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[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL
"High Five!" |
07.13.11 |
BY MIKEY MIGO
Around five years ago I started this weekly journey that is “The Savage Animal”. I wanted to think of a good topic to celebrate the day, but it was rough. I didn’t want to do a “Top 5”, a retrospect piece covering my own work, or anything cliché like that. On the grand scale of things, five years isn’t that long. On a “blogging” stand point, it’s a life time. Each week I attempt to think of a fresh idea to discuss or ramble about. Sometimes there are some good back and forth’s, sometimes I ramble for pages to no response, and on rare occasions these might even have sucked. I know! I know! But it IS possible!
I get stressed or in a rut at times, but all in all I enjoy thinking of new topics and writing up these columns every week. This still brings me back to the main discussion. I didn’t know what to go with. Five years is a personal milestone. I’m not going to toot my own horn any longer. Five, though. I’m going to talk about 5 in general. There’s the whole “Five Second Rule”. Subway has the “Five Dollar Foot Long”. The “high five” is dated, but still called for at times. James Monroe was the 5th President. I like the number five and it’s pretty interesting all the ties the world of music has with the number five…
THE JACKSON FIVE
Of course I have to mention this “famous five”. They were called The Jackson Five because there were in fact five members. Being so close to Gary, Indiana it’s hard not to instantly think of this one when putting together this column. I’m pretty sure this is the most famous “five” in music history.
APRIL 5TH, 1994
This one sucks. Grunge icon Kurt Cobain took his own life on April 5th, 1994. His body wouldn’t be found for a few more days, but I remember when the news broke. I wasn’t even a teenager at the time so the news was really startling. The dude’s music lives on forever. There’s always that debate of “what if he had lived and they had continued to make music”. That’s always an interesting discussion on many levels. You could have said the same about “The Doors”, “Nirvana” or other short lived bands. Would they have evolved in the right ways or would their stock and acclaim decline? While I totally appreciate what we did get, it’s a fair discussion.
BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH SYMPHONY
Written after the fourth symphony, but before the sixth this song is one of the most well known and appreciated works of art ever to be made. It’s been said that this musical arrangement is one of the most important works of all time. Listen to it and tell me you don’t know it and haven’t heard it. If art, and specifically music is truly “universal” then it’s because of iconic tunes like this.
”THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL” FIFTH TRACK – “CLOSER”
This is a stretch, I know. I could have gone with hundreds of great “fifth tracks” or even “fifth albums”. My favorite band/artist of all time is Nine Inch Nails. I think my personal favorite of theirs was actually the fifth track from the first album, “Pretty Hate Machine”. I’m talking about the depressingly beautiful “Something I Can Never Have”. Still, I have to be reasonable here. “Closer” IS the song that put Nine Inch Nails on the map and is easily their most famous song. Sadly more folk than I’d like to admit know this song mainly as that “I wanna fuck you like an animal” one. It’s a bad ass song. I love the reworking of it on the later tours. The break down in the middle is awesome. This song has the perfect amount of base, riffs, attitude, sexuality, and anger. It IS the mid 90’s as I know it.
”TAKE FIVE” BY THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET
This is one of the coolest jazz tunes of all time. It’s one of the first songs of its kind to break out and hit mainstream success. For the early 60’s, this was a big deal. It’s been covered a billion times and used in a million different ways. A cool fact I learned doing this column is how the royalties of the song are handled. When the composer, Paul Desmond passed away he left the rights to the American Red Cross. He passed away over forty years ago, but his music and art has gained the Red Cross about a hundred grand a year. That’s pretty amazing.
MAROON 5
They’re not all the best. Maroon 5 isn’t horrible or anything. It’s perfectly harmless pop rock fluff. It’s easy listening soul rock. I don’t hate Maroon 5. It’s just not my cup of tea. The album with “This Love” and “Harder to Breathe” was decent. Adam Levine seems like a cool enough guy. I guess this a “famous five”.
”MAMBO NO. 5” BY LOU BEGA
What the hell am I doing? Am I REALLY mentioning Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5”? In my fifth anniversary column nonetheless? Ridiculous! It’s hard to believe this was from 1999. I know it was an old song that he covered, but until this point I never had the displeasure of hearing this song. It’s a bouncy song that lists a whole bunch of women’s names. There really isn’t anyone talking about this song or using it that’s not being sarcastic or ironic about it. It has made “Worst Ever” lists, “Most Annoying” lists, and “One Hit Wonder” lists for a reason. If you hear this song once, you’ll NEVER forget it. Great or horrible, that’s powerful.
”I GOT FIVE ON IT” BY LUNIZ
The mid 90’s was a haven for awesome for the hip hop game. It wasn’t all clean cut and performed by metrosexuals with a flat bill cap. We got tracks about booze, women, and in this case weed. For those who don’t know, “I got 5 on it” is in reference into going halfzies on a $10 bag of weed, or a “dime bag” to those in the know. I’m actually ashamed I have to explain that. This was a great song at the time and it’s still a banger on occasion.
JURASSIC 5
These guys are awesome. They are definitely a “famous five” for sure. Jurassic 5 is one of the most underappreciated hip hop groups of all time. They’re with the cause for numbers for sure. In 03 they put out an album called “Power in Numbers”. If take anything from this group, listen to “What’s Golden”. It’s a great track.
”FIVE YEARS” BY DAVID BOWIE
One of my favorite Bowie songs of all time. It was released in 72 as the opening track to the masterpiece that is “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”. The song is a warning that the world is going to be doomed in five years. The rumor is that Bowie had a dream and his father told him he should never fly again and he would die in five years. I know “Ziggy Stardust”, “Suffragette City”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”, and even “Moonage Daydream” get more love on this album than “Five Years”. My favorite version is the live take from “Santa Monica 72”. It’s just a great song. It’s got a strained tone, but it almost feels celebratory in all its majesty.
What are some of YOUR favorite “famous fives” in music?
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