Staff Playlist
Playlist: Pre-Game Like’s It’s 1986
Amy Rose Spiegel :: Friday, March 19th, 2010 4:45 pm
It’s Friday, and that means that me, you and everyone we know are most likely going out to have a good time tonight. I usually spend an inordinate amount of time with my friends preparing for the night ahead. As I slip on my dancing boots (I changed the adage a little bit in order to maintain journalistic integrity, not to mention rep my well-worn Docs), I get motivated by a specific playlist of songs. If you’re into upbeat 1980s hip-shakers, then this will be the perfect accompaniment to a few pre-party beers and haphazardly throwing your clothes around in search of what you’ll wear.
1. ”Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” - Squeeze
Really, the entirety of Singles - 45’s and Under could easily suit our purposes here, but this song is especially fitting. Even if you’re not on a sunny holiday like the one these lyrics describe, you’ll definitely be feeling Squeeze’s bright energy. Even if you’ve heard this song 1,500 times, the lyrics are still kind of inscrutable at points, and I like replacing the garbled British-inflected speech with slightly dirtier lines. My apologies to Squeeze, but with a band name like that, do you really expect my mind to not instantly slip into the gutter?
2. ”Godstar” - Psychic TV
“This is a story/A very special story/It’s about Brian Jones/One of the Rolling Stones.” I like that Psychic TV, instead of launching straight into the song, feel the need to preface it with a brief summary of what it’s all about. The word “special” is used to describe anything and everything in this song, and by the end it’s hard not to feel that that adjective will apply to my night as well.
3. “Always Something There To Remind Me” - Naked Eyes
Okay, let’s get one thing straight - this song’s a classic, and anyone who disagrees is a disaffected asshole.
4. ”Rattlesnakes” - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
This song is good if you want to simultaneously honor a feminist iconoclast, feel as though you’re speeding down a desert highway, and dance your bum off. Apparently, Germany agrees with me - as I was trying to find the official music video for this song (no luck, and that’s a shame, because it’s incredible), the only websites that appeared to be hosting it were German pop-based. So, if you have German heritage, this will apparently be your favorite song, and if you don’t, I’m betting you’ll still love it.
5. ”Come On Eileen” - Dexy’s Midnight Runners
This is my way of making it up to you that there’s no music video for the above song. To console you, watch these overalled killers parade around with their violins, or, alternately, just have a massive second-grade-style sing-along with a hairbrush microphone and your two best friends on back-up vocals (my preferred listening experience).
I would close here by saying “have an excellent weekend,” but if you’re listening to this playlist, you probably already are, and the last thing I want is to be redundant.
