Greed is Good

Well, seeing how I worked on the game show “Greed” as a question writer, I decided to tackle “greed” for this month’s sinful playlist. Here are my picks:

“I WANT IT NOW” from the “Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory” soundtrack
I mean how could I NOT include this. It’s the ultimate song about greed from the world of movie musicals. And how could one not relish in seeing that little bitch Veruca Salt get what she deserved when she dropped down the golden egg chute. Oh, and you get a little Oompa Loompa-ing as a bonus at the end of the track.

“I WANT IT ALL” by Queen
Sort of the butchier version of I Want it Now with a more uplifting message…it ended up being a rally against apartheid in South Africa and I guess it showed that greed was good. One of the last great rockers that Queen did…would’ve been great to have seen them do this one live. But alas, it was never to be…It did get the live treatment with (1/2)Queen + Paul Rodgers, but it just wasn’t the same.

“GIMME GIMME GIMME (A MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT) by Abba
To all you young gays reading this, THIS was the song that Madonna sampled for her recent hit “Hung Up.” I think the title says it all…Swedish women are greedy for their men…and Ikea…

“EASY MONEY” by Billy Joel
It’s the theme song from the 1983 Rodney Dangerfield movie of the same name (which I hear is getting the remake treatment?!?). Billy Joel does his best James Brown and while I would never rank it amongst his best songs, it’s just plain goofy fun…

“ALL U CAN EAT” by Ben Folds
Ok…maybe this is more gluttony than greed, but it’s a damn good song. It was one of my favorite songs from Ben’s EP trilogy. It’s probably his most Randy Newman song and has a great laid-back piano groove to it.

The “GREED” theme by Edgar Struble
This was the theme song to the game show, “Greed,” FOX’s answer to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” The show had a way-to-short 44-episode run from 1999 to 2000. I wrote questions for the show…my first was “In which of these games, would you most likely hear the phrase ‘right foot red?’” It was the first time anything I had created had hit national television and thanks to the occasional rerun on GSN, I still get paid a little bit of dough every time an episode airs!

Download: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, “I Want It Now” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Queen, “I Want It All” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Abba, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Billy Joel, “Easy Money” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ben Folds, “All U Can Eat” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Edgar Struble, “Greed Theme” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)