MFD Random Five #1

In which I click the shuffle icon on the increasingly frustrating iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "Strut Your Funky Stuff" by Frantique (1979, Philadelphia International)
   A catchy disco tune with a strong "four-on-the-floor" beat and typical disco lyrics: "Get up and dance, got ants in your pants."  Frantique was a three girl group from Seattle that produced this song in France but somehow ended up on the Philadelphia International label.  I'm surprised this one didn't make a dent in Billboard's Disco charts.


2. "Don't Leave Me Lonely" by Bryan Adams (1983, A&M)
   An album cut from Adams' Cuts Like A Knife album.  As album filler, it's not bad, but it sounds labored and ends poorly.  Reminds me why I mainly listen to side one of that album.


3. "Wild Women of Wongo" by The Tubes (1983, Capitol)
   A bizarre pastiche of a track that leads off side two of the Outside/Inside album. Lyrically, it's a parody of the 1958 b-movie of the same name.  Musically, its got everything from tribal drums and chanting, spoken word narrative, jungle noises, a horn break, and a capella choruses.  All put together by producer David Foster (not his usual output, admittedly). Nonetheless, it's my favorite song on the album.  As a friend told me not long ago, "Still not sure where Wongo is, but I wouldn't mind goin' there to visit the women."


4. "Take the 'A' Train" by Maynard Ferguson (1982, Palo Alto)
   This Billy Strayhorn standard didn't need another remake, but this Ferguson arrangement, as you would expect, features a lot of high-soaring trumpet pyrotechnics.  Tasty trombone solo.  Brief, but enjoyable.


5. "Johnny Are You Queer?" by Josie Cotton (1982, Elektra)
   Fantastic SoCal New Wave. Loved this one since I first heard it in the movie Valley Girl.  I later picked up the whole Convertible Music album which was a smart move indeed.