Although we do custom-craft carefully chosen playlists for our friends, which are highly coveted amongst a discerning few, when we listen to music on our own, that generally means that the iPod is set to "shuffle." We like the element of surprise, as well as the inadvertent (or is it?) black humor of the Pet Shop Boys brushing up against, say, Georgia "Her Nibs" Gibbs, as just happened a few moments ago.
In discussing this with our beloved friend, Thombeau (of the legendary, dearly departed blogs Planet Fabulon, Chateau Thombeau and, most recently, The Redundant Variety Hour), he quipped that such mad, mashed-up meetings of musical minds was a "window to your very soul." And so, in keeping with that spirit, we decided to throw open our musical shutters to you, and made note of what played when we left our iPod on shuffle mode over the course of 40 songs, then recorded the results here. Since we're also obsessive-compulsive about accompanying our files with the scrupulously exact artwork (single versus album mixes, alternate versions, etc.), fellow fans of album cover art, picture sleeves, and record labels may enjoy browsing through the selection of images in addition to perhaps being inspired to listen to some of these tracks. Whether this bores, entertains, titillates or mystifies, we have no idea; but, whatever the case may be, you will have gotten to know us a little better.
1) "When I Fall in Love" by Nana Mouskouri
rec. 1962, unreleased outtake from The Girl From Greece Sings (Fontana)
2) "People" by Aretha Franklin
rec. 1964, released on Soft and Beautiful (Columbia, 1969)
3) "Always" by Billie Holiday
rec. 1955, released on Stay With Me (Verve, 1958)
4) "Tonight" by Oscar Peterson Trio
From West Side Story (Verve, 1962)
5) "Love is a Master of Disguise [Classic Club Mix]" by Eve Gallagher
From Charisma 12" single 0-96714, 1991
6) "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)" by Kylie Minogue
From Greatest Hits (PWL, 1992)
7) "All I Need is Time" by Gladys Knight and the Pips
From All I Need is Time (Soul, 1973)
8) "Lulu's Back in Town" by Mel Tormé
From Lulu's Back in Town (Bethlehem, 1957)
9) "I Need Your Love So Bad" by Irma Thomas
From Wish Someone Would Care (Imperial, 1964)
10) "My Letters" by Jeri Southern
From The Southern Style (Decca, 1955)
11) "Desire [single mix]" by Yello
From Elektra 7" single 969 614-7, 1985
12) "On A Toutes Besoin D'un Homme" by Sylvie Vartan
From Sylvie Vartan [aka La Maritza] (RCA, 1968)
13) "Somebody, Somewhere" by Ella Fitzgerald
From Ella Sings Broadway (Verve, 1962)
14) "The Shock of Each Moment of Still Being Alive" by John Barry
From Boom! (Original Soundtrack) (MCA, 1968)
15) "Fast and Loud" by Stéphane Pompougnac featuring Juliette Oz
From Living on the Edge (Pschent, 2003)
16) "Cash and Carry" by Michel Legrand
From The Thomas Crown Affair (Original Motion Picture Score) (United Artists, 1968)
17) "Jump to the Beat" by Stacy Lattisaw
From Let Me Be Your Angel (Cotillion, 1980)
18) "Na baixa do sapateiro" by Ângela Maria e Waldir Calmon
From Quando os astros se encontram (Copacabana, 1958)
19) "Marco Polo" by Joe Claussell
From Language (Ibadan, 1999)
20) "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" by Sarah Vaughan
From The Lonely Hours (Roulette, 1963)
21) "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" by Chaka Khan
From CK (Warner Bros., 1988)
22) "Twenty Four Hours Ago" by The John Barry Seven
From Columbia 7" single 7414, 1964
23) "Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'" by Ruth Olay
From Easy Living (Mercury, 1957)
23) "My Future Just Passed" by Carmen McRae
From Torchy! (Decca, 1955)
25) "That's No Joke" by Blossom Dearie
From Sweet Blossom Dearie (Fontana, 1967)
26) "Give Me Love" by Cerrone
From Cerrone 3: Supernature (Atlantic, 1977)
27) "To Say Goodbye" by Edu Lobo
From Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo (A&M, 1970)
28) "Shake Hands and Walk Away Cryin'" by Lou Christie
From Columbia 7" single 4-44062, 1967
29) "Primo Amore" by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai
rec. 1967, issued on OK Connery (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Digitmovies, 2004)
30) "Don't Like Goodbyes" by Pearl Bailey
From House of Flowers (Columbia, 1955)
31) "All I Need is You" by Teddi King
From To You from Teddi King (RCA, 1956)
32) "Girlfriend" by Pebbles
From Pebbles (MCA, 1987)
33) "Standing Right Here" by Melba Moore
From A Portrait of Melba (Buddah, 1977)
34) "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" by Joni James
From 100 Strings and Joni... I'm in the Mood for Love (MGM, 1960)
35) "Dance with Me" by Petula Clark
From A Sign of the Times - My Love (Warner Bros., 1966)
36) "Não Diga Nada" by Cal Tjader
From Cal Tjader Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil (Verve, 1962)
37) "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" by The Miracles
From The Fabulous Miracles (Tamla, 1963)
38) "Stuck on You" by Elvis Presley
From RCA Victor 7" single 47-7740, 1960
39) "It's Worth it All" by Merilee Rush
From Angel of the Morning (Bell, 1968)
40) "Hearts, Not Diamonds" by Lauren Bacall
Unreleased, from the film The Fan (Paramount, 1981)
We'll let Ms. Bacall finish this one off.
You could easily have another career as a DJ, if not a producer of vintage favorites. I can see the half-hour cable commercial already with you as host and Thombeau as a featured guest as you introduce and comment on each of the stars and tracks on the-not-available-in-stores discs.
ReplyDeleteSomeone call Time-Life!
DeleteI'm in seventh heaven (Gwen Guthrie mix)! and you have Eve Gallagher too - I ADORE her "Love Come Down" with all its mixes (they go on for about 40 minutes). My Pet Shop Boys (I have everything of theirs, all the mixes, B-sides etc) would have to include "Love Comes Quickly", "Paninaro", those perfect mixes of "West End Girls" and their Dusty and Liza collaborations etc. I have that Irma Thomas on a great compilation "Lady Sings The Blues". But I don't see Nancy Wilson's "How Glad I Am" ...
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased now I spent 10 years with a disk jockey during that great period 1985-1996 .... here's to Rory ! I still have all those mix-tapes he made me which I must transfer to computer and ipod. Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan ...
Mike,
DeleteMy disco bunny years were roughly 1991-2000, so I have a sentimental attachment to a lot of those records, too. This crazy list isn't a "favorites" rundown - although I like all of them! - but a random slice of what happens when I set my 40,000+ songs on shuffle. Trust me, not only is fancy Miss Nancy's "How Glad I Am" loaded in there, so is Sandie Shaw's cover version! (And, truth be told, sometimes I prefer listening to THAT version!...)
Wow. I love peeking through this "window to your very soul" - a remarkably eclectic mix, indeed! I'm intrigued to think what would happen if we were to transfer all our music to some kind of "shuffling device" (ours is all on CD and vinyl, being Luddites), but there would definitely be some cross-overs with your own taste, as displayed here - several of these artists were on the playlist for our party after Eurovision on Saturday... Jx
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ReplyDeleteThat looks kind of like what my iPod playlist would have been like if I placed it on shuffle. However, my iPod gave up the ghost about a year ago. It lasted about seven years, which from what I understand it remarkable for an iPod. I do not recall how many songs were on it, but I think I had about 9 days worth of music. I have placed a good amount of music on my phone, which is not an iPhone. It is not nearly as much as I had on the iPod, but there are 7,050 songs on it at this time. However, I am going to set them on Shuffle and I will share the results with you.
ReplyDeleteOh,please do!
Deletegosh! a true cornucopia of treasures! thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete