, in the middle of a backstroke, the boy noticed the ship
   He laughed even more
   And soon all the crew couldn’t help themselves -
   They were rolling on the floor.
   
   Called the Laughing Song (all day long)
   Called the Laughing Song (all day long)
   Called the Laughing Song, he’d laugh all day long
   Laugh la la la la lala la
   Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
   Hee hee hee
   Ho ho ho
   
   The boy heard the crew say,
   “You’re a secret charm - come with us, you’ll be a star!”
   So off he went with the ship
   Back to his native land, which wasn’t far
   While rehearsing his act he made the grandiose mistake
   Of living with his long-lost uncles
   Could you blame them for wondering about a nephew
   Who just couldn’t seem to lose the chuckles
   But his song went on and on and on
   And that’s about all he had to say
   His uncles did not realize the wrong they did
   When they had him put away
   
   Called the Laughing Song (all day long)
   Called the Laughing Song (all day long)
   Called the Laughing Song, he’d laugh, he’d laugh, he’d laugh
   Ha ha ha
   Oh, he’s laughing...
   Ha ha
   Hee hee
   Ha ha ha ha ha ho ho ho...
   
   
10. Club Limbo - Squirrel Nut Zippers
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Good Gawd. Is it Friday again?

Why, yes. So it is.

I have set myself a serious task for the afternoon: Preparing dinner for a small army of friends. The centerpiece of the meal will be a braised brisket of beef, to be accompanied by Moroccan-style zucchini, sautéed broccolini (that’s a lot of inis, right there), and mashed potatoes with a Sooper Seekrit Ingredient. The slicing and dicing will begin momentarily.

While all this cooking is going on, I may as well listen to a few tunes. And what better place to find them than in the electronic bowels of the the iPod d’Elisson? Here’s today’s Random Ten:

1. Me and My Baby - Chicago, the Musical (New Broadway Cast)
   
   
2. Time After Time - Miles Davis
   
   
3. M (Instrumental) - J Ralph
   
   
4. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
   
   The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
   Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.
   The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
   When the skies of November turn gloomy.
   
   With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
   Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
   That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
   When the gales of November came early.
   
   The ship was the pride of the American side
   Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
   As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
   With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.
   
   Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
   When they left fully loaded for Cleveland,
   And later that night when the ship’s bell rang
   Could it be the North Wind they’d been feeling?
   
   The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
   And a wave broke over the railing.
   And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
   T’was the witch of November come stealing.
   
   The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
   When the gales of November came slashing.
   When afternoon came it was freezing rain
   In the face of a hurricane west wind.
   
   When supper time came the old cook came on deck
   Saying, “Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.”
   At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in
   He said, “Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.”
   
   The Captain wired in he had water coming in
   And the good ship and crew was in peril.
   And later that night when his lights went out of sight
   Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
   
   Does anyone know where the love of God goes
   When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
   The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
   If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.
   
   They might have split up or they might have capsized
   They may have broke deep and took water,
   And all that remains is the faces and the names
   Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
   
   Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
   In the ruins of her ice water mansion.
   Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
   The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
   
   And farther below Lake Ontario
   Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
   And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
   With the gales of November remembered.
   
   In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
   In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral.
   The church bell chimed, ’til it rang 29 times
   For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
   
   The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
   Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.
   Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
   When the gales of November come early.
   
   
5. Gershwin: An American in Paris - Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic
   
   
6. Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
   
   
7. Tribute - Tenacious D
   
   
8. Mozart: Requiem In D Minor, K626-03, Sequenz #1 - Dies Irae, Allegro Assai - Herbert Von Karajan
   
   
9. Do Nothing - The Specials
   
   
10. Biz In Vaysn Tog Arayn - The Klezmer Conservatory Band
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Welcome to the Friday Random Ten, my weekly assemblage of randomly selected Choons straight from the Little White Choon-Box.

Let’s dispense with all the superfluous verbiage - er, ahhh... extra words, that is - and just dive right in:

1. Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi - O Fortuna - Christian Thielemann, Orff: Carmina Burana
   
   
2. Harry, You’re A Beast - Frank Zappa
   
   With lyrics inspired by Lenny Bruce.
   
   
3. Within You, Without You - The Beatles
   
   
4. Pop - Mitch Hedberg
   
   
5. Pirelli’s Death - Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd
   
   
6. 10 Sonatas, Op. 8, No. 3 in G Minor: III. Vivace - Rachel Isserlis & The Locatelli Trio
   
   
7. Grandpa Was A Carpenter (Live) - John Prine
   
   
8. Gypsy With A Song - Django Reinhardt
   
   
9. Still Fighting It - Ben Folds
   
   
10. Cop Song - Urinetown, Original Cast
    
    Lockstock
    If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my many years of enforcing the laws of this city, it’s that the journey down to Urinetown offers no surprises. Not even from the very toughest amongst us. On that journey, expect only... the expected.
    
    Well, it’s a hard, cold, tumble of a journey
    Worthy of a gurney, a bumble down
    A slapped face, smacked with a mace
    Certain to debase is our stumble down
    
    It’s a path that leads you only one place
    Horrible to retrace, a crumble down
    A hard, cold, tumble of a tourney
    Jumble of a journey to Urinetown
    
    Lockstock and Barrel
    Julie Cassidy
    Went to a field behind a tree
    Saw there was no one who could see
    
    Lockstock
    Her pee -
    
    Barrel
    But me!
    
    Lockstock and Barrel
    And Jacob Rosenbloom
    Thought he was safe up in his room
    Didn’t know the jars he kept up there
    Would obligate a trip to Urine-tomb!
    
    Lockstock
    Well, there are those who think our
    Methods vicious -
    
    Barrel
    Overly malicious -
    
    Lockstock
    A bunch of brutes, but it’s we who
    Gather for the people -
    
    Barrel
    Tavern to the steeple -
    
    Lockstock
    Lawful fruits!
    Our task: bring a little order -
    
    Barrel
    Swindle out a hoarder -
    
    Lockstock
    From what he loots. As the book says,
    “Certainly a season” -
    
    Barrel
    Trample out a treason -
    
    All
    With hobnail boots!
    Roger Roosevelt
    Kept a cup below his belt
    Cup ran over when he knelt
    
    Lockstock
    He smelt -
    
    Barrel
    We dealt!
    
    All
    And Joseph “Old Man” Strong
    Held his pee for much too long
    Hoped his son might bail him out
    His guess was good but also wrong!
    
    Lockstock
    Years past all lived in the jungle
    Scooping out a bungle, nature’s bowl
    Life of constant deprivation
    Certain aggravation took its toll
    
    Soon learned power of the truncheon
    Organize a function, king to pawn
    So if peace is what you’re after
    Urinetown’s the rafter to hang it on!
    
    Girl Cop 1
    Julie Cassidy -
    
    Boy Cop 1
    Jacob Rosenbloom -
    
    Boy Cop 2
    Roger Roosevelt -
    
    Boy Cop 1
    Jacob Rosenbloom -
    
    Girl Cop 1
    Julie Cassidy -
    
    Boy Cop 3
    Joseph “Old Man” Strong -
    
    Lockstock and Barrel
    Don’t be like them! Don’t be like them!
    Don’t be like them! Don’t be like them!
    
    Lockstock
    It’s a hard, cold,
    Tumble of a journey
    Worthy of a gurney,
    A bumble down
    A slapped face,
    Smacked with a mace
    Certain to debase
    Is our stumble down
    
    Female Cops
    It’s a hard, cold,
    Tumble of a journey
    Worthy of a gurney,
    A bumble down
    A slapped face,
    Smacked with a mace
    Certain to debase
    
    Male Cops
    It’s a hard, cold,
    Tumble of a journey
    Worthy of a gurney,
    A bumble down
    A slapped face,
    Smacked with a mace
    
    All
    It’s a path that leads you only one place
    Horrible to retrace, a crumble down
    A hard, cold, tumble of a tourney
    Jumble of a journey to Urinetown!
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Another week has flown by. Yes, it’s Friday again!

Not only is Friday the Gateway to the Weekend, it’s also time for the weekly installment of the Friday Random Ten, that compilation of Random Tuneage straight from the electronical storage of the iPod d’Elisson.

What’s tickling the Eardrum d’Elisson today? Let’s see:

1. Monks Chant / He Is Not Dead Yet - Monty Python, Spamalot (Original Cast)
   
   
2. Woman In The Garden - The Judybats
   
   
3. Busted Bicycle - Leo Kottke
   
   
4. Cowboy’s Dream No. 19 - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
   
   
5. Lurgee - Radiohead
   
   
6. Free Bird Jam (live) - Ben Folds Five
   
   
7. Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
   
   
8. Al Baba’s Camel - The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
   
   You’ve heard of Ali Baba, forty thieves had he
   Out for what we all want, lots of LSD
   He also had a camel, stole it from a zoo
   How he loved the camel, and the camel loved him too
   (Oh, how the how the camel loved Ali Bar Bar!)
   
   Ali Baba’s camel loved Ali Baba so
   No matter where he went to, the camel had to go
   Some say that he’s in Heaven, but this I know is true
   Wherever you think Ali has gone, his camel’s gone there too
   
   Crossing the Equator, ooooh, how hot it was
   Poor old Ali Baba cursed and swore, because
   He was so very thirsty, and everybody knows
   It’s horrible to walk for miles with sand between your toes
   (Oh, how the camel loved Ali Baba... brrrrr!)
   
   Ali Baba’s camel turned round and licked his hand
   He said, “Oh, Ali Baba, I surely understand
   We must find an oasis and get a drink somehow
   But, hark! I hear the temple bells, they’ll all be open now”
   (Bleah bleah. Glorious beer, fills you right up with it... aaahh)
   
   They entered for the races at the desert sports
   There goes Ali’s camel in his filthy cotton shorts
   The starter cracked his pistol, off the camels hared
   Ali Baba’s camel wins by half a camel’s hair
   (Hey Ali Baba! Hey Ali Baba!)
   (Your camel loves you! Your camel loves you!)
   
   Ali Baba’s camel had run for miles and miles
   His tail was pointing backwards - that’s how a camel smiles
   But Ali and his camel, they both were out of breath
   They’d run so far, they laughed so much
   They laughed themselves to death
   [Sounds of crying and wailing)
   
   Oh! Gather round the campfire! Sing a roundelay!
   But don’t sing out of tune, though
   (’Cause eggs are cheap today!)
   Sing of Ali Baba, sing about his men
   Sing about his camel, and then sing it all again
   (Oh, how the camel loved Ali Baba)
   
   Ali Baba’s camel loved Ali Baba so
   No matter where he went to, that camel had to go
   Some say that he’s in Heaven, but this I know as well
   Wherever you think Ali has gone, his camel’s gone to...
   
   
9. When She Dances (Bonus Track) - J Ralph
   
   
10. It’s the Same Old Song - The Four Tops
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

It is Friday again already? Holy crapoley, time flies when you’re having fun.

It also flies faster as we get older. Ever notice that? I call it Elisson’s Law of Proportional Perception: The longer we live, each passing day constitutes an ever-decreasing percentage of our lives; we therefore perceive each day’s passage to be proportionally swifter. Our lives are, in this wise, like toilet paper. As we approach the end of the roll, the roll spins ever more rapidly, alas.

Profound, ain’t it?

But you did not come her for profundity, did you? No, you came here for the Friday Random Ten, the weekly pile of randomly selected Choons from the Little White Choon-Box. Let’s take a peek and see what’s on the box this week:

1. Fast Enough For You - Phish
   
   
2. Fakin’ It - Simon & Garfunkel
   
   When she goes, she’s gone.
   If she stays, she stays here.
   The girl does what she wants to do.
   She knows what she wants to do.
   And I know I’m fakin’ it,
   I’m not really makin’ it.
   
   I’m such a dubious soul,
   And a walk in the garden
   Wears me down.
   Tangled in the fallen vines,
   Pickin’ up the punch lines,
   I’ve just been fakin’ it,
   Not really makin’ it.
   
   Is there any danger?
   No, no, not really.
   Just lean on me.
   Takin’ time to treat
   Your friendly neighbors honestly.
   I’ve just been fakin’ it,
   I’m not really makin’ it.
   This feeling of fakin’ it -
   I still haven’t shaken it.
   
   Prior to this lifetime
   I surely was a tailor, look at me...
   (“Good morning, Mr. Leitch.
   Have you had a busy day?”)
   I own the tailor’s face and hands.
   I am the tailor’s face and hands and
   I know I’m fakin’ it,
   I’m not really makin’ it.
   This feeling of fakin’ it -
   I still haven’t shaken it.
   
   
3. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
   
   
4. Mozart: Requiem In D Minor, K626-06 Sequenz #4, Recordare - Herbert Von Karajan
   
   
5. Satumaa (Finnish Tango) - Frank Zappa
   
   
6. Miracle Man - Elvis Costello
   
   
7. Flight of the Fly - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
   
   
8. Act III - King, Part 2 - Philip Glass, Satyagraha
   
   
9. Genius of Love (Remix) - Tom Tom Club
   
   
10. You Know What You Could Be - The Incredible String Band
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

O, joy! It’s Friday!

That means, of course, that it’s time for another installment of the Friday Random Ten, the list of musical selections puked up at random by the iPod d’Elisson.

This has been a week of contrasts. I just got back from a two-day trip to balmy south Florida, and now we Atlantans are girding our collective loins for a skirmish with Old Man Winter, who is expected to dump up to three inches of snow upon us.

I guess it would be ridiculous to complain. After all, the folks in our Nation’s Capital have had to deal with something on the order of fifty-three inches of snow, thanks to two back-to-back blizzards in less than five days. The first one alone was enough to set new snowfall records; the second was an exercise in lily-gilding. Snowpocalypse? Snowmageddon? Pick your euphemism.

Meanwhile, as I await the arrival of the first flakes, there’s music to listen to. What’s playing today?

1. Jump Up - Elvis Costello
   
   Everybody’s talking like they can’t sit down
   And looking like they can’t stand up
   It must be the lastest style
   And they’ve seen a lot of things that you never see
   Back on the mile up to the hanging tree
   Some people can’t keep their fingers clean
   Just clicking their heels to the beat of the scene
   Trying to keep careen until the first edition of last night’s obituaries
   
   Jump up - hold on tight
   Can’t trust the promise or a guarantee
   ’Cause the man ’round the curve says that he’s never heard
   Of you or me
   
   No tombstone would ever surprise me
   When I’m locked in a room about half the size of a matchbox
   Got holes in my socks
   They match the ones that I got in my feet
   I put my feet in the holes in the street and somebody paved me over
   I was a statue standing on the corner
   Tell me, how else can a boy get to see those pretty pleats?
   
   Candidate talkin’ on the radio from the “Cheater’s Jamboree”
   It must be their lastest fool
   ’Cause it’s a two-horse race and he changed his bets
   Like it was just another brand of cigarettes
   
   Some people judge and they just guess the rest
   They can’t understand that don’t mean that you’re blessed
   They ought to catch the Express Next Stop Nowhere
   That way you can forget
   
   Jump up - hold on tight
   Can’t trust the promise or a guarantee
   ’Cause the man ’round the curve says that he’s never heard
   Of you or me
   
   
2. Back in the U.S.S.R. - The Beatles
   
   
3. Courage, the Cowardly Dog - They Might Be Giants
   
   
4. Tank Graveyard - Paul Cantelon, Everything is Illuminated
   
   
5. Exaltation - Matisyahu
   
   
6. Fixing a Hole - The Beatles
   
   
7. Heavenly Bank Account - A Tribute Band for FZ
   
   
8. Act III: The Maos Dance - John Adams, Nixon in China
   
   
9. Luck Be A Lady - Skanatra
   
   
10. The Laughing Song - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Just as we ingest oxygen and food, converting it to water vapor, carbon dioxide, and shit, so does the Wheel of Time gobble up the days, converting future into past. Before you know it, another week has flashed by, never to be seen again.

And what a week this has been, Esteemed Readers... from eating pot roast atop a snow-capped mountain two days ago to snarfing up smoked fish and bagels with the Minyan Boyz today. I live a life of happy contrasts, savoring every single one.

Those happy contrasts can even be found in my collection of music, a random assemblage of which I post here every Friday. Where else will you see Light Opera interspersed with dub poetry set to reggae music, selections from film soundtracks, Ethiopian wailing, and Rock Music (both alternative and classic)?

Let’s see what the Little White Choon-Box has for us this week:

1. Akale - Maritu Legesse
   
   
2. The Mikado, Act II: Mi-Ya-Sa-Ma, Mi-Ya-Sa-Ma - D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
   
   
3. A Quai - Yann Tiersen, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
   
   
4. Reggae fi Peach - Linton Kwesi Johnson
   
   
5. Gort - Bernard Herrmann, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
   
   
6. Hot Cha - They Might Be Giants
   
   
7. Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic
   
   
8. La Grippe - Squirrel Nut Zippers
   
   There’s a flu bug getting passed around
   And it’s spreading like fire through the town
   There’s a virus holing up inside us
   Everyone that I know is coming down
   There’s an Asian influenza
   Infecting us all by the score
   And it’s turning into pneumonia
   We must go out once more
   There’s a fool moon howling at the night
   And its bark is much worse than its bite
   So we must go out and dance around
   Yes we must go out tonight
   So the doctors came on the evening train
   With their flasks and their caskets and vials
   Mass psychosis was their diagnosis (yes)
   So we all cashed our checks and went wild
   There’s a fool moon howling at the night
   And its bark is much worse than its bite
   So we must go out and dance around
   Yes we must go out tonight
   La grippe! Ahhhh!
   
   There’s a fool moon howling at the night
   And its bark is much worse than its bite
   So we must go
   Yes we must go
   Yes we must go out tonight
   La grippe! Ahhhh!
   
   
9. Rudy Wants To Buy Yez A Drink - Frank Zappa
   
   
10. We’re Going Wrong - Cream
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Look out! Here comes another installment of the Friday Random Ten, that time-wasting space filler regular feature in which I post a list of random musical selections as barfed out by the iPod d’Elisson.

Ahhh, Friday. We were all set to take a weekend jaunt up to Asheville, North Carolina, when predictions of wintry weather intervened. Much as I might have enjoyed a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains under a fresh ten-inch blanket of snow, the prospect of trying to drive home through those mountains was more than just a little daunting. Discretion being the better part of valor, we elected to postpone our trip. Alas.

But being home has its own attractions, not least among them the chance to listen to my dopey Choon-Library. And here’s a taste for you:

1. Take Me to the Pilot - Elton John
   
   If you feel that it’s real I’m on trial
   And I’m here in your prison
   Like a coin in your mint
   I am dented and I’m spent with high treason
   Through a glass eye your throne
   Is the one danger zone
   Take me to the pilot for control
   Take me to the pilot of your soul
   
   Take me to the pilot
   Lead me through the chamber
   Take me to the pilot
   I am but a stranger
   Take me to the pilot
   Lead me through the chamber
   Take me to the pilot
   I am but a stranger
   
   Well I know he’s not old
   And I’m told he’s a virgin
   For he may be she
   But what I’m told is never for certain
   
   
2. Raga Bihag, Part 1 - Natraj
   
   
3. Sparkle - Phish
   
   
4. 40 Years Back Come - Röyksopp
   
   
5. Reality Dub - Linton Kwesi Johnson
   
   
6. When Desperate Static Beats the Silence Up - Ben Folds
   
   
7. Sarabande: Handel: Eight Pieces - Philharmonia Virtuosi
   
   
8. The Wanted Man - The Judybats
   
   
9. Tell Me What You See - The Beatles
   
   
10. Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

As you read this, I’m enroute to the Northeast, there to spend a weekend in a training session for my Fraternal Organization... and then to hang out with Elder Daughter for a couple of days. Alas, She Who Must Be Obeyed will not be with me... but someone’s got to hold down the fort while I’m gone, eh?

It being Friday, it’s time to post the weekly Randomized List o’ Choons that the Little White Choon-Box has coughed up. Let’s cop a listen, why don’t we?

1. Lonesome Town - Ricky Nelson
   
   
2. Playmate of the Mouth - Procol Harum
   
   
3. Bogus Pomp - Frank Zappa
   
   
4. The Stars Are Projectors - Modest Mouse
   
   
5. Andy - Frank Zappa
   
   Is there anything good inside of you
   If there is, I really wanna know
   Is there anything
   Good inside of you
   If there is
   I really wanna
   Know
   Is there anything
   Good inside of you
   If there is
   I really wanna
   Know
   Is there?
   
   Is there any-thaaaang good inside of you
   If there is, I really wanna know-woh-oh-oh-oh -
   Is there any-thaaaang good inside of you
   If there is, I really wanna know, really wanna know...
   
   Something
   Anything
   Something
   Anything
   
   Show me a sign
   If you don’t mind
   Show me a sign
   If you don’t mind
   Show me a sign
   If you don’t mind
   Show me a sign
   If you don’t mind
   
   Do you know what I’m really telling you
   Is it something that you can understand
   Do you know what I’m really telling you
   Is it something that you can understand
   Do you know what I’m really telling you
   Is it something that you can understand
   Do you know what I’m really telling you
   Is it something that you can understand
   
   Andy de vine (de vine)
   Had a thong rind (rind)
   It was sublime (sublime)
   But the wrong kind
   Andy de vine (de vine)
   Had a thong rind (rind)
   It was sublime (sublime)
   But the wrong kind
   
   Have I aligned
   With a blown mind
   Wasted my time
   On a drawn blind
   Have I aligned
   With a blown mind
   Wasted my time
   On a drawn blind
   
   Oh Andy...
   Andy
   Andy, Andy
   Thong rind
   It was sublime, y’all now
   The wrong kind, yeah-hah-hah-hah!
   Our man!
   
   
6. Battle Hymn of the Republic - Seymour Rechtzeit
   
   In Yiddish, yet.
   
   
7. Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse - Minus The Bear
   
   
8. Carry That Weight - The Beatles
   
   
9. Children Will Listen - Stephen Sondheim, Into The Woods
   
   
10. Adventures in Failure - MC 900 Foot Jesus
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

Here we go with yet another installment of Friday Random Ten, in which I post a list of stochastically selected songs, freshly coughed up by the iPod d’Elisson.

It never ceases to surprise me, this Random Ten business. Sometimes the juxtapositions make no sense; other times, they are surprisingly effective. It’d make for an interesting radio format.

Let’s give a listen:

1. The Mikado, Act I: Comes a Train of Little Ladies - D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
   
   
2. Brandenburg Concerto #1 In F, BWV 1046 - 2. Adagio - Trevor Pinnock, English Concert
   
   
3. I Want You To Hurt Like I Do - Randy Newman
   
   He writes a lot more than theme music for Pixar, this guy.
   
   
4. Rooman ruumiit - Alamaailman Vasarat
   
   
5. Reba - Phish
   
   
6. Animal Collective - Winter’s Love
   
   
7. Angel In Savannah - James Hooker
   
   They say when it rains in Savannah
   It rains all night long
   They say when you meet a girl in Savannah
   You’re gonna remember that girl
   Your whole life long
   
   You can lose your heart in Savannah
   Guys do it all the time
   But, lose your cool in Savannah
   You’re guaranteed to lose more than your mind
   
   I had a girl in Savannah
   She treated me just fine
   She had a husband in Savannah
   But still we had a real good time
   
   You can lose your life in Savannah
   Guys do it all the time
   But I got an Angel in Savannah I guess
   Who keeps me one step ahead all the time
   
   
8. Mardi Gras In New Orleans - Professor Longhair
   
   
9. Still Fighting It - Ben Folds
   
   
10. Thunder Child - Jeff Wayne, War of the Worlds
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FROZEN FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

This frosty, frozen Friday morning, we awoke to about an inch of snow blanketing the neighborhood... an every-other-year event in this part of Georgia. Not a whole lotta snow per se, but with the temperatures having been bitterly cold all week, the roads are deathtraps of black ice. It’s a perfect excuse to stay huddled at home with the Missus - school has been canceled throughout the area - and the Little White Choon-Box.

Music for the heart, and music for the ears, you could call it.

Let’s take a look at what’s playing, shall we?

1. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) - The Beatles
   
   
2. Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine - Brian Wilson
   
   
3. Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel - A Tribute Band for FZ
   
   
4. Act I, Scene 2: I Can’t Talk Very Well - John Adams, Nixon in China
   
   
5. Zvezda Rok-N-Rolla - Leningrad
   
   Клей “Момент” купил за рубль
   И пакет к нему купил.
   Надышавшись этой дури,
   Музыку я полюбил.
   
   Где же вы родители?
   Куда же смотрит школа?
   Так я стал звездою
   Рок-н-рола!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Мы играем с семи лет!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Мы играем с семи лет!
   
   Одноклассницу-девченку
   К себе в гости пригласил.
   Папа с мамой на работе,
   А мы ебемся, что есть сил.
   
   Где же вы родители?
   Куда же смотрит школа?
   Так я стал звездою
   Рок-н-рола!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Мы играем с семи лет!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Мы играем с семи лет!
   
   Ахуенна, ахуенна,
   Мы играем ахуенна!
   Ахуенна, ахуенна,
   Мы играем ахуенна!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Зипа-трипер пистолет!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Мы играем с семи лет!
   Зипа-трипер пистолет,
   Мы ебемся с семи лет!
   
   
6. Weary Blues - Madeleine Peyroux
   
   
7. The Last Saskatchewan Pirate - Captain Tractor
   
   
8. Shanty Town - Mr. Scruff
   
   
9. European Son - The Velvet Underground
   
   
10. Lola Stars And Stripes - The Stills
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN - NEW DECADE EDITION

Yes, indeedy: Not only is it Friday, it’s the first day of a new year... and of a new decade.

Did you have fun last night? We did. We partied like it was 1999 2009.

I’m not sure what people will end up calling this decade, the second of the Two-Thousands. My suggestion is the “Twenteens” - because now we can finally get away from saying Two-Thousand-Oh-Whatever and just say Twenty-Ten. It saves a syllable, too - which means that anytime you hear someone call this year Two Thousand Ten, you’ll know that that person is just a fucking blowhard who likes to hear the sound of his or her voice.

Call it Twenty-Ten, peeps. Seriously.

I can’t remember what kind of music was popular ten years ago, try as I might... and I have no idea what kind of music will be popular ten years from now. Synth-hop, trance metal, overload, bobbitty-bah, thrash-klezmer... it’s anybody’s guess. But as a certified Old Fart - a card-carrying AARP member, no less - I’ll probably still be spinning Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, the Beatles, and all that other superannuated crap. (Spinning being an already superannuated reference to the days when music was stored on flat plastic discs called “elpees.”)

But right now, it’s now, not ten years from now. So let’s see what Randomly Assembled Tunage the iPod d’Elisson has horked out for us today:

1. Bruised - Ben Folds
   
   
2. Dance The Night Away - Cream
   
   
3. Chop ’Em Down - Matisyahu
   
   
4. I Believe My Own Eyes - Tommy - Original Broadway Cast
   
   
5. By the Sea - Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd - Original Broadway Cast
   
   
6. I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
   
   
7. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon - Urge Overkill
   
   
8. London Calling - The Clash
   
   London calling to the faraway towns
   Now war is declared, and battle come down
   London calling to the underworld
   Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
   London calling, now don’t look to us
   Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
   London calling, see we ain’t got no swing
   ’Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing
   
   [Chorus 1:]
   The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
   Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
   Engines stop running, but I have no fear
   ’Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river
   
   London calling to the imitation zone
   Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
   London calling to the zombies of death
   Quit holding out, and draw another breath
   London calling, and I don’t wanna shout
   But while we were talking, I saw you nodding out
   London calling, see we ain’t got no high
   Except for that one with the yellowy eyes
   
   [Chorus 2: x2]
   The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
   Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
   A nuclear error, but I have no fear
   ’Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river
   
   Now get this
   
   London calling, yes, I was there, too
   An’ you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
   London calling at the top of the dial
   After all this, won’t you give me a smile?
   London calling
   
   I never felt so much alike [fading] alike alike alike
   
   
9. Take Me Back - Randy Newman
   
   
10. Sunflowers - Paul Cantelon, Everything Is Illuminated
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?

FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

There’s only about ninety minutes left of this Friday, but it’s not too late to see what’s playing on the Little White Choon-Box. Let’s take a look, shall we?

1. Uncle Meat - Frank Zappa
   
   
2. Weasels Ripped My Flesh - Frank Zappa
   
   
3. Gun Street Girl - Tom Waits
   
   
4. Bodhisattva - Steely Dan
   
   
5. Quite Rightly So (Live) - Procol Harum
   
   This is the leadoff cut on Procol Harum’s Shine On Brightly album. I remember buying the LP sometime shortly after it came out, solely on the strength of my having liked PH’s older singles “Whiter Shade of Pale” and “Homburg” - and when I heard this song, I knew I had made a good investment.
   
   For you (whose eyes were opened wide, whilst mine refused to see)
   I’m sore in need of saving grace. Be kind and humour me
   I’m lost amidst a sea of wheat
   Where people speak but seldom meet
   And grief and laughter, strange but true
   Although they die, they seldom cry
   
   An ode by any other name I know might read more sweet
   Perhaps the sun will never shine upon my field of wheat
   But still in closing, let me say
   For those too sick, too sick to see
   Though nothing shows, yes, someone knows
   I wish that one was me
   
   
6. Free Bird Jam (Live) - Ben Folds Five
   
   
7. Look Into The Sun - Jethro Tull
   
   
8. The Beach Gets Cold - Michael Leviton
   
   
9. Let’s Make The Water Turn Black - Bohuslan Big Band
   
   
10. Because - The Beatles
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?