Woodside Five - January 2008

Not sure if I intended the "Five" to be what's currently bouncing out of my iPod as opposed to strictly new music, but the former certainly has been the case.

This I Dig of You – Hank Mobley
With some help from Miles’ rhythm section, Hank’s tune is one of those recordings that most anyone can point to and immediately identify as part of the jazz genre. I may need to post a “Five” devoted exclusively to jazz to capture some of my latest downloads, which include pianist Wynton Kelly who’s featured on this set. This is excellent underrated, 1950s-era be-bop jazz, worth downloading the whole album for any level of jazz enthusiast.

Control – Puddle of Mudd
I recently stumbled on this track while prepping myself for my NYC meetings. Not much else to offer except that this is a rocking good track, for adults only.

The Electric Co. – U2
I saw U2 perform live five previous times before I saw them for the 6th time at Madison Square Garden in 2005. My U2 live experience goes back to 1985 in Philadelphia, Pa. My first show was at The Spectrum arena during The Unforgettable Fire tour. I next saw them play in 1987 in support of The Joshua Tree album at JFK stadium where Bruce Springsteen joined them on stage for a song. I saw them again in Philadelphia in 1992, this time at Veterans’ stadium on the Zoo TV Tour. Five years later, I saw them perform outside Boston at Foxboro stadium (yes, yet another stadium that no longer exists – that makes three if you’re counting) during the Pop Mart Tour. It would be 2001 before I would see them again back in Philadelphia this time at the Wachovia Center on the Elevation Tour. That brings us to 2005, not only had it been 20 years since I first them perform live, they tore the roof of the place with “The Electric Co.,” a song they hadn’t performed live in almost 20 years. I have so many favorite U2 songs they performed that night, but “The Electric Co.” was the pinnacle for me. A very close runner-up was their cover of David Bowie’s “Jean Genie” performed during their own rocker “The Fly.”

Led Zeppelin: With the release of their newly remastered catalog I had to put some Zeppelin on my "Five," but how can I choose just one song? That’s like asking me to pick my favorite movie of all time. There are too many, although to go off on a tangent, I can say with certainty in my Top 10 Movies would be "Almost Famous" a Cameron Crowe film that contains a number of Led Zep tracks.

Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin
OK even after making the above statement, this could be my fav Led Zep tune of all time, but how can you have one – it’s like potato chips, ya gotta have more than one! Same can be said for U2 and The Who, right?

A side note, whenever I include this track on a mix I like to pair it next to Sublime's "Santeria." Not sure why, to me just sounds good, kind of like the way a steak pairs with a nice Cabernet.

For whatever reason, this song also reminds me of coming home from work on my 30th birthday. It was a rough day, but don’t recall why. This was 1996 and I can’t be expected to recall things that long ago to certain detail. Anyway, one of my roommates was home and maybe a couple friends or two as well. I recall I walked in and said something like, “I’ve been looking forward to hearing this song all day.” I placed Led Zep in the CD player and played “Hey Hey What Can I Do” at full volume, ah I remember that feeling so good. Hell, that song always sounds nice. So that night I also discovered I was “old” or that I felt old. That night was the WFNX concert down at Lansdowne St. in Boston. WFNX held an annual multi-venue concert every year, and I was there a few years before for the first incarnation of Perry Farrell’s band Porno For Pyros, who made their debut shortly after the Jane’s Addiction break up. That night my pals and I went to the club Avalon because I wanted to see Everclear who had just released an amazing CD with a classic three-play that I have not come across since – “Heroin Girl,” “You Make Me Feel Like a Whore,” and their big hit “Santa Monica.” This “three-play” was actually one of the reasons I started dating a girlfriend at the time. I was DJ-ing a party at our apartment and she requested the “three-play” – I was smitten of course. So you may ask, how did I feel old? I went down in the “mosh pit” when Everclear came on stage. To give you a little of my history, I saw The Ramones three times, I saw The Replacements with and without Bob, I remember when they called it “slamming” instead of “moshing.” I never saw Black Flag or The Dead Kennedys, but I knew what it was like to be part of what was becoming the “old guard.” Strangely enough, little did I know that Everclear would eventually become more pop than punk, but you work with what you’ve got at the time. So I finish “moshing” and go up to the bar. I ordered water instead of a beer, it was at that moment I felt “old.” I would still mosh at some other shows soon to follow like Buffalo Tom and The Toadies, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I would become a “watcher” and not so much a “mosher.”

Now I know, 30 was nothing. It was turning 40 that got me thinking I’m getting old!

What Is and What Should Never Be - Led Zeppelin
This was one of the tracks that made me like Led Zeppelin way back when. When the Black Crowes recorded it live with Jimmy Page, it made me love it all over again. Not to mention it was great for driving and this may have contributed to my speakers being blown out in my old Mazda. I went to see Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes perform live that summer following the release of their CD at the PNC Performing Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. It was an outdoor venue and it had just started to get dark when Chris Robinson said, "the night time is the right time." They immediately tore into "What Is and What Should Never Be" - wow, to me felt pretty darn close to actually seeing Led Zeppelin.

- Salud!