An “Occasional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.
I’m going to try something different this time. I’m going to head over to blip.fm after I post this and blip each track so you can listen. Head to my blip.fm profile to have a listen. I’ll tag them #five4friday too. If it works OK, I’ll keep doing it when i post a FfF.

1. First Call – Parable of the River from God is Good
   This is my favorite First Call song. It’s got an 80’s rock/pop feel to it (1989 actually) mixed with the passion of an old school gospel. Great song.
2. REO Speedwagon – Ridin’ the Storm Out from The Hits
   I love 70’s rock and this is an awesome live version of a great REO tune.
3. Heart – Magic Man from These Dreams: Heart’s Greatest Hits
   More classic 70’s rock and another great tune. The 70’s were awful for cars, but pretty good for music.
4. Solomon Burke – Fading Footsteps from Make Do With What You Got
   I got turned onto Solomon Burke, I think, by listening to WCBEs Blue Collar blues show on Sunday nights. Blue Collar has been in reruns for months, unfortunately. Not a bad track, but not the best on the disc.
5. Casting Crowns – Shadow of Your Wings from Until the Whole World Hears
   My enthusiasm for Casting Crowns has faded, too much airplay on the local station. But this is a good, harder driving track than their normal stuff. Pretty good, if you’re turned of by the mainstream pop nature of CC, give this a listen.

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.

An “Occassional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.

1. John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky – A Saint’s Complaint from WCBE – Vol. 9 – Double Dose
   Another great live tune from one of WCBE’s ‘Live From Studio A’ recordings. A folksy tune recorded with acoustic guitar and two singers.
2. The Turtles – Happy Together from Happy Together
   The 60’s were awesome times for popular music, weren’t they? I’m betting that many of you will leave this post with this song in your head. You’re welcome.
3. Don Henley – Sunset Grille from Building the Perfect Beast
   I think this was one of the 2 or 3 hits from this 1984 release. A bit long at almost 6 1/2 minutes. Don Henley has a cynical edge to him that appeals to me, which is not likely a good thing. A good disc overall.
4. Styx – The Best of Times from Classics, Vol. 15
   This was originally from Paradise Theater, arguably their peak album. This was a more mellow, pop oriented Styx than their earlier stuff. Still feels like classic Styx, though, with their unique harmonies and piano work. (Of course, the next album, Kilroy was Here, was full on 80’s pop with a little rock opera mixed in, but I’ll save that for another FfF.)
5. Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama – Mother Pray from There Will be a Light
   The Blind Boys are awesome. I wish I could generate the kind of resonance that bass does. Heard these guys on WCBE a while back.

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.

With Leno and Conan and NBC fighting a rather public battle over the Tonight Show, NPR’s Wait Wait blog posted this clip from David Letterman back when he worked for NBC and GE was just about to take over. Very funny stuff.
This is from 1986, back when Letterman was just funny. This is about the time I stared watching him and I watched him rather religiously up until his politics got in the way of the funny, early in 2008 or so.
Hey Dave, can you go back to this kinda stuff?
Via Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

My colege friend Andy posted this on his Facebook page a while ago. I always meant to post it here but forgot. Seeing Bobby on Sing Off reminded me.
Bobby McFerrin (remember Don’t Worry, be Happy?) is just awesomely talented and this video proves it. It’s just fabulous how fast he gets an entire audience to be his backup band.

An “Occassional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.

1. Switchfoot – Amunition from The Beautiful Letdown
   Great song from a great CD. I like Switchfoot’s way of putting a spiritual message in a song so that it’s hidden, hoping to reach non-believers and get folks to think. Not sure if it works, but I appreciate it.
2. Keith Green – Jesus Commands Us to Go! from The Ministry Years, Vol. 2
   Keith Green has some awesome songs, but this isn’t one of them. Sappy, mushy, milquetoast. I bought both of the Keith Green collection sets (4 CDs total) thinking that a guy who wrote The Sheep and the Goats and Asleep in the Light was worth owning the whole collection. I was wrong, too much is standard CCM fluff, like this one.
3. Jimmie Lunceford – Annie Laurie from Big Band Bash
   This is a 2 CD collection of original big band recordings which is awesome stuff. Old recordings, not remastered so there are pops and clicks and the range of sound is truncated, but the music is great.
4. Metallica – The Struggle Within from Metallica
   Great song, some PG-13 lyrics, but a great driving song that gets my blood pumping.
5. REO Speedwagon – Take it on the Run from The Hits
   Classic REO, great stuff.

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.

An “Occassional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.
Last week I said that it was my last Friday opportunity to do a Christmas themed Five for Friday. OK, so I’m calender-ally challenged and I didn’t realize that Christmas was on a Friday, so here’s a bonus Christmas FfF for you.

1. Barlow Girl – Angelic Proclamation (Medley) from Home for Christmas
   A nice medley of Hark The Herald Angels Sing and O Come All Ye Faithful. Gotta love the Barlow Girl harmonies.
2. Simon Wynberg – Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine from The Narada Christmas Collection, Volume 2
   Nice orchestral piece. Melody reminds me of ‘Good Christian Men Rejoice’.
3. Mark Schultz and Nichole Nordeman – Silent Night from WOW Christmas [Red]
   Not sure who Mark Schultz and Nichole Nordeman are, but this is a nice version of the song that manages to fit into the ‘Christian Contemporary’ genre without being completely bland. If it wasn’t a Christmas song, it would likely not succeed there.
4. Vince Guaraldi Trio – O Tannenbaum from A Charlie Brown Christmas
   Awesome piano, bass and snare drum jazz version, as you’d expect from the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
5. Straight No Chaser – the Twelve Days of Christmas from Christmas Cheer [Deluxe]
   No, I didn’t orchestrate this based on Dad’s comment from last week, it came up on it’s own. Srsly. Great harmonies and funny stuff. “I have a little dreidel …”

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.

An “Occassional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.
Yeah, I’m a day late, sorry. I wanted to do Christmas music yesterday and I forgot. We have over 20 hours of Christmas music in our digital library.

1. Barlow Girl – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year from Home for Christmas
   This is a new one this year, and pretty good too. This is a great version of an old classic with their great harmonies.
2. Bing Crosby – White Christmas from The Perfect Christmas (White Barn Candle Co.)
   Is it really Christmas until you’ve heard bo-bo-bo-bo Bing Crosby sing this? No, I don’t think so.
3. Unknown – Carol of the Bells from Contemporary Holiday Classics (Coca-Cola & Speedway)
   This version feels like a cross between Narada and Mannheim Steamroller. No info on the disc at all on who these folks are.
4. Tingstad & Rumbel – Silent Night from Star of Wonder
   Not sure who these folks are, but it’s a nice mellow arrangement, again in the style of Narada.
5. Trick Pony – Winter Wonderland from The Perfect Christmas (White Barn Candle Co.)
   A country version of a Christmas classic. Singer sounds a lot like Dolly Parton.
6. Trans Siberian Orchestra – Siberian Sleighride [Instrumental] from The Lost Christmas Eve
   A bonus since I’m late and I love TSO so much. Getting the Trans Siberian Orchestra out is one of my favorite things about Christmas.

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random, select Christmas music this time, and give me your Christmas list in the comments.

An “Occasional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.

1. Styx – Too Much time On My Hands [Live] from Return to Paradise
   I got to see Styx live here in Columbus shortly after we moved here. Great show. Styx was the first band I went nuts over, and i still love them.
2. Nat King Cole – Stardust from Sleepless in Seattle Soundtrack
   No one sings like Nat King Cole.
3. Spin Doctors – What Time Is It from Pocket Full of Kryptonite
   I love this funky, jazzy rock track.
4. Kieth Green – To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice from The Ministry Years, Volume 1
   I love the popular Keith Green songs like The Sheep adn the Goats and Asleep in the Light so I bought his complete collection. So many of the songs are like this one, light and fluffy. Inoffensive, but not that listenable. Still, the good stuff is real good.
5. Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I’m Coming Home from No More Tears
   Another fantastic segue from Media Player, Keith Green to Ozzy. I suspect this isn’t one of Ozzy fans’ favorite discs, but I like it. This has to be one of the few Ozzy ballads out there. Are there others?

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.

An “Occassional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.

1. Agua Clara – Tu Nombre Empieza Con “N” from Ch’uwa Yacu
   This is one of a couple Peruvian flute based CD’s we got at street fairs. Great background music for having dinner guests. In searching for the album art, I discovered that I had reversed the band and CD name in my library, LOL Looks like you can download some of their music from their web site for free.
2. Enya – Caribbean Blue from Shepherd Moons
   I love Enya adn have several of her CDs. Also great dinner guest music.
3. Styx – All in a Days Work from Edge of the Century
   This is a great song that doesn’t sound like traditional Styx, probably mostly due to the lead singing not being Tommy Shaw or Dennis DeYoung. This post-reunion CD features short lived new lead singer Glen Burtnik. Great, acoustic almost folksy song with strings and even accordion and a thought provoking message.
4. Southern Culture on the Skids – Shotgun from Mixx on the Fly – Live From Studio A Vol. 6
   I love these WCBE CDs and I have the first 9 of 11. This is a great, driving rockabilly song.
5. Bangles – Crash and Burn from Everything
   Yeah, I like the Bangles. I guess I’m a sucker for a pretty girl-voice, what can I say. Typical 80’s style pop, which is not a bad thing.

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.

Haven’t done this in a while, let’s see what comes up.
If you don’t remember, Five For Friday is an “Occassional Series” here at Salguod.net. Inspired by Daniel at Alien Soil, I fire up Media Player on random and post the first 5 songs here.

1. Heart – Barracuda from These Dreams: Heart’s Greatest Hits
   Strong start, great classic rock tune from one of the greatest female rock band of the 70’s.
2. First Call – Bless Ye The Lord from Undivided
   Well, that was an awkward transition. Seventies rock to mainstream 80’s (1986) Christian song. Pretty standard Christian musical fluff from the era.
3. Damn Yankees – Damn Yankee from Damn Yankees
   Speaking of awkward transitions, this one borders on unholy. I love these guys, Tommy Shaw’s vocals combined with Nugent’s guitar work makes for some great, driving hard rock. Great song.
4. Poco – Call it Love from Legacy
   I love this pop tune with vaguely country guitar work. This was the single, but it’s not a bad CD altogether.
5. IIIrd Time Out – Everybody’s Gonna Have a Wonderful Time Up There from Mixx on the Fly – Live From Studio A Volume 6
   Another from WCBE’s compilations. We seem to be on a Rock – Christian – Rock – Christian theme, although this is a Christian song by a Bluegrass group. This is a great A Capella song with bass lead. I frequently put this one on repeat and sing a long, although it scrapes the bottom of my range. Off IIIrd Time Out’s disk, Living on the Otherside

Your turn, fire up your MP3 player, put it on random and give me yours in the comments.