Good day my frivolous farraginous friends and welcome to the 18th edition of Farraginous Fridays!
Due to the apparent economic peril we are facing in this country I thought I’d cash in on this by setting this week’s playlist theme as money. Songs about having it and not having it are generally what it’s about! Please do add your own suggestions in the comments section below! We can’t farraginise without you!’d think.
Farraginous Friday #18 – Money, money, money (SPOTIFY)
Farraginous Friday #18 – Money, money, money (YOUTUBE)
The Flying Lizards‘ take on Barrett Strong’s 1959 hit Money starts the tills rolling this week. Singer Vivian Goldman really doesn’t beat about the bush about what she wants! These New-wave experimentalists released this version (and probably the best known version) in 1979 and it appears on numerous films and TV shows. It was to be the band’s only Top 40 hit.
Money Honey was the debut single for legendary doo wop group The Drifters . The song was written by (the then lead singer) Clyde McPhatter. A man, who, struggling for money, asks his woman to help him out and it turns out she’s getting some (and money) from another fellow. Charming! Notable covers of this come in the form of Eddie Cochran and The King himself, Elvis Presley.
R.E.M., in my opinion, have two very underrated albums; New Adventures In Hi-Fi and the wonderful stadium filling Monster, from which our next song, King Of Comedy, is taken. An air of cool breathes through this track, leaving enough space for some sweet sounding drums and crunchy, gutsy guitars. Apparently the working title for this track “Yes, I Am Fucking With You”. Can’t decide which I prefer.
Pet Shop Boys
The next track on the list is Alice Cooper‘s Billion Dollar Babies. Taken from the 1973 album of the same name, this tune features folk legend Donovan on falsetto backing vocals. The album is arguably Cooper at his creative peak and the album name was, the following year, the subject of a legal suit after members of the band split to form their own group called Billion Dollar Babies.
Going for broke next are New Wavers ABC with their 1984 track How To Be A Millionaire . This track wasn’t a big hit, only reaching #49 in the UK charts, but I think it’s one of their catchiest and most brilliantly produced songs. A smile always creeps across my face when the “Billions of pounds” sample makes an appearance.
Not a lot I can say about the flamboyant-yet-timid Pet Shop Boys. The London electro duo have sold in excess of 50 million records world-wide. Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) – is from their debut album Please. Neil Tennant says the song was inspired by the two lead characters from the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy.
Next up are the hugely influential New York based MC/DJ hip hop combo Eric B. & Rakim. Paid In Full is the fifth and final single taken from their debut album of the same name. I love the minimal and subtle arrangement of this track but I think my favourite part is when our heroes decide to fuck off mid-track and leave the beat going.
Eric B. & Rakim
Some lefty-hippy bounce up next with California’s Singing Bear. Billionaire sees the narrator saying how he would and would not spend princely sums of cash on. Expect to hear anti capitalist rants, weed smoking and also a curious Mexican sounding accent at one juncture!
Brummie one-hit-wonders Hollywood Beyond check in next with their 1986 track What’s the Colour of Money. If electro had been invented by the sea in medieval Britain then I think it would have sounded like this. Seriously, tell me that I’m wrong.
Now, I’ve decided to finish up with some classic dad-rock from the gyrating Geordies, Dire Straits. Money For Nothing was officially documented as a Straits/Sting writing collaboration but the tantric titillator insists he only wrote one line (“I want my MTV“) and supplied some backing vocals. The track comes from their 1985 album Brothers In Arms. Mark Knopfler claims that many of the words used in the song, stole straight from a guy working in a New York department store.
That be all for this week I’m afraid. I hope you’ve enjoyed the cash-ridden melting pot that was, this week’s Farraginous Fridays playlist.
Do leave your suggestions below as I’m sure many of you have many of your own ideas of what you’d like to include on a money themed playlist!
Please do continue to tell your friend’s about Farraginous Fridays. Send them along to the Facebook group here – http://groups.to/farraginousfridays or just invite them straight to the blog at http://farraginousfridays.com.
Until next time…
Love
Farraginous Francis x
