Haven't done one of these for a long while, a Party Shuffle Friday, so I refreshed the iTunes DJ a few times to come up with this selection of 10 tracks. Maybe I can entice my party crowd back.

Win Some, Lose Some, by Williams, Robbie, from I've Been Expecting You. This was the first Robbie Williams album I bought (the James Bond looking one), and all told I enjoy it very much. This particular track starts off with a plaintive girl crying "Love you, Baby" very faintly. Then it turns into a rocky ballad about young love, love with an Essex flavor I think but that might be my own history coming through, love that eventually dies.

The Man With the Child in His Eyes, by Bush, Kate, from The Whole Story. A very quiet song about a boyfriend who is childlike in many ways. However, it's not clear whether this boyfriend is real or just in the imagination of the narrator. You get the feeling that she's a teenager perhaps, making him up.

I Missed Again, by Collins, Phil, from Face Value. From Collins' first album, another slow song. This one's about rejection or perhaps unrequited love.

The Power of Love, by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, from Bang!...The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Bloody brilliant song, originally from Welcome to the Pleasuredome, of course, the last song on the second LP. In the UK, the single came out at Christmas and the video had the band as the Three Wise Men in a Christmas nativity scene. A really good ballad, with Holly Johnson doing the music proud. "I'll protect you from the hooded claw / Keep the vampires from your door." Still gives me the shivers.

Under Ether, by Orzabal, Roland, from Tomcats Screaming Outside. Orzabal is one the Tears for Fears guys, and this is his only album under his own name. Thrumming ominous bass with tune picked out on electric guitar, the lyrics about how we all seem to be doped asleep with the world going to hell in a hand basket. Chilling.

Price of Love, by Ferry, Bryan, from Let's Stick Together. Possibly Ferry's best solo album for me. This track is a cover of the Everly Brothers hit. Ferry gave it up tempo beat, with some Spanish flamenco influences in the horns. The video even had Jerry Hall in it: Ferry had just started dating her if I recall. Brilliant stuff.

Tomorrow Never Knows, by The Beatles, from Revolver. My personal favorite Beatles album, but the wackiest track with all of its recordings of musical instruments played backwards, and the sitars to provide that Indian feel. Very psychedelic. Incidentally, Phil Collins covered it at the end of Face Value.

Don't Turn Around, by Ace of Base, from Greatest Hits. The other Swedish band, the one with better percussion, electronica, and beats. Nice boppy beat to this one, was released as a single.

Euroboy, by Pet Shop Boys, from Alternative. Awesome track, not on their studio albums, never unreleased as a B-side (it's initial release was on Alternative, I think). Disco beat, very ominous Russian sound to the chorus, with Neil singing over the top "You wanna lover, you wanna another lover". Brilliant.

Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I), by Yazoo, from Upstairs at Eric's. Alison Moyet on vocals, Vince Clarke playing his synthesizers like a madman. Just makes you want to move in rhythm.

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This week it's a Party Shuffle Good Friday.

Stereo Tonic, by Thunderball, from Scorpio Rising. Nice bit of electronica from a little known band. I found them through one of Thievery Corporation's remix albums and decided to try them out. Not bad at all: echo-ey, sitar-ey, downtempo beats.

Fisherman's Blues, by The Waterboys, from The Best of the Waterboys: 1981-1990. From the Waterboys' Irish folk phase, and I'd have to say I'm not a great fan of it, I'm afraid. Catchy enough beat and tune, lots of fiddles, but it leaves me a little cold.

Lovefool [Tee's Club Radio], by The Cardigans, from Best Summer Album in the World...Ever!. Great compilation album, providing you get the UK double version. This is a catchy poppy little tune, apparently used in Romeo + Juliet, though I can't remember where.

Trouble, by Stevens, Cat, from Gold. Cat on guitar and singing, nothing much else, quiet and contemplative, from his very early years.

Starlight, by Electric Light Orchestra, from Out of the Blue. Fun double LP (I seem to remember the original album had a pop-out-and-fold cardboard ELO spaceship). A quiet track this one, Setting you up for the seriously wacky Jungle that follows.

Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend, by Pet Shop Boys, from Where the Streets Have No Name. Another brilliant B-side from PSBs. Neil has a girl on his arm, and they're bitchily saying "bet she's not your girlfriend". Very much a dance pop track, this.

Aquatic Dance, by Vangelis, from Oceanic. Slowing down now for Vangelis' flowing album about water and the sea. Ethereal voices, a harp, a synthesizer. Taking my cue from the album cover, I imagine seeing formation swimmers doing a slow dance from above for this track.

Don't Drop Bombs, by Minnelli, Liza, from Results. PSBs again, in the background as producers and writers of Liza Minnelli's pop album. Not too bad, although one critic at the time described it as "Liza nil, Pet Shop Boys one". A bit of a protest song as you might guess, but very 80s disco.

Funny How Time Flies, by Jackson, Janet, from Control. The hidden track at the end of the album. Janet speaking in French at the beginning, then a very percussive slow clappy beat: it's the end of the evening, please let's do this again.

Johnny and Mary, by Palmer, Robert, from Clues. One of my very favorite Robert Palmer songs this one, about miscommunication or perhaps non-communication within a relationship. This song needs bass, lots of it, so crank it up. Just brilliant. So good I just listened to it twice.

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The partygoers a couple of weeks ago were sniggering behind my back when they left. It seems that it wasn't Peter Gabriel leaving Genesis that triggered the self-referential name of their next album, but Steve Hackett (thanks to me old mate Larry for pointing it out to me). Man, my memory is surely going. I could have sworn I was right, but Larry and wikipedia have shown me the error of my ways. This week, undeterred, I'm going for broke...

Shoo-Bee-Doo, by Madonna, from Like a Virgin. Well known song from Madonna's second album from the early 80s, at least if you know the album, since I don't think it was released as a single. A slow tempo song, starting off with mostly just Madonna's voice, and then a slow beat.

On My Own, by Schnauss, Ulrich, form A Strangely Isolated Place. A recent addition to my collection this one. Schnauss is German and produces multi-layered electronica/trance. An insistent drum-driven beat, with soaring synths and almost wordless voices. The drum beat drifts away in the end and the track becomes more introspective and personal. Magic.

Never Make Me Cry, by Fleetwood Mac, from Tusk. Not one of their best known tracks, from a very Lindsey Buckingham-influenced album. I don't listen to the album much, so I found it hard to remember this song. It's quiet with (I'm guessing) Christine McVie singing that she'll not cry if you go, but of course she will.

Mary's Beheading, by Armstrong, Craig, from Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Craig Armstrong is just brilliant, no matter what he does, but he's amazing at soundtracks. This is from the soundtrack to a movie I haven't seen yet, but the music is just evocative of a scene shot in slo-mo with only the music being heard. Choral voices; ethereal, plaintive strings; suddenly cut off.

Open Your Heart, by Human League, from Greatest Hits. Back to the 80s and Phil Oakley's voice with Human League. It was released as a single. It's about opening up no matter what others say — you'll still triumph over them.

Papa Don't Preach, by Madonna, from True Blue. Madonna again; the famous single that had everyone wondering if it were based on a true personal story. Nope, by this, her third album, Madonna knew how to work her brand with the media. Great song (and a pretty good video), even after all these years.

The Debutante's Ball, by Harpers Bizarre, from Feelin' Groovy: The Best of Harpers Bizarre. It's the joker in the pack this Friday. Harper's Bizarre were a multi-voice male group (they used session musicians for the music) from the very late 60s. They're best known for a cover of Paul Simon's Feelin' Groovy. Nice enough track, a bit like a song from a musical. Hey, someone just hit the skip button...

Hey, Headmaster, by Pet Shop Boys, from Further listening 1992-1994. Absolutely brilliant B side from PSBs (the A side was Can You Forgive Her). It's one of those tracks I can listen to several times over at once. Neil is asking a headmaster what he's going to do now the boys are becoming more modern (they've "cut their hair short to look cool") and leaving him behind in the past. Despite the beat, a wistful, perhaps melancholy song. Neil Tennant tells this story of getting into a black cab in London and the cabbie saying, hey, you're one of the Pet Shop Boys, aren't you? To which Neil says, yes, expecting a "West End Girls is great" comment, but instead the cabbie then informs him Hey, Headmaster was his favorite song.

Guilty Ones, by Blue Sky Black Death, from A Heap Of Broken Images. Short guitar instrumental with another snatch of monologue from the film Primer.

Love Train, by Johnson, Holly, from Blast. This is the first album for Johnson after he left Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The album is a sheer pop delight, no track more so than this one. Brilliant train-like beat, Johnson joyfully wailing about "stoke it up, riding the Love Train." Oh, the fun of double entendres. I just love the first two lines: "You're a work of art / You're the Trevi Fountain". A fantastic end to this party.

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Well, the partygoers are going to be mightily confused from this random selection. I'd better pour a half-bottle of vodka in the punch (I'm going to stick to my bottle of Maudite from Canada), because we're going all over the map both in terms of music genre and decade.

Follow You, Follow Me, by Genesis, from And Then There Were Three... The famous single from the Genesis' first album after Peter Gabriel left (hence the name of the album). Needs no intro from me: still sounds as good a love song now as then. Perfect.

Jumbo, by Underworld, from Everything, Everything. This is their live album at the end of their second reincarnation, just after Beaucoup Fish, and this track is from that album. Very electronic, and not bad for a live version (all them tapes you know). I'm buggered if I know what it's about ("tetris keyring"?), but it's very hypnotic with its chorus of someone saying "click". On the original album, there's a couple of rednecks talking about a sale at WalMart. Guess I'm not arty enough, sigh.

It's Looking Good, by The Rutles, from The Rutles. The Rutles were a brilliant, brilliant, and definitely wicked, parody of the Beatles, so well done that I understand the current pressings of the CDs have Lennon and McCartney listed as co-composers. This one is a take-off of something on Help! I think, perhaps not as recognizable as the others.

It Won't Be Long, by Moyet, Alison, from Hoodoo. Alison Moyet started off with Vince Clarke as Yazoo (Yaz in the States due to some copyright thing), and then went solo with Alf. This is from her third album, when she was chafing under her popularity. The album is more melancholy and personal than her previous two. This one is the singer waiting for the day that her current lover has gone and she can forget him: it won't be long.

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), by ABBA, from Gold: Greatest Hits. Ah, ABBA. You know this: driving disco beat, Agnetha and Anni-Frid singing along about something to do with a man after midnight. Them Swedes, eh. I'm usually asleep in the early hours.

Wall Street Bongo, by Yello, from Tied Up. My fave band from Zurich, this from the CD single. Wacky tune, bongos, screams, Tarzan calling, what more could you ask for? Hmm? Plenty of sound effects from Boris Blank bound into the track; the man will record absolutely anything.

One Day I'll Go Walking, by Deacon Blue, from Fellow Hoodlums. Back to serious music from the 80s/90s, and a great band from Glasgow; one of my favorites from the era. Nice bouncy tune with Ricky Ross' vocals to the fore and Lorraine McIntosh's in the background. Lovely.

Just as Long as You Are There, by Paradis, Vanessa, from Vanessa Paradis. Lenny Kravitz meets the French teenager, in effect, falls in love and produces her next album in English. An everyday tale of music folk. Very jazzy tune, perhaps even Motown in its use of the chorus singers. Actually I feel this is a very underrated album these days: there's some great music in here.

The Memory of Trees, by Enya, from The Memory of Trees. Music to code by for me, this. Nothing too bright or frenzied, nothing to distract one's attention. Multitrack chorus. Not bad, but then not particularly good either.

Cloak and Dagger, by Kershaw, Nik, from Human Racing. This is from Nik's first album (his best for me) and is about Big Brother watching over you and me. Bouncy electronic tune, ominous "cloak and dagger" chorus, little squeaks of "mum's the word".

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I'm not quite sure what happened last Friday, but the guests went away disappointed. No music. To celebrate, I'm back, but in a dilemma. You see, iTunes 8.1 renamed the Party Shuffle playlist to iTunes DJ. What's a track compiler and commenter to do, eh? Continue on as normal, that's what...

Crystal, by New Order, from Get Ready. New Order, a band that grew out of the ashes of Joy Division, seem to reinvent themselves over and over. Get Ready came after the sublime Republic, very late (after Bernard Sumner's experiments with Electronic), but it was well worth the wait. Crystal is the first track on the album, and I remember starting to play it, wondering. It starts off slowly and quietly and then, wham, a driving rock beat driving the song forward over and around Sumner's vocals. Brilliant track.

Slowhand Hussein, by Dzihan & Kamien, from Freaks & Icons. Electronica and acid jazz from Austria (their names are pronounced Gee-hahn and Kammy-en) with some influence from the mid-East, at least to my ears. The cover of this album is an absolute hoot. Anyway, the track is slow and haunting with a kind of clappy beat. I well recommend trying this album out if you're into that kind of acid jazz.

Fourth Rendez-Vous, by Jarre, Jean Michel, from Rendez-Vous. The fifth studio album — depending on how you count — from Jean Michel Jarre (Wikipedia helpfully noting that he dropped the hyphen in 1991). This track a bouncy electronic number with a strong melody.

Set Your Body Free, by Inner City, from Big Fun. Detroit House music, from the band that brought you the Good Life and Big Fun. (Well "band" is stretching it, since there were only two of them.) Funnily enough, they were bigger in the UK than in the US. A typical house beat laid down, with Paris Grey's vocals soaring above; not bad at all.

3x5, by Mayer, John, from Room for Squares. Mayer's first album is truly excellent, and one that my wife introduced to me before I'd caught up with the rest of the world. Man, can he play the guitar. This one is about someone writing home about his travels, but he doesn't have a camera ("no 3x5s") and so can only describes what he sees.

It's a sin (7" version), by Pet Shop Boys, from It's a sin. From the CD single, to be precise. Neil singing about how everything he sees, says, or does (with a nice double-entendre on "does") is a sin; essentially railing against his Catholic upbringing. I remember going to Wembley Arena to see them on this tour: mad japes with nurses and beds and angels' wings and whatnot. A pretty mad video too, if I recall, with its visions of hell.

The Morning Fog, by Bush, Kate, from Hounds of Love. You either like her or you don't I find is the reaction from most people. I like her, although this is not my favorite album from her by any means. Consequently I don't know this track well, but it seems to be about being reborn again, coming out of the fog.

Under Pressure [Live], by Bowie, David, from Hallo Spaceboy. Number 1 from Bowie and Major Tom this week, and number 2 from PSBs, since this is from the CD single, and Neil and Chris remixed it. Pretty well, I might add, even merging in our dear old friend Major Tom. Anyway, this is a not-bad live version of the Bowie/Queen hit, although I understand this is not Freddie Mercury's voice.

Ashes to Ashes, by Bowie, David, from Scary Monsters. The second appearance from both Bowie and Major Tom this week. A really complex song, I think. Is it about drugs? (Think about the emblematic video with Bowie-as-a-clown, and the line "Major Tom's a junkie".) Is it is about Bowie himself? ("I've never done good things / I've never done bad things / I never did anything out of the blue.") Is a children's nursery rhyme warning against Major Tom? (Back to the drugs again.) Dunno, but it's good to hear it again.

Push the Limits, by Enigma, from The Screen Behind the Mirror. Sometimes I can take Michael Cretu, and sometimes I think he just runs out of ideas half way through an album. This first Enigma album was all Gregorian Chant, which worked quite well for me, but this one he fixates on Carmina Burana way too much. This track is one of the ones that doesn't and I think sounds better for it.

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Last week I was travelling, so wasn't able to write up a PSF. This week, though, the guests are back and ready to, er, groove on down.

Why Don't We Live Together?, by Pet Shop Boys, from Please. From their first album, so called because they wanted buyers to go into record stores and be polite when they asked for it ("Pet Shop Boys, please"). Or so they say... A nice little song from their early days where the singer is trying to get the person he loves to live with him.

Touch Me Now, by Swing Out Sister, from Somewhere Deep in the Night. A later album from SOS, great to listen to. This one starts off with ominous strings and drums, urgently moving forward, like some nighttime chase scene from a Bond movie, and then Corinne comes in with that beautiful sweet voice bemoaning the loss of the one she loves. The ominous drumming goes on in the background... Great musical texture, just fabulous.

Can I Take You Home Little Girl, by The Drifters, from The Very Best of Ben E King & The Drifters. A nice little ditty from the Drifters, the lyrics of which are on the border of being somewhat creepy these days.

Hello, by The Beloved, from The Sun Rising. Mmm, The Beloved, interesting band from the 80s, with the weirdest song out: Jon Marsh essentially singing famous people's names, both real and fictional. In essence, the song is about "saints and sinners" and how it's difficult to tell the difference ("Can you spot the difference that lies between the colour blue and the colour green?"). Since the song is from twenty years ago, some of the references are difficult to remember. Who remembers Leslie Crowther, for god's sake.

Homage to the Mountain, by Yello, from Baby. Ah, Yello, the Swiss nutcases with the great music. Homage to the Mountain is a non-vocal, almost orchestral track that shuffles along and builds and builds to a brassy climax.

The World Is My Oyster, by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, from Bang!...The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The intro track from the original FGTH album, with a soaring opera singer's voice and Holly Johnson declaiming "The World is My Oyster" followed by some maniacal laughter. The track that follows is of course Welcome to the Pleasuredome, the name of the album. "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A pleasuredome erect." with the last word spoken as e-RECT. Ah, FGTH, how I miss you.

Into Temptation, by Crowded House, from Recurring Dream, Best Of Crowded House. A quiet ballad from Crowded House; the temptation of falling in love.

Take on Me, by a-ha, from Hunting High and Low. Does this track need any introduction? Brilliant song, breathtaking innovative video (that's been, it must be said, parodied often).

Odyssey Phase 2 [Oxygene 10 @440 Remix Dub], by Jarre, Jean Michel, from Odyssey Through O2. From a remix album that remixed the various Oxygene tracks, both from the original album and the supplemental one 20 years later, with some sonorous bewildering spoken segues between tracks.

How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky), by Krall, Diana, from Love Scenes. Another wonderful voice, especially when she uses it for the old standards, the jazz songs. A well-arranged version with Krall on the piano, with a trio, some great late evening listening.

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Another quick iTunes party shuffle. I think the guests at this party will be mightily confused.

Wonderful Disguise, by Scott, Mike, from Bring 'em All In. Mike Scott, if you didn't know, is the driving force (only force, really) behind Waterboys. He can be a bit preachy and religious at times, but he doesn't half write some great tunes. This one is one of his "smack you with my faith" tracks, nice and quiet, essentially just him on the guitar, about how he finds God in everyone he sees.

Transparent, by Pet Shop Boys, from Miracles (Maxi CD). The PSBs have such great "b-sides" — you mean you don't buy all the singles? There's a new one coming out in March — and this is one of them. Neil, electronically distorted, saying if he were transparent, you could see his love is true.

Certain Shades of Limelight, by Swing Out Sister, from Where Our Love Grows. One of their tracks that sounds like it could have come from a 60s romantic French movie, maybe Un autre homme et une autre femme, or something like that.

Come and Get These Memories, by Reeves, Martha And The Vandellas, from The Millennium Collection: The Best of Martha Reeves And The Vandellas. Awesome 60s sound from an all girl band. You just feel yourself moving in tune with the rhythm, but not a really well-known one, at least to me.

Hulaville, by Orbit, William, from Strange Cargo Hinterland. William Orbit is the star of electronic mood music, layers upon layers. Starts off quiet, coming after the fun Montok Point one with the spooky voice, that builds up to a nice boppy sound with lots of electronic bits and pieces.

High Fidelity, by Daft Punk, from Homework. Ye gods, I must have been going crazy that day at Microsoft, because when I left for the evening I went out and bought this CD and must have listened to it twice since. OK, there's some good tracks on it, Da Funk being one, but this isn't one of them. I can't bear to listen to them anymore.

She'll Drive the Big Car, by Bowie, David, from Reality. Currently Bowie's latest album from 2003. Excellent album. Despite it being over 5 years without a release from Bowie, if the next one is as good as this, it won't matter. The song's about dreams and yearnings of the good life being punctured by reality, revealing them to be failures.

Love Makes the World Go Round, by Madonna, from True Blue. Ah, the young Madonna. Boppy boppy sound.

Sauvage et Beau, by Vangelis, from Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear). From one of the very many Vangelis collection CDs. Each one seems to have just one track that's not available elsewhere, so you're paying a CD price for one track, and for this CD this is that track. From a film by Frederic Rossif, with whom Vangelis has collaborated before (and probably after as well), a nice tune.

Forbidden Fruit, by Blow Monkeys, from Choices: The Singles Collection. Fronted by Dr. Robert, this band came out with some great songs in the 80s (best known? Digging Your Scene and Wait, I suppose). They can be very political (their third album was She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter, a reference to Margaret Thatcher), but this track's just a ballad with wailing brass, although a bit weird ("Do you know what I saw today / A man blow himself away, over you").

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A quick iTunes party shuffle gave me this list. Some eclectic tracks this time.

Love and Regret, by Deacon Blue, from When the World Knows Your Name. Starts with a little tinkling piano, then in come the drums in a nice slow beat. Deacon Blue is one of my favorite 80s bands, and even my wife has the best of CD permanently in her car's CD changer.

Maybe Our Days Are Numbered, by Orzabal, Roland, from Tomcats Screaming Outside. Orzabal is one of the Tears for Fears duo, and this was, in theory anyway, his first solo effort (as it happened, the previous Tears for Fears album was just Orzabal on his own, having split with Curt Smith). He had the remarkable misfortune to release this on the 11th September 2001, which is a shame because it's a much better album that the aforementioned TfF one. A slow haunting track.

It's All in the Game, by Four Tops, from The Ultimate Collection. 'Nuff said. You can imagine them sync dancing in your mind's eye as this plays.

It's Time, by Connick, Harry Jr., from Blue Light, Red Light. I don't know what's up with me, but after a while of liking Harry Connick, Jr, I now can't stand to listen to him. The album's not bad, with a slow side (the Blue) and a fast side (the Red), but I can't remember which one this track is on.

You Turn Me Round, by Aqualung, from Strange and Beautiful. A spur of the moment purchase, not entirely successful for me in my view.

Will We Find Love?, by Swing Out Sister, from Somewhere Deep in the Night. Brill track from a brill band, now pretty well ensconced in Japan where they have a huge following (the majority of my Japanese CDs with the obi strip are SOS albums). A nice ballad with Corrine Drewery's voice soaring.

ghetto of the world, by Roachford, Andrew, from Heart of the matter. Not a great success, this album, but it's good to listen to. Good beat, bit of spoken voice (not rap though), bit of singing, with a chorus ominously singing "ghetto" in the background. Roachford is perhaps most well-known for Family Man.

Les Chants Magnetiques part 1, by Jarre, Jean Michel, from Les Chants Magnetiques. The famous French pun album (Chants is pronounced the same as Champs, the former meaning songs and the latter fields, thereby giving the English title Magnetic Fields which misses the pun). Yer typical Jarre of the period, good these days as background music for when I'm working.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, by Mike + the Mechanics, from Word of Mouth. The Mike here being Mike Rutherford, the tall one in Genesis. Not the Mechanics' best album, nor the best track.

American Squirm, by Lowe, Nick, from Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe. Absolutely friggin' hilarious track from Nick Lowe: "I made an American squirm and it felt so right." He's the master of the parodic or comedic song that's a hit in its own right (think I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass that riffs off on Bowie's Breaking Glass) but that requires a bit of attention to enjoy. Certainly not a Weird Al Yankovic, more subtle than that.

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I was messing around with iTunes just now and I clicked on Party Shuffle for the first time. Heh, it generates a constantly generating playlist of random songs, and that gave me an idea for a regular blog post: Party Shuffle Friday. Mark Chu-Carroll on Good Math, Bad Math does a similar thing, so I'm going to shamelessly plagiarize his idea and give it a new name.

1. 8 easy steps, by Morissette, Alanis, from the collection. This was one of those CDs that my wife buys for a single track and then never listens to ever again. I don't mind her — Morissette, that is — but, to be honest, I can't remember how this goes at all.
2. I Wish, by Wonder, Stevie, from Definitive Collection. Classic and classy Stevie Wonder, with that great bass line. From his best album Songs in the Key of Life. Wow, this is from 1976, the year I left school before going to University.
3. Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria (Into Eternity), by Vangelis, from 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Magic soundtrack, never seen the film though, with Gerard Depardieu as Columbus.
4. Hole in My Life, by the Police, from Outlandos d'Amour. The lesser of the two early Police albums, in my view (Reggatta de Blanc is better), and this track is a bit ho-hum. Better ones precede (the sublime Roxanne) and follow it on the album.
5. Nothing has been proved, by Springfield, Dusty, from Nothing has been proved. Pet Shop Boys penned and produced main title song for a typically British movie called Scandal. Since the film was about the Profumo affair in the early 1960s, it was a stroke of genius for the PSBs to get Dusty to sing it. Great song, Neil Tennant on backing vocals.
6. the mercy beat, by The The, from Infected. I'd have to say this is possibly my most favorite The The album, but, man, is it ever full of despair and angst. This track is about the singer wrestling with inner demons, especially religious ones, although it's never quite made plain why. 
7. Beside, by Jon & Vangelis, from Friends of Mr. Cairo. The only Jon and Vangelis album I can really listen to. This track isn't too bad, quiet and slow.
8. There's a Place in the World for a Gambler, by Fogelberg, Dan, from FM. Yer typical American rock, not too bad.
9. The Space Between, by Roxy Music, from Avalon. Soppy Roxy Music album. iTunes reckons I've listened to this track 4 times, must have left the room each time. Gimme Country Life any day.
10. Just One of Those Things, Ferry, Bryan, from As Time Goes By. Brilliant rendition of a Cole Porter song, suits Ferry down to the ground. Wonderful album too: Ferry takes on the classics from the 30s and 40s.

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