MFD Random Five #45

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

---

1. "To All the Girls I've Love Before" by Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson (1984, Columbia)
   An inauspicious start to this post. Hard pass.


2. "Johnny B. Goode" by Peter Tosh (1983, EMI)
   This song doesn't really need covering and this reggae version doesn't come close to the energy of the original.  The reggae groove is okay but there's strange synths and below-average noodling guitar solo. Meh.


3. "Here Comes II (new version)" by INXS (1983, ATCO)
   A mediocre ending to the Dekadance EP, this song can't decide what it wants to be: moody ballad or rocker. Plus Hutchence doesn't give himself a chance to let go. I can't muster much enthusiasm for this Random Five thus far.


4. "Away from Home" by Klark Kent (1980, A&M)
   Kent (a.k.a. Police drummer Stewart Copeland) put out a few singles before the Police hit it big. Not surprisingly, they sound like Stewart's contributions to Police albums. Copeland "re-purposed" the melody from this song's chorus (a simple descending arpeggio) for "Bombs Away" from Zenyatta Mondatta. 


5. "Nervous Wreck" by Radio Stars (1977, Chiswick)
   Average power pop/early New Wave, this quirky thing is enjoyable enough, but compared to the rest of this Random Five, it's a two minute, four chord masterpiece.