John's World: F is for Friday - Songs celebrating the start of the weekend!

Friday, April 6, 2012

F is for Friday - Songs celebrating the start of the weekend!

There's a stranger in my bed,

There's a pounding in my head

Glitter all over the room

Pink flamingos in the pool

I smell like a minibar

DJ's passed out in the yard

Barbie's on the barbeque

This a hickie or a bruise

What a coincidence that the letter "F" in the A to Z Challenge would fall on a Friday! I'd bet anything that if you polled people, Friday would win as the overall favorite day of the week. The end of a long work week, the beginning of the weekend, pay day...there are so many things about Friday that I love! Over the years, there have been many songs paying tribute to Friday, and I'd like to take this opportunity to share some of them with you.

Now I'm more of a pop music fan than anything else, so most of these songs fall within that realm, though there are plenty of other tunes in other genres that celebrate this greatest of days like Bowling for Soup's "Friday," Steely Dan's "Black Friday," David Bowie's "Friday on My Mind," and many others.

First up is Katy Perry's hysterically funny video for her song "T.G.I.F." Follow along as braced-mouth Katy awakens from one of the craziest of Friday nights ever...

Next up is one that anyone who was around in 1988 will remember. It's a funky anthem that pays tribute to the best of Fridays: pay day! When I was younger, Friday was always a pay day and I'd be that "party hunter," looking to celebrate virtually every week. Ah, the memories!

Click play and relive Johnny Kemp's "Just Got Paid":

Don't try and test me cause you'll get a reaction

Another drink and I'm ready for action

I don't know who you you think you are

But getting people scared won't get you very far

The next one is one many of you may not know. It's by sassy British singer/songwriter Lily Allen. Lily has a knack for telling wonderful and engaging stories with her songs and this one is among my favorites. The song is a little bit ska, a little raggae, and it's got a lot of brash, just the way I like it. Unfortunately there's no video for this one, but please take a listen...

Here's a sweet one from the good old days of new wave music. The Cure was one of the most popular new wave bands of the 80's, and this was their least new wavy tune! Sweet, though!

(Note - For some reason, the copyright owners of this tune don't seem to want this song heard on websites other than YouTube. The audio in this particular video is slightly, ever so slightly different.)

Finally we have a song that coined the popular phrase "T.G.I.F." It's from a disco-themed movie of the same name (which just happened to star disco queen Donna Summer!) and it was recorded by a group called Love and Kisses. It's a big disco song and you can watch excerpts from the film in the video below...