OK it might have been done before but what the hell. What are your top 5 favorites. Mine are.

1. Everything But You - Beautiful, trippy and well ..perfect.
2. Crack In The Pavement - Funky, scary and sexy.
3. Valley Vista - You can't help but sing along to this.
4. Mother Of Pearl - Probably their best arranged song.
5. Waterfall - The perfect guitar solo.

I noticed i didn't include anything from Fruit at the Bottom or Girl Bros. Those songs have been my faves for years.
[Edited 4/25/06 9:09am]

The life
Honeymoon Express
From now on(We're one)
Crack in the Pavement
Rainbow Lake

i couldn't pick 5. it varies, dependent on my state of mine. but probably some rotation of these:

valley vista
staring at the sun
mother of pearl
don't try to tell me
reaching one
let's say*
love & trouble
all i wonder/anyway
the life*
waterfall
anything but you
honeymoon express
lolly lolly
are you my baby
i think it was december

*okay, on second look, i have to say those have been my top 2 for over a year. and then valley vista and staring at the sun probably take 3 and 4. and then 5 rotates to the rest of the above, and/or whatever w&l song i might be listening to at the time.

Everything But You
To Trip Is To Fall
Are You My Baby?
Chance To Grow
Always In My Dreams

"Everything but You" - Wendy & Lisa - I can play this on repeat in my car over and over

"Balance" - B-Side - I just love it

"Ballet" - Something New Soundtrack - 'cause it's hot!

"All I Wonder/Anyway" - Girl Bros. - It's achingly beautiful, quirky, humorous - yeah, the song too

"Mother of Pearl" - Eroica - The single best song to show new folks why W&L are geniuses
[Edited 4/26/06 7:01am]

Madmen Swim Upstream- Wendy is so good at conveying lost pain...does that make sense to anyone?
Ive Got A Big Bowl of Cherries- Lisa at her best
Song About- the lyric...the lyric!!!
Mother of Pearl- Whats this song about again?
Everything But You- the lyric part2!!! and the lazy kick back summer cool of it all...

honorary mentions go to: Lets Say, Staring At The Sun & Skeleton Key

sosgemini said:

Ohhh, yah. "Madman Swim Upstream" = good.

Mountains
Sometimes It Snows In April
Power Fantastic
Purple R...oh, wait





Hmmm... It's really, REALLY hard to narrow it down because it all depends on my mood.


Strung Out
I've Got A Big Bowl Of Cherries
Blues Away
Always In My Dreams
Let's Say

Also:
Chance To Grow
Everything But You
Uh-Uh, Don't Look Down
Don't Try To Tell Me
Mother Of Pearl


W&L are just too awesome for short lists.

1. Don't Try To Tell Me
2. Are You My Baby
3. Waterfall
4. Satisfaction
5. White

honorable mention:
Everything But You

Ok...some of these songs I've never heard before!!! Madman Swim Upstream??? Balance??? I have all their official releases...i thought. I"m still trying to get some of their B-sides!!

Everything But You
Reaching One
Are You My Baby
Waterfall
Valley Vista

This was a difficult list to make--lots of songs I really, really like.

In no particular order.....

I've Got A Big Bowl Of Cherries
I'm In Love Again
Always In My Dreams
Are You My Baby
Stay

Very hard to narrow it down to 5, I feel bad for leaving "Don't Try To Tell Me" and "Let's Say" out because i love those 2 songs very much.

jtfolden said:

LOVE IT! I had the same thought.

All the tracks on "Friendly Fire".

Too many to mention, but today the answer would be.

All I Wonder- I love Anyway too but their harmony on All I Wonder makes me wish the song was A LOT longer.

IGABBOC- This song is a sunbeam on any cloudy day for me, and I'm thankful

The Big Goodbye- this is the song that a lot of fans call "My Sister" but it's not called that.


Staring at The Sun- this song has always been my favorite and I totally feel ya on this one Madartista.

Skeleton Key- okay this one gets a nod right now because I just listened to the live Roxy 98 version and Wendy's bass playing on there is breathtaking. I'll never forget standing at her feet watching her just play that bass with such style and grace...sigh...I have to go listen to it again!!!
[Edited 4/27/06 19:03pm]
[Edited 4/27/06 19:53pm]

It's more of a Wendy or Lisa song, but I finally watched Cavedweller last night, a movie that Wendy scored on her 'own' (read: with a lot of help that wasn't Lisa's). And ever since I've had that "Shoot for the Moon" song in my head. I would love to get my hands on a version of that with Wendy & Sus & Doyle on the vocals . . .

Alliasan said:

OMG. cavedweller just arrived at my home from Netflix.

madartista said:

Holy coinkidink Batman!!!

Damn. NO ONE listed "Song About"?

StoneCrib said:

I Think It Was December
Song About
Porch Swing
Staring At the Sun
Skeleton Key

sosgemini said:

Oops! My bad! !

This is tough...there are so many.

ok...in no particular order...

Waterfall
Mother of Pearl
Crack on the Pavement
I Will
The Guise of Love

1. Blues Away
2. Everything but u
3. Song About
4. The Life
5. Friut at the Bottom
6. Rainbow lake
7. Strung Out
8. Skeleton Key
9. Mother of pearl

couldnt stop at 5....sorry

StoneCrib said:

That song always sounded really maudlin and trite to me. It's almost too easy. Eh. Not, IMO, a very good song.

Then again, when you cut an album in two weeks, you're gonna get some of those.

On the same side of W&L, I far prefer "Chance to Grow" and "Everything but You." Those songs seem to be dealing with the same sentiment, but they're not wrapped up into the same simple package of "Song About" which makes them much more interesting to me.

But I'm like that.

Alliasan said:

The piano and chorus is what makes that song breathe.

Alliasan said:

what's this? I've never heard this before!

madartista said:

Well, I'm writing this from memory, and it's been 20 years now, but it was sort of the standard story on MTV and in Rolling Stone, etc. when the first W&L album came out - that they got let go from the Prince camp, and had time on their hands, and wondered what they were going to do. And what they were going to do was make an album. So, they got the studio time and recorded what became the first W&L album in about 2 weeks that late fall.

Or so the story goes.

I'd imagine some of those songs had been around for a while - "This is the Life," and "Everything but You," both had collaborators, for example, and some of them seemed to have a real core to them - but if you pull together an album in two weeks, you almost need some filler. IMO, and speaking only from my opinion, "Song About" is exactly that kind of filler.

But I'm pretty crankly for a W&L fan.

Reaching One
I think it was december
Don't try to tell me
The Life (re-recorded version)
Strung Out