Ladies y Gents, it’s practically the weekend. Huzzah, as it were. This week I’ve got a vintage playlist for the masses. Hopefully this will please everyone. I realized recently that I made a break-up mix for FFP #4 but I’ve not gone on the other side and made one for the lovers young and old (alluding to the love and/or the lovers being young/old). So enjoy this trip down memory lane to the future.
Track List:
- I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever) – Stevie Wonder
- All Day and All of the Night – The Stranglers
- Like to Get to Know You Well – Howard Jones
- Lady-O – The Turtles
We begin with that über talent, Stevie Wonder. I knew from the first moment I heard this song that it would be forever. Cheesy? Absolutely. It’s a great song that I first came across as part of the soundtrack for High Fidelity. It’s been a very influential soundtrack, introducing me, essentially, to Mr. Wonder, The Velvet Underground, and The Beta Band. “I Believe” can be found alongside “Superstition” amongst lesser-known but equally compelling tracks on the album Talking Books. Check it out, for your health.
The Stranglers cover from 1988 of The Kinks’ song “All Day and All of the Night” comes next. I don’t think the Stranglers get enough credit when it comes to there influence in the rock scene. They were primarily punk-rockers in part because of the way they subverted contemporary culture, though I don’t know if I’d categorize their sound as “punk rock.” So there’s that.
I’m just now realizing that I’ve put two track from two different John Cusack movies. “Like to Get to Know You Well” comes from the underrated classic Better Off Dead. The song, I realize, is very 80s but the sound is back whether you like it or not. Let’s face it, this song is a guilt pleasure best enjoyed after enjoying a viewing of the movie. Go see it. The song is great to work-out to or you could fix-up an old Chevy Camaro like in the movie. Either way the song fits in this week’s playlist as that pining away for someone that is oft to happen.
Oh, The Turtles. I could listen to them all day (and all of the night). This melodic beauty of a song has those strings and the plucked guitar that means “instant classic.” I guess, then, that it doesn’t hurt that the song is over forty years old. I have loved this song for a long time. Sometimes you are so drawn to a person that you can’t help but be in love with them. Where it goes is up to you, but The Turtles capture that place perfectly, ending this week’s Four-Play. Cheers.
On This, Art, and the Other 