Tape #302
Originally recorded on 1-2 May, 1989

This particular tape has a strange history. I bought a used car from an acquaintance, and found an unlabeled cassette while cleaning underneath the seats one day. I popped it into the tape deck, only to find the entire first album by The Colourfield. Since I already owned the album, I decided to leave the first track there, and record over the rest of tape to make it my own. The cassette’s title comes from a chapter of a Jean Cocteau biography that I was reading at the time.

Side A: 46:11 minutes, 31.8 MB

This tape contains many Beatle-related songs. “Goodbye” was a demo written for Mary Hopkin, and Mary Hopkin herself does a version of the classic “Que Sera Sera.” Nancy Sinatra covers “Day Tripper,” and Emitt Rhodes channels Paul McCartney on “Somebody Made for Me” (which was also a solo recording done at home on a four-track machine in 1970). Elvis Costello’s "Pads, Paws and Claws" was co-written by Paul McCartney. Elvis Presley is also here, with “Treat Me Nice.” (This mix can be found on the “Jailhouse Rock” soundtrack). Side A of the cassette ends with two scratchy childhood favorites, which are followed by the Who.

Links:

The Colourfield: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2XAuJ8bxOY
Mary Hopkin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbhEtYdZ3Wo
Elvis Presley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZURw8iSPQpY
Ben Vaughn: http://www.benvaughn.com/about/bio.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOrYqpJ9B0U
Violent Femmes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pywqGiwuw_k
Fairground Attraction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHAhaR7WNkY

Side A:

1. The Colourfield -- The Colourfield
2. Goodbye (demo) -- Paul McCartney
3. Que Sera Sera -- Mary Hopkin
4. Somebody Made for Me -- Emitt Rhodes
5. Day Tripper -- Nancy Sinatra
6. Treat Me Nice -- Elvis Presley
7. Nightmares -- Violent Femmes
8. M-m-motor Vehicle -- Ben Vaughn Combo
9. Girls, Girls, Girls -- Elvis Presley
10. Pads, Paws, and Claws -- Elvis Costello
11. I Got a Message for You -- Robyn Hitchcock
12. All Day and All of the Night -- The Kinks
13. Orange Crush -- R.E.M.
14. Perfect -- Fairground Attraction
15. What Do You Get When You Fall in Love? -- Dionne Warwick
16. Cruella DeVille -- “101 Dalmations” Soundtrack
17. Substitute -- The Who

This side begins with two of the year’s biggest hits, from Madonna and the Fine Young Cannibals. “Scarlet Pussy” is a strange Prince track that was originally only available as the b-side of the 12-inch single “I Wish You Heaven.” (The song is actually credited to Prince's feminine alter ego, Camille). Kraftwerk is here, with the brilliant “Pocket Calculator.” There are two more covers on this side of the tape: Echo and the Bunnyment do a live version of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black,” and R.E.M. cover the Velvet Underground. The Velvets themselves appear with “Sweet Jane.” The tape concludes with yet another song from Elvis.

46:49 minutes, 32.2 MB


Links:

Madonna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi-koOafKOk
Kraftwerk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MobpPTVobOk&feature=related
The Who: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Qv_0maOBA
The Beatles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-Xl8MTLoo
Tom Tom Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR44slemNZ0
Echo and the Bunnymen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rjgbn72TXI

Side B:

1. Like A Prayer -- Madonna
2. She Drives Me Crazy -- Fine Young Cannibals
3. Scarlet Pussy -- Prince
4. Pocket Calculator -- Kraftwerk
5. Big in Japan -- Alphaville
6. There She Goes Again -- R.E.M.
7. Pictures of Lily -- The Who
8. Rain -- The Beatles
9. Suboceana -- Tom Tom Club
10. It Don’t Come Easy -- Ringo Starr
11. Paint it Black -- Echo and the Bunnymen
12. Sweet Jane -- The Velvet Underground
13. Good Luck Charm -- Elvis Presley

Tape # 258
Originally recorded on 25 April, 1988

Although this tape was made as a way to compile some of my latest music purchases, some old favorites are included as well. The A side features current tracks by Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Robyn Hitchcock, whom I’d just met at a record store appearance in Philadelphia. Thomas Dolby, David Bowie, and the Sex Pistols are also here-- plus there’s a cover of Prince’s “Kiss” by one hit wonders Age of Chance.

45:11 minutes, 31 MB

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Chance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-eaVjdd4gM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8oGyGo1q-k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUbNzxifJTU

Side A:

1. Like the Weather -- 10,000 Maniacs
2. Desire -- Gene Loves Jezebel
3. Europa and the Pirate Twins -- Thomas Dolby
4. Iko Iko -- Cyndi Lauper
5. Bedbugs and Ballyhoo -- Echo and the Bunnymen
6. Dirty Creature -- Split Enz
7. Kiss -- Age of Chance
8. Queen Bitch -- David Bowie
9. Holidays in the Sun -- The Sex Pistols
10. She Sells Sanctuary -- The Cult
11. Song From the Edge of the World -- Siouxsie and the Banshees
12. All Together Now -- The Beatles
13. Balloon Man -- Robyn Hitchcock

Side B begins with Paul McCartney’s demo version of “Come and Get It.” Robyn Hitchcock is back again, this time in a duet with Glenn Tilbrook, of Squeeze fame. Other returning bands are The Rutles and Melon, the Japanese pop group formed by ex-Plastics members Chica Sato and Toshio Nakanishi. Terry Hall, of The Fun Boy Three, sings his version of “Our Lips Are Sealed” here, which he co-wrote with Go-Go Jane Wiedlin. Morrisey and the Smiths finish off the set miserably.

46:50 minutes, 32.2 MB

Links:

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/cherryred/artists/woodentops.php
http://www.littlehits.com/2006/07/close-lobsters-just-too-bloody-stupid.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwrVSfhTDUw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyzwFwiEXc&feature=related

Side B:

1. Come and Get It -- The Beatles
2. Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis) -- Robyn Hitchcock (with Glenn Tilbrook)
3. I Must Be in Love -- The Rutles
4. Inside Out -- Mighty Lemon Drops
5. Just Too Bloody Stupid -- Close Lobsters
6. Eight Miles High -- The Byrds
7. Maybe It Won’t Last -- The Woodentops
8. My Bag -- Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
9. Cook of the House -- Wings
10. Turning Japanese -- The Vapors
11. Pleasure Before Your Breakfast -- Melon
12. My Best Friend’s Girl -- The Cars
13. Our Lips Are Sealed -- The Fun Boy Three
14. Flying -- The Beatles
15. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now -- The Smiths

Tape # 86
Originally recorded on 31 December, 1984

“Chokies” is one of my earliest compilation tapes. The title was a friend’s nickname for Devil Dogs, his favorite dry snack cakes. The tape was recorded at his house on New Year’s Eve 1984. It has the distinction of being the only tape I created completely away from home. Most of the songs were recent releases, with a few classics sprinkled in for good measure. The Plastics and Ippu Do were two of my favorite Japanese bands, while Japan was a British band obsessed with Asian culture. This side of the tape ends with a hidden track from A Flock of Seagulls, which I neglected to write down on the original title card.

46:59 minutes, 32.3 MB

Links:

http://www.drakesdevildogs.com/
http://www.rockofjapan.com/plastics.html
http://www.lifeintokyo.net/familytree_tsuchiya.html

Side A:

1. Absolute -- Scritti Politti
2. Flaming Desire -- Bill Nelson
3. Zoolook -- Jean-Michel Jarre
4. Copy -- The Plastics
5. Like a Virgin -- Madonna
6. Lay Your Hands On Me -- Thompson Twins
7. Walking on the Moon -- The Police
8. Ten Feet Tall -- XTC
9. Run and Run -- Psychedelic Furs
10. Visions of China -- Japan
11. China Step -- Ippu Do
12. Telecommunication -- A Flock of Seagulls

Save for Queen and the Beatles, the rest of this tape is so ‘80s you can practically taste it. The Prince track was the b-side of the “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” single. Blondie does Buddy Holly, and Yoko does her best song ever. Although it appears that the tape ends with Aztec Camera, they are followed by Squeeze, whose song “Is That Love” was also never written down on the original title card. This probably stems from my OCDness, which wouldn’t permit me to leave any blank space on a tape.

46:30 minutes, 31.9 MB

Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVzoDM4rzb0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let's_Pretend_We're_Married
(Copy and paste the above link to make it work)

Side B:

1. Bedsitter -- Soft Cell
2. Irresistible Bitch -- Prince
3. Numbers -- Kraftwerk
4. Radio Silence (Single Mix) -- Thomas Dolby
5. Whip It -- Devo
6. I’m Gonna Love You Too -- Blondie
7. Walking on Thin Ice -- Yoko Ono
8. Bela Lugosi’s Dead -- Bauhaus
9. Tomorrow Never Knows -- The Beatles
10. Sleepwalk -- Ultravox
11. Killer Queen -- Queen
12. Oblivious -- Aztec Camera
13. Is That Love -- Squeeze

Originally recorded on 18 January, 1990

Named after a restaurant in the 1989 Jim Jarmusch film “Mystery Train,” Jiffy Squid contains many of my favorite tracks from the 1960s, as well as some songs that had just been released (Stone Roses, R.E.M., and Paul McCartney). It also features several rudimentary “mash-ups” that were created by combining versions of songs covered by different artists.

The interludes between tracks come from such varied sources as Monty Python, Yoko Ono, Yma Sumac, and Willy Wonka.

Side A:

1. I Saw Her Standing There -- The Beatles
2. Substitute -- The Who
3. Good Morning Starshine -- “HAIR” Original Broadway Soundtrack
4. Happy Together -- The Turtles
5. Foxy Lady -- The Cure and Jimi Hendrix
6. Pop Song ‘89/Hello I Love You -- R.E.M./The Doors
7. Heinz Baked Beans/Spam Song -- The Who/ Monty Python’s Flying Circus
8. Rain -- The Beatles
9. She Bangs the Drum -- Stone Roses
10. I Am a Rock -- Simon and Garfunkel
11. Subterranean Homesick Blues -- Bob Dylan
12. All Together Now -- The Beatles
13. Down on the Corner -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
14. Every Word Means No -- Let’s Active
15. Figure of Eight -- Paul McCartney
16. Time of the Season -- The Zombies
17. Breathless -- Jerry Lee Lewis

“LSD”, a song you’ve probably never heard, is by my friends’ band Pink Slip Daddy. (They were hugely popular in the Philadelphia area during the late ‘80s). And yes, that is Charles Manson singing on track 17.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/pinkslipdaddy
http://bomplist.xnet2.com/0410/msg01462.html

Side B:

1. Wild Thing -- The Troggs
2. Pepperland -- George Martin Orchestra
3. Sodomy -- “HAIR” Original Broadway Soundtrack
4. I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper -- Erika Eigen (“A Clockwork Orange” OST)
5. Satisfaction -- Phyllis Diller, The Rolling Stones, and Devo
6. Cinnamon Girl -- Neil Young
7. Face the Face -- Pete Townshend
8. LSD -- Pink Slip Daddy
9. All Day and All of the Night -- Kinks
10. Wild Honey Pie -- The Beatles
11. Summertime Blues -- The Who, Eddie Cochran, and the Flying Lizards
12. Magic Carpet Ride -- Steppenwolf
13. If I Only Had a Brain -- Ray Bolger (“The Wizard of Oz” OST)
14. Dear Prudence -- Siouxsie and the Banshees
15. Let’s Be Natural -- The Rutles
16. Tempted -- Squeeze
17. Home is Where You’re Happy -- Charles Manson
18. Why Don’t We Do it in the Road? -- The Beatles
19. My Generation -- Patti Smith