MFD Random Five #38

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

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1. "High Society" by Norma Jean (1980, Bearsville)
   A Chic recording in all but name and, as such, is deserving of our respect.


2. "Too Hot to Handle" by Heatwave (1977, Epic)
   The Too Hot to Handle album was featured on this blog a few years back. Here's what I wrote about it then: "A great opening track that gets me dancin'.  Sounds like a Michael Jackson or Brothers Johnson tune from around that time, complete with Earth Wind & Fire type horn licks." My opinion hasn't changed.


3. "Disco Nights (Rock Freak)" by GQ (1979, Arista)
   With its synth-funk groove, this tune sounds more like early '80s R&B than disco.  I like it okay, but it pales in comparison to the follow-up, the wonderful slow jam "I Do Love You."


4. "Be Ever Wonderful" by Earth, Wind & Fire (1977, Columbia)
   One of EWF's best-ever ballads, this is the perfect album closer for All 'N All which I'll now pull off the shelves and listen to in its entirety. Should I listen to Earth, Wind & Fire more often? Yes. Yes, I should.


5. "Call Me" by Blondie  (1980, Chrysalis)
   A huge hit for the group. Rumor has it that writer Giorgio Moroder originally offered this to Stevie Nicks which woulda been a completely different tune. Although it was #1 for 6 straight weeks, I never hear it much anymore; radio stations usually opt for "Heart of Glass" instead. Shame. I never bought this single, but I bought another single from the American Gigolo soundtrack and it had an instrumental version of this tune on the b-side: