The top 1% of the songs on my weekly mixes for 2005 total 11 songs. Here's a countdown of them to my favorite of the year.
11. "Gimme Danger" by The Stooges
"Gimme Danger" by The Stooges is Iggy Pop at his best. Menacing and lustful, a twisted love song that gets under your skin and stays there. I love the guitars as well as Iggy's leering, ustful and almost frightening delivery. All very bad-ass.
10. "Hate It Or Love It (remix)" by 50 Cent ft. G-Unit
This reminds me so much of spring of 2005, when it was new and I heard it all the time. The soulful production is outstanding and 5o's crew all spit memorable verses. It's lewd and menacing at time but uplifting as well. Like very little I've heard before or since.
9. "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell
Once Glen Campbell made this Jimmy Webb song it hit, it soon became a standard with so many great versions, but this is still the best. I love the melancholic countrypolitan production, and Campbell's voice is so plaintive and a perfect match for the loneliness of the lyrics.
8. "Looking At The Front Door" by Main Source
This concerns a troubled romantic relationship, but the production is so soaring and so soulful and energetic you almost forget whatever Large Professor is annoyed about. This is the pinnacle of the so-called golden age of rap and they just don't make them like this anymore.
7. "Intruder/(Oh) Pretty Woman" by Van Halen
One of the annoyances of the digital music age is that cds, and thus mp3s, often break up songs that flowed together on albums. Like the tense instrumental "Intruder" by Van Halen that leads into their joyous and muscular cover of Roy Orbison's "(Oh) Pretty Woman". A friend helped me stitch these back together they way they belong, with Eddie Van Halen's guitar giving way to David Lee Roth's vocals. The way it should always be.
6. "The First Cut Is The Deepest" by P.P. Arnold
There are many versions of this early Cat Stevens song but this is the very best. Dramatic, kitchen-sink production against the soulful singing of P.P. Arnold, a much overlooked singer who just kills this song. Best played really loud.
5. "Touch Me" by The Doors
My favorite Doors song, among the many I grew up with, even against some of their moodier and artier tracks. One of the most joyful, wistful, romantic songs ever. Jim Morrison's deep vocals, full of longing and a little danger and tenderness against a great horns and strings section hurried along by an insistent drum beat. I loved hearing this again in 2005, remembering the 12-year old Doors fan who rode his bike to school listening to this on headphones while driving by a pretty girl's house.
4. "Aint' No Half-Steppin'" by Big Daddy Kane
No song has more swagger. No song has a better 70s soul sample. Big Daddy Kane is cocky, witty and just rides this beat like no one else ever could. Re-discovering this song in 2005 brought me back to the era of keggers and black friends with fades. I played this over and over again during the year and never tire of it.
3. "Number 1" by Goldfrapp
Another song on the list of my favorites that was actually new in 2005, this is my favorite of Goldfrapp's work. It's so sexy and dense and insanely catchy and simple. I love the way she slows her singing down to a whisper and brings it up against the great synthesizers.
2. "Early Morning Rain" by Paul Weller
Weller brings such sensitivity and feeling to this cover of Gordon Lightfoot, it's surprising that he didn't write it himself. This song defines the word wistful, and the sense of regret and sadness yet open-hearted feeling made this an indelible song for me in 2005. One of my favorite songs ever, it's anthemic yet so intimate.
1. "Let's Straighten It Out" by O.V. Wright
I thought I had 70s soul music pretty well covered, but I stumbled onto O.V. Wright's work with Al Green's Hi label through an album of Wu-Tang Clan samples and was mesmerized by this track. It's a cover of the Latimore sing, which is fine, but this take it to a whole other level. Wright's singing is scratchy and his sibilance off, betraying a hard life where his teeth where falling out and his heart probably breaking. The piano alone gives me goosebumps and his singing is just about the most soulful performance I have ever heard. This is simply beautiful music.
