Mixtape Mondays

Masses of Music (1987) - Encore! The applause was deafening, so here's curtain call in the form of a guest tape by none other than Mix Tape Hall-of-Famer Dave! The output of a fateful weekend at Dave's in 1987 -- which also midwifed Songs to Make You Shiver (cf. Episode 2) -- Masses of Music is a mix of killer 80s pop, alt, and prog-rock. Strewn here and there are some songs and goofy samples that...

Worn-out, Piece-of-shit, Tired, Over-played, No-good Radio Songs (1994) - I”m not sure why I made this one back in the day. As the title makes clear, I could have just turned the radio on and wallowed in grunge. This is the last mix I ever put to tape. It’s an unfinished work, only getting about half-way through Side B, whkch, as the label clearly tells us, also sucks. Vol. 1! Enjoy! Side A Sucks!...

Big Sexy Tape (1993?) - This is another guest tape. In contrast to last week’s tape (Hate Music), the provenance of this one is a complete mystery! It’s an edgy mix of industrial, avant garde, and 90s dance music. It found it’s way into my pile of tapes, but I have no idea who made it or when. It would have been before 1995 I’m assuming, so if you know anybody with this taste in music from back th...

Hate Music for the Masses (12/1993) - My dear friend Kelly made this mixtape and gave it to me as a Christmas present in 1993. It's been in my collection since then, and I'm very happy I can hear it and share it today. It's 100% her style, with an artistic blend of 80s pop, 90s industrial, and girl-power punk. A couple of these tracks are near impossible to find. For the podcast, I had to pull the...

The Musical Equivalent of Date Rape (1991) - despite the cringe edgelord name, this is a really cool mix. There are some real gems from bands like Devo, Daniel Ash, Violent Femmes, and emo gods Kitchens of Distinction. There’s even a Monkees song that I dare say fits right in. It’s a bit rough when you first start listening, and you’re not sure what’s going on. But it eventually gets a steady rhyt...

Hooked on Classics! vol. 3 (1991) An epic conclusion to the beloved three-fer Hooked on Classics! trilogy, this was one of my favorite tapes. There’s a wide range of bands on here, from The Pogues to Guadalcanal diary to Love and Rockets. As usual, I tried to put a song I knew well along with a couple to get to know the album better. Enjoy! Side A 00:00:07 - Inside Out - The Mighty Lemon Drops 00:...

Music for Rubes! / Music for Drug-Hippies (1992) There I was, minding my own business mixing up a tape, when my girlfriend’s weed-addled slacker friends complained that I wasn’t putting enough of “their” music on it. So Side B was christened “Music for Drug-Hippies” in their honor. It’s not usually the kind of music I listen to, but it sure has a vibe. There are a couple of tunes on here that are...

Freedom Rock III - The Early 80s (1992) This tape came out of a radio show I was doing in college, “The Early 80s Show!”, I raided WREK’s record collection and all my friends’ old 45s and here you have a mix. Hard to believe that by the time 1990 rolled around, we already had nostalgia for the early 80s! 00:00:07 - Good Girls Don't - The Knack 00:03:13 - We Got The Beat - The Go-Gos 00:05:43 - Und...

Lose Weight While You Sleep (1991) - I guess I was on a quest to make my tape carrier look as confusing as possible, hence this title? I remember putting this mix together while DJing an early 80s radio show in college (more on that in a couple of weeks). This is a fun mix of songs; some rarely found their way to other tapes, plus a few that keep turning up because I liked them. Side A: The Tape T...

Hooked on Classics vol two - Can't Stop the Classics! (1990) Although 1990 was drawing to a close, the Mixtape season was getting into high gear! This is the second entry in the award-winning series, it's another batch of threefers from some of my favorite bands at the time. There was no way I was going to fit this much awesome into 90 minutes, so I reached back and brought the 100 minute chromate...

The much-anticipated sequel to the excellent Freedom Rock I, this mixtape was recorded during my second year in college, while everyone else in the dorm room was busy studying. They may have all gotten degrees, but I gained lifetime of listening enjoyment from Freedom Rock II! It’s a fun mix with some wacky contrasts in music, moving from The Beatles to Sonic Youth and even tossing in a little Pin...

My friends were probably glad to see me putting together a new tape back in the snowbound last days of 1991. After months of sitting around moping with last week's sad mix, I guess I went back to stage 2 of dealing with grief. It's angrier than my usual mix, with lots of heavy distortion from the Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain, Hüsker Dü, along with some straight up rock. The label faded over the ye...

Mean Time Between Failure (1991) I made this notorious playlist during a dark spell in the fall of '91. When it started, I labelled it “Music for the Bad Times”. My friends called it The Suicide Tape. I always called it MTBF for short. Whenever I was feeling down, I'd pop it into the tape deck and wreck everybody else's mood too. It's a morose mix for when you feel bad, but not bad enough. So go g...

This is the first mix-tape I made, and it holds a special place in my heart. I made it at my dad's house in '87, after he'd gotten a new hi-fi setup which included the first CD player I'd ever had a chance to play around with. In the summer of 1987, everybody was listening to U2 and R.E.M., and you'll find plenty of that here. There's also the obligatory nod to XTC and The Beatles. There are also...

Hooked On Classics vol. 1 (1990) - I made the first "Hooked" as a sort of anti-Mix Tape: Each band got a three-song set, usually a song I was familiar with and then a couple of album songs that I wanted to get to know better. It's sort of like two-fer Tuesday on 96 Rock except it's three and also it doesn't suck. 00:00:00 - Side A 00:00:13 - Stand and Deliver - Adam and the Ants 00:03:47 - Mowhok...

Freedom Rock I (1989) - "Is that Freedom Rock, man? Well, turn it up, man!" This was the first tape of the, erm, highly-successful (?) Freedom Rock series. As the 80s wound down, I was apparently left with only a couple of XTC tapes and my spanking new Adrian Belew CD, at least judging by this playlist. It's a goofy mix of 60s and 80s tunes that aptly reflect what I was listening to at the time......

There's No Other Tape! (1992) I made this list to impress a girl I was taking to see Blur in concert at Center Stage in Atlanta. She stood me up. I may have lost my date, but I gained a trusted companion in one of my favorite mixtapes! This one is very, very 90s. There are some real gems on it that you don't hear much any more, and a few 60s favorites that I pulled off some beloved LPs. 00:03:35 -...

Traveling Tunes (1988) - a mix tape I made in preparation for a road trip with my buddy, during which a series of bizarre adventures ensued (and a close call with Ted Bundy)

Sometime in the late 80s, Dave and I found an aerobics record in his parents' collection and decided to base a tape around it. The theme of the tape sort of fell apart ("AEROBICS IN HELL!") but what’s left is a good mix of 80s alternative and pop (along with a couple of goofy samples we dubbed in)