MFD Random Five #13

In which I click the shuffle icon on the increasingly frustrating iTunes app (no, Apple, I don't want to stream, I want to listen to my files) and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "Mickey" by Toni Basil (1982, Chrysalis)
   Well, this is fine slap-yo-face wake-up tune first thing in the morning; guess I don't need coffee after that bombastic drum intro. But I have to admit, the thing's still catchy as hell more than 30 years after the fact, even though I did go through a period when I couldn't stand to hear it. I've written about this song before: "Not bad for a choreographer in her late 30s. Surprisingly, I never heard any controversy related to the lyrics, 'So come on and give it to me anyway you can. Anyway you want to do it, I'll take it like a man.' Maybe I'm reading too much into that?" Basil was always a dancer first, and she's still got what it takes, apparently:
   
   


2. "Lookin' Good" by Doc Severinsen (1976, Epic)
   Below average instrumental disco tune. Even though Doc wrote the thing, it doesn't feature as much trumpet as I'd have thought, but the drum and string parts sure are overly busy.


3. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson (1979, Epic)
   And then Michael shows us how to really disco. "The force has got a lot of power." If you're not moving to this thing, check your pulse. Just when you think it can't get any better, an instrumental bridge kicks in at 2:40 (on the album version) with a guitar solo over horns and there's so much going on I don't know what to listen to and it doesn't really matter.


4. "Down for the Third Time" by Bobby Caldwell (1978, Clouds)
   The final track on Caldwell's debut album, this song gives us everything we would come to expect from Caldwell: tasteful blend of smooth r&b, jazz, and adult contemporary. With tasty guitar work from Alfons Kettner and Steve Mealy, this (like most Caldwell music) is a welcome addition to any shuffle.


5. "Too Much Heaven" by the Bee Gees (1978, RSO)
   Not the Gibbs' best ballad, but good enough to hit #1 in the US. Legend has it that the boys wrote this track on an afternoon off from the making the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. I can take it or leave it and most retro program directors just leave it - this is one of those former number ones that you never hear on the radio anymore. When you hear a Bee Gees ballad, it's almost always "How Deep Is Your Love" isn't it?