Soggy Spotify Shuffle

HERC picked up his favorite niece and her friend from school (both young ladies attend the same local community college HERC did back in the Eighties, after he dropped/failed out of the University) today because they needed a ride and he is the Transporter.  (Don't tell that Statham guy.) When he left The Hideaway it was 102 degrees and sunny - just five miles later, at the campus, it was 70 degrees and raining buckets. Students were running every which way through the parking lots; HERC watched one guy lose a flip-flop and just keep splashing through.  He dropped off the friend and then his niece - it was bone dry at both of their houses, just over eight and ten miles respectively, from campus. Taking advantage of the still cooler weather (it had warmed up to 80), HERC rolled down all four windows and fully opened the moon roof (aka broadcast mode) in the Blueberry, turned cranked up the music and took the long way home.  These are the five songs that played before it started raining again and HERC had to seal up The Blueberry just before arriving back at The Hideaway.

Soggy Spotify Shuffle

1. "Love Reign O'er Me" -- The Who, Quadrophenia (1973):

(How cool would it have been if the first song was Supertramp's "Take The Long Way Home"?) This song is nothing to sneeze at  though with it's rain sounds and tympani thunder.  The Pearl Jam cover is worth checking out, too.  HERC sang along loudly, unashamedly and since the song fit the real world at the time, he has to proclaim it SHUFFLE GOLD!!

2. "I'll Be There [The Minus Mix]" -- The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson: The Stripped Mixes (2009):

The version of the 1970 Motown classic was actually released just prior to the shameless cash grab that followed his passing and is a nice alternative to the "regular" version: just Michael and Jermaine's pure sweet voices atop an acoustic based backing.  This is one of the few times when tinkering with an original recording has yielded a possibly better recording although it ends kind of weird.  SHUFFLE GOODNESS.

3. "South Side" -- Moby with Gwen Stefani, South Side CD single (2000):

This came as a bonus disc attached to Play CD when HERC bought it at Target.  He likes the version with Gwen better than the Moby only version that appears on Play.  The song has a menacing yet still chill vibe and sounds totally awesome in The Blueberry.  SHUFFLE GOODNESS.

4. "17 Days" -- Prince, The Hits/The B-Sides (1993):

Another rain-themed song on a rainy day?  Oh, the sweet serendipity.  One of Prince's better b-sides in HERC's opinion, this one was originally featured opposite "When Doves Cry" on sweet purple vinyl in 1984.  Kind of blends well musically and vocally with previous track and it's Prince so it's SHUFFLE GOLD PURPLE!!

5. "(I Would Like To) Shoot You Down" -- APB, Something To Believe In (1985):

Took about five seconds to recognize this one - would have cost me the game in Song Pop. So funky and so punky.  The genre-blurring band recorded and released the single in 1981 although it appear on a long player until 1985's singles round-up Something To Believe In.  APB is one of a large number of Scottish bands that have found a home in the Audio Archives here at HERC's Hideaway.  Others include Simple Minds, Altered Images (thanks, Martin), Big Country, Orange Juice, Endgames, Lloyd Cole & the Commotions (thanks, Mark) and The Waterboys.  SHUFFLE GOODNESS now but bound for SHUFFLE GOLD!!

And then the rain started up again.  The next song that came on was The Pretenders' "Mystery Achievement", the closing song on their self-titled debut album from 1980. Normally, HERC would drum along on the roof with my arm out the window to this song but with the rain and all, he had to resort to the obviously out-of-tune steering wheel.

All thanks and credit go to Blake's SHUFFLE SHAME for the format and the inspiration.

Wanna play along?  Submit your own 5 song shuffle via comment or email.