An evening with the mix tape box
Early last year, much to the amusement of the Significant Other and my family, I dedicated a substantial part of my suitcase to carting my complete collection of lovingly compiled mix tapes back to the UK from Australia.
After a recent post on this site about vinyl brought up the subject of mix tapes (with many thanks to The Ill Man) I found myself getting nostalgic about mine and thinking that after all that effort, I really should play the damn things.
So I have just spent a pleasant evening rifling through the mix tape box and thought I would share a couple of my favourite sides. These were put together by myself around 1992/3 and I think they provide a delightful reminder of those often forgotten pre-Britpop 90s.
Unnamed mix tape #1, Side B
[where the young Cocktails and Records rocks out and dips her toes into 80s alt. rock]
1. Bastards of Young - The Replacements
2. F-Sharp - Nude Swirl [yes, who?!]
3. Killing in the Name Of - Rage Against the Machine [why, oh why, what a rubbish song]
4. Sliver - Nirvana
5. Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely - Hüsker Dü
6. The Honeymoon is Over - The Cruel Sea
7. Her Jazz - Huggy Bear
8. Supermodel Superficial - Voodoo Queens
9. Aloha Steve and Danno - Radio Birdman [top Australian (kind of) punk track from 1977]
Unnamed mix tape #2, Side A
[where the young Cocktails and Records reads the NME too much and goes all fey]
1. We Are Not Adult Oriented - Stereolab
2. Run - Spiritualised
3. Slow Emotion Replay - The The
4. I Hang Suspended - The Boo Radleys
5. Defective - Medicine
6. [an unidentified and unmemorable song by Boyfriend labeled '???']
7. Why Are People Grudgeful? - The Fall
8. Razamatazz - Pulp
9. Carwash Hair - Mercury Rev
10. Dream all Day - The Posies [forgotten classic of the 'power pop' genre]
11. Alison - Slowdive
Tags: dirty nostalgia, mix tapes
January 30th, 2008 at 11:45 am
What a snapshot of the time - Davey H has been rumagging lately
old tapes and CD singles recently too. Highly recommended.
http://theghostofelectricity.blogspot.com/
Radio Birdman like the Aussie Stooges - superb. Have you got that great CD ‘The Rock N Roll Disease’ issued by the Australian label ‘Shock Records’ . It came out couple of years ago and was my most played CD of that year. It’s got Radio Birdman on it and tons more, a real scorcher.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for that tip off - nice blog there!
I haven’t heard of that CD but the track listing looks interesting, although I am never too sure about the wisdom of putting so much new music alongside older classics (especially The Stooges, The Saints and Big Star) - it just makes them look bad!
January 31st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I Hang Suspended is still one of my favourite songs. My current thing is to go through my cd collection and play single tracks from albums, as if they were 45’s. i then put them to the side and make a tape later. Or something.
I’ve also realised how many compilation cd’s I have, so I’ll make a ‘best of…’ tape for those as well.
Remember, Home Taping is Keeping Music Alive
January 31st, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I Hang Suspended is indeed a great track. Despite that, I never really loved th album Giant Steps. It’s very good, but it just didn’t work its magic on me.
I can’t believe that you make mix tapes from your CD album tracks. It’s very impressive considering you could do the same thing in 1 minute with an MP3 player!
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:50 am
My brother rips the piss out of me for it, but I know better. I love the process of making a tape. Just chucking songs onto an mp3 does nothing for me. I enjoy the ritual, the process of tape making is a joy in itself.
My current MP3 is dead anyway, so why let a walkman go to waste if it works? I’ll buy a new mp3 at some point, but I just don’t feel the need at this moment in time.