MFD Random Five #3

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. "I Want Ya" by The Knack (1980, Capitol)
   All Knack songs sound pretty much the same and that's okay with me.  Their misogynistic lyrics get old quickly, but when you've got power pop hooks this good, it's easy to ignore the lyrics.  One of the better songs from the ...But the Little Girls Understand album.


2. "Rise" by Herb Alpert (1979, A&M)
   If there's such a thing as a laid back disco tune, this is it.  This song became popular as I was learning to play trumpet and I was hooked immediately. I even bought the sheet music so I could play along with Herb.  It came with the lyrics (which I've never heard sung other than by myself):
   
   
   


3. "Filigree" by John Surman (1979, ECM)
   A few months back I discovered the mesmerizing music of Surman through the piece "Edges of Illusion" (read that post here).  This is another track from the album Upon Reflection and just as mesmerizing.  Surman overdubs himself playing various saxophones, no rhythm section whatsoever. It's part jazz, part classical, and as you can tell, nearly impossible to describe.


4. "Breaking Away" by Balance (1981, Portrait)
   A fun little pop number that reminds me of Rocky Burnette's "Tired of Toein' the Line." Would be better if it had a bridge or guitar solo. Still, this one's worthy of inclusion on the The Lost 45s of the '70s & 80's CDs and probably a future post of its own in our Lost AT40 Singles series.


5. "Run Runaway" by Slade (1984, RCA)
   A nonsensical singalong jig based on a hymn with a video I never cared for.  This one trick pony of a song always just seemed like a Big Country ripoff.  I didn't have this song in my collection until I was putting together Megalist.  Whatever happened to that project?