If my rough tally is correct, this is the 150th installment of the One for Friday feature in this space, including the spectacular “Week of Fridays” event in the spring. The name of this weekly exercise in music sharing doesn’t necessarily make all that much sense now. It was a riff on the Friday distraction I used to deploy over on my LiveJournal site. “Five for Friday” made a little more sense, what with that alliterative ring to it. I’d come up with some fairly broad prompt for a music-based list, pop up the five best examples that sprung to mind and invite others to submit their own quintets in the comments section. It was a fun way to end the working week, at least before LiveJournal started to resemble the ghost town the Bradys visited on their way to the Grand Canyon.

For whatever geeky reason, I was especially attuned to what number installment I was on with that old feature, and I always tried to come with something special for the editions that my longtime love of comic books taught were special. With that I mind, I decided to look back and reacquaint myself with the topic selected for the 150th “Five for Friday.” It was “Five Songs That Qualify As Extravaganzas,” and it somehow seemed fitting to select something from that lot for today’s celebratory post. My five selections for that topic were and remain a touch too prominent to stay within the established parameters of out of print material that guide One for Friday offerings. So I had to plunge into the comments, an even more welcome dose of nostalgia since my friends and cohorts could always be counted on to make insightful, surprising, truly inspired lists. Happily, one of my oldest, dearest friends has an encyclopedic knowledge of obscure New Wave games, and he did not disappoint.

I’m actually hearing this song for the first time ever as I post it, so I’ll yield the digital floor to his original description:

“Talk to Me (I Can Hear You Now)” – Iam Siam – Think WOMAD before there was WOMAD, and with lyrics you can sing along with, even if they’re in some Afrikaan tongue. The polyrhythms pile up on top of each other until the bridge kicks in: “Thunder on the mountain / Fire in the lake / And you’re looking up to heaven / Cause you took all you can take.” And the second track on the album was a swing tune, for chrissakes. Shame they only produced one LP, but it was a neck-snapping doozy.

Those are the words of my friend Steven P. Senski, who’s been kind enough to share his love of great music in this space once before. Without getting too deeply into it, we’re heading into a Christmas weekend that finds him, however temporarily, in a very different place than he undoubtedly expected (his Christmases tend to be frightfully busy). I genuinely hope my humble effort to put this song out into the chilly world helps his spirits. Ho ho ho.

Iam Siam, “Talk to Me (Can You Hear Me Now)”

(Disclaimer: The Iam Siam album looks to me like its out of print, and I suspect it may even be one of those records that no one could even figure out who’s got the proper rights to revive it. That noted, it’s entirely possible, I suppose, that this song has made its way onto some especially well-curated compilation, but I’ve only go some much energy for hunting down that sort of thing. Regardless, it’s presented here with the height of “Nice List” innocence, with the full-on belief that strolling into your favorite local, independently-owned record store and buying a copy of the song is simply not possible. If someone with due authority to request its removal makes such a request to me, I will gladly remove it from this corner of the Interweb. Also, you should definitely visit your favorite local, independently-owned record store today and purchase several items to be colorfully wrapped and placed under the indoor plant-life of your choosing. The proprietor of that local business needs your support far more than any of the big-box stores do. In other words, fuck Best Buy. That phrasing demonstrates the proper level of holiday spirit, right?)