Loves the Smiths, hates Seger
I don’t know why this popped into my head yesterday, but it did. So you get to read about it.
I was driving back to school to get the kids and for some reason I started thinking about the cassette tapes I used to make in college. It’s possible I heard an old song on the radio but I’m pretty sure I was listening to a Sade CD.
I don’t believe I ever made a tape in high school, much less one that had different songs by different artists. All on one tape!
I’m positive I was introduced to the magic that is the mixed tape in college by my roommate Tonya. Thanks woman!
Man, she opened a whole new world of music for me. She had tons of tapes. She might have had some albums but we didn’t have a record player until our sophomore year, I think.
She had these super cool wooden crates that held the tapes. They were the width of a tape and held maybe 20 tapes in a row. The crate sat on the table so you could look down at the titles as if they were files in a file cabinet. She had a huge library of songs for me to choose from and that is how I was introduced to the wonderful world of personalized music.
And once I made these bitchin’ tapes I was able to listen whenever the mood struck me. But how did you listen when you were out running or walking to class, Cardiogirl?
I was able to listen to that tape in my… anyone?
Anyone?
That’s right. In my yellow Sports Walkman.
I also remember Tonya had a personal stereo/boom box that had a tape-to-tape cassette which had an out of this world feature. If you were listening to a tape and you ran into a song you didn’t care for you could press the fast forward button and tape would stop at the beginning of the NEXT SONG~!~
Yes! It cued up the very next song so you didn’t have to hit fast forward, wait three seconds, hit stop. Hit play. Find out there’s more of the song before the next song.
Hit fast forward. Hit stop. Hit play. Swear.
Hit rewind. Hit stop. Hit play. Until you got to where you wanted to be.
It went right to that next song like a CD does today. It was earth shattering technology, in my opinion. I loved that stereo of hers. I wonder if she still has it.
These are a few of the songs that Tonya introduced me to. I still love these songs today and I think of her every time I hear one.
Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly) by Icicle Works
Happy Hour by the House Martins
The Captain of her Heart by Double
And the Smiths. Oh Morrissey I really fell in love with your voice the first time I heard it. And your lyrics crack me up.
From Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before:
I crashed down on the crossbar
and the pain was enough to make
a shy, bald buddhist reflect
and plan a mass-murder
And from Bigmouth Strikes Again
Now I know how Joan of arc felt, oh
As the flames rose to her roman nose
And her walkman started to melt
Now before you get the wrong idea, she didn’t always bat a thousand.
She loves Neil Young (shoves finger down her throat) and Bob Dylan (shoots herself in the head, picks up the gun and shoots again.)
But she does join me in my disdain for Bob Seger. You can take your night moves and mosey on out of here, Mr. Seger.
Tags: Things that actually make me happy
I love my music. Used to mix tapes myself. Had one for different moods,settings, even had a tape with one song on it – front and back. No need to rewind it, just wait for the next song. I still listen have my cassette tapes today and relied on them for sanitity when my CD player blew. Funny lyrics up top, I’ll be extra careful today when riding.
You just reminded me, I used to tape the same song three or four times, but never an entire tape. Man, where were you back in ‘88 when I could have used that suggestion?
Wow, I’m impressed that you still have a cassette player. My tapes are gone now and I can’t say I miss them.
Those lyrics are funny and they’re the only ones I hear when I listen to those songs.
Of course I also had the yellow sports walkman. I also had the CD version when that came out. Which hopelessly would skip if you actually tried to run with it. My husband and I were just cracking up about those things recently. My 10 year old already has an ipod. I will have to show him one of those things– I am sure it would crack him up!
V— I am curious. What song did you have an entire tape of?
I, too, tried the CD player and I, too, experienced incessant skipping while running with it.
Man, I’ve said before and I’ll say it many times more. Kids today have no idea what it was like back then.
Lonely – Janet Jackson
I have never heard this song, but it’s playing on YouTube as I type. I like the moody intro…
Ooooh, party/mix tapes! I still have some of mine (and Joe’s) believe it or not! Sometimes for kicks, I throw that bad boy into the stereo that still plays cassettes. Waaaalaaa! Instant party in my head! I actually have one really great 80’s mix by a friend who worked at the alternative radio station at college–talk about GREAT!!
Oh–I’m with you on Seger–not a big fan. I also missed the whole boat with Springsteen, I’m afraid to admit. Love “Whisper to a Scream” too. I think we may have to put a mix tape in for the next Happy Hour over at the Duck and Wheel.
They were fun, weren’t they? If I had kept some of those tapes I could have probably created a CD and then an mp3 playlist to keep the party going. Alas, I did not.
No love for the Boss, Lin? I do like most of his stuff. Hated Nebraska. Hated it.
I’m fascinated by that technology. I wonder how it worked? Perhaps a magnetic marker on the tape, or maybe some kind of noise checking thing? Hmm. Interesting.
It is interesting, isn’t it? I always assumed it somehow found the blank space between the songs. But I don’t know that for sure.
However, as I think about it, there were some tapes I made that didn’t have much space in between songs and that feature would go past the song.
I’ll bet that’s how it worked. It found the blank space and stopped.
One of my friends had one of those magic Walkmen too. Hers also did this: when it reached the end of one side, it would automatically flip to the other side by playing the tape backwards. You didn’t even have to open the tape and flip in manually. I thought it was straight out of Sharper Image. Did Sharper Image even exist at that point?
If you ever want to have fun, get your hands on a Walkman today and wear it around town listening to it. People will look at you like you’re a freak. My husband stopped using his Walkman five years ago only because people reacted so weirdly to him. But I have to say, it impressed me that he had kept a Walkman in working order for more than a decade.
OH! Mine had the same thing!! You pressed some button that had two arrows that went in a circle and it did play the other side.
That. Was. AWESOME!!
I think I’d have to buy a Walkman off ebay if I wanted to do that. I don’t even remember when I ditched mine. I think soon after I got married — mid-90s.
I got a Walkman for Christmas when I was 8. It used up batteries like crazy.
I actually have very little experiences with tapes. CD’s started becoming main stream by the time I left elementary school. Even so, we never had a tape player that could skip to the next song, what a cool boom box!
I worked in an office and I was handed a stack of tapes and blanks to make copies and I didn’t want to ask and look like an idiot but it took me a few minutes to figure out how to do it.
I was recently (six months ago) reintroduced to the crappiness of tapes because back in TN I drove my dad’s old F-150 around and I actually found two tapes (Eric Clapton and Jerry Clowers) in my parents’ basement I would want to listen to and trying to remember the rewinding and flipping irritated me so much I just let them play as to not mess it up.
Bob Dylan doesn’t sing, I don’t know what that noise is he is making, but it’s not singing. Didn’t Bob Seger do “Turn the Page,” good song other than that, no clue. And I haven’t heard of any of the others, I was brought up on The Doors, Led Zeppelin, etc. Stuff stoners listen to these days.
Liz (hangs head.) You were eight? Sounds about right. I think I was 25 or 26 at the time.
I enjoy Clapton but I’ve never heard of Jerry Clowers.
Oy. Just heard him at YouTube.
No. Thank you.
I grew up with Clowers comedy. There’s a bit called “Hot Steel Balls!” It was a family favorite.
I guess Southerners are truly a different breed.
Yes. That, too, is a good bingo. Hey how do you like the newer country stand up comedians? I can’t think of the guy’s name but there’s a guy on Comedy Central a lot of the time who has a really thick neck and full hair.
I’m not very enamored of him, either.
Are you talking about the guys on the Blue Collar Comedy tour? I’ve seen that DVD at least ten times.
The older gray headed guy named Ron White? Drinks and smokes on stage? Yeah, we bought tickets for our family for all of us to go see him together for Christmas.
Larry the Cable Guy? That guy I could live without.
Yes, that’s him — Ron White. I do not enjoy him.
I find that strange. I think he is friggen hilarious, but maybe that’s because I enjoy excessive drinking.
Hmm, I wonder if this is a regional thing? Although he’s on national television, so maybe not.
Ahhh… The Mixed Tape. Now I’ve gotta watch High Fidelity. Again.
And Again.
I was just getting Cusack out of my system, too. Thanks a lot, Betch.
There is no getting Cusack out of your system…lol
I think I can… I think I can… I think I can… (Who am I kidding?)
@Les Believe it or not I have never seen High Fidelity. I have heard of the movie and somehow I do know that John Cusack plays the lead. But I had no clue it was about mixed tapes.
I’m gonna have to rent it now.
@Buf I’ll have to let you know how pervasive Mr. Cusack is here at Casa de Cardiogirl.
High Fidelity is an awesome movie!!
Is that the one where he holds the boom box on his shoulder while it plays In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel and he professes his love to some chick in a second story window?
And if so, does that scene really work in the movie when it’s taking in context?
No. LOL! How can you mix up your Cusack movies like that?! That was “Say Anything”, which I have to admit I haven’t even seen, other than clips of the boombox shot.
High Fidelity is all about LISTS. You’ll like it for that reason alone. ;-)
Now we’re talkin’ — I do love my lists. I’m going to have to rent that and watch it while all of the kids are at school.
Man there’s a crazy idea! Watching an entire movie, uninterrupted.
Wow, I’m surprised that you didn’t do mix tapes until college. I’ve never been a big music person (basically in the car and while cleaning or something), but I know I had a few in high school and maybe even in late junior high. Do you remember ever trying to tape songs off of the radio? Man was that a pain…lol I still have some of my tapes and possibly the technology to listen to them. The other thing that scares me is that I’ve only heard of one of the groups that you listed above (Spandau ballet). Recently, I’ve been introduced to the Smiths and Morrissey (but haven’t yet listened to them) through another blog I check out sometimes (http://www.thetypingmakesmesoundbusy.com/). She is a huge Morrissey fan.
I know. We didn’t have a tape-to-tape player at home, so that’s the reason for that.
Sweep the Leg! Yes I totally remember taping songs off the radio. And then being pissed when I missed a lot of the intro.
I absolutely love it when I find out I read another blog in common with my peeps. Yes, ma’am. That chick’s fandom and adoration of Morrissey makes mine look like… can’t come up with a good analogy.
She’s a much bigger fan than I am.
I remember the first time I heard the Smiths. I was working in a pub in Dublin, and someone had brought in a mix tape. “What Difference Does It Make” came on, and my life changed in those 3 minutes.
I share your disdain for Dylan, but Neil Young . . . I respect him more than I like him, tho some of his songs make me drop and give him 20, whatever that means. Specifically, “Needle and the Damage Done,” “Sugar Mountain,” and “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
Naturally I need to focus on the one small detail of what you’ve written JD. Have you provided a post called I Worked in a Pub in Dublin So You Don’t Have To? A quick search at your place says no.
I don’t know enough about Neil to give him any respect, but I’m impressed that you do. I’ll have to ask Tonya if she respects him. Probably the answer is yes.
I used to listen to the top 40 chart and record my own mix tapes. I remember cos sometimes you’d end up with the jingle on the end of a song or the DJ talking over the track. Most times i’d stop rewind and record over it but most times there were the odds bits in there.
Now I sometimes make my own mix CD’s but my OH is about to go on a blitz and get rid of all myself recorded CDs (aparently it’s to do with copyright laws – however if I bought the songs from iTunes does the copyright on them include a back up or one recording or something of the song….) Talk about complicated lol.
I’m so impressed that you will follow the letter of the law regarding the downloads. You’re a rare breed, Hannah. I don’t understand the copyright on iTunes. I thought the same thing.
You download it and you can record it once, but then I wonder how it knows you didn’t record it on CD then copied it back on your computer and then re-copied it on CDs over and over.
Maybe it’s smarter than that. Whatever the case, I think it’s bollocks. If I bought the song it should be mine to listen to. Period.
I won’t comment on the Neil Young, or Dylan, or even Seger, because I like those guys.
This is still a great post. I only ever made a few mix tapes, but I wish I was one who did and I wish I had wooden crates filled with the things. Ah well.
Oh sw (rubs forehead with her hand.)
I will not hold this against you.
You love Morrissey. I knew I loved you for a reason.
Ahh, a kindred soul.
My friend Kim had one of the stop-tape things. It was awesome. I felt like such a nobody compared to her technological advancement. Now she calls me and is all, “I had to return my iPhone! Gah! It made me crazy! I’m trying to make a call and a song starts playing! I try to use the calculator and I’ve called China!” LOL
Have you seen High Fidelity? A whole movie dedicated to the mix tape. And top-5 lists. Yeah.
Tell me about it. I felt the same way, but was so glad she was MY roommate and trusted me to use her stuff.
Gah, the iPhone. I am positive I will never own one of those things. No interest there.
I miss my iPhone. It was stolen in Vegas.
Handy, but completely unnecessary.
I’m not even sure WHAT an iPhone is and WHY one would have it. Doesn’t a cell phone do the same thing? Or a blackberry?
I used to make mix tapes off the radio back in the day. I’m with you on Seger, Springsteen, Neil Young and Dylan.
Yay-yeah, Lola! Although I do enjoy Mr. Springsteen. Somehow I don’t see him in that category, but I know that’s my own blinders talking.
I used to make mixed tapes all the time! Then when my oldest niece was born, I had a CD player by too, so I could make her mixed tapes with my voice on it like an actual radio station, LOL. Remember those microphones that you could use by tuning into a particular frequency and hear yourself through the speakers? I wonder what she did with those tapes?
I still love True by Spandau Ballet. :-)
No way! You could DJ your own tapes? That’s cool.
I do remember those microphones. Weren’t they called Mr. Microphone — the precursor to karaoke.
Hola CG,
Now what the dickens are you even talking about…walkman what is that contraption of which you speak…I kid. Personally I think the walkman was a way way way better invention than the cd man which they could never perfect. Skipping was a mandatory function of this item.
I never mixed any tapes…that required a double tape deck and by the time I old enough to understand the whole concept cds were all the rage. I made plenty of mixed cds back when napster was free and you could download pretty much anything without fear of the police knocking down your door….man the good ole days.
Side note I never heard of any of the songs you posted but I totally dig the birds one…yep I am going to go back and give it another listen.
When I read your fist line, Faith, I gasped audible. And then got to “I kid.”
It is so funny to me that you and Liz were just too young to deal with cassette tapes, so we won’t even talk about 8-Tracks, ‘kay?
Man I remember Napster. I never did figure out the technology before it was illegal.
I had a yellow Walkman as well. That baby took and lickin’ and kept on tickin’ all through college and law school. When it finally died, I went out looking for a new one, and low and behold pretty much no one sells them anymore. I finally found a white Walkman on clearance at Walgreens, but it doesn’t sound nearly as good as the yellow one. I have an ipod, and of course it sounds great, but I can’t use it in the tub, and I’m scared of dropping it.
I hate to admit it, but I had tons of mix tapes in my garage that I just threw out recently. They were so old they didn’t work any more. Otherwise, I’d still indulge. I remember I used to run for the boom box (yep, had that, too) to hit record when a song came on I liked. I think I missed the first few notes on every song that way, but at least it was free.
That thing was solid construction, wasn’t it?
I had a hard time throwing away my tapes, also. But by that time I no long had a tape player in my car so they really were obsolete, but I still wish I had written down the playlist so I could have re-created it on disc.
Oh well.
I had one of those magic ghetto blasters that stopped at the next song. It would stop at any silent gap, including a long pause in a conversation on a comedy tape I had.
All that stuff brings back good memories, like the times that I had to wind tapes with a bic pen when they screwed up, or the times when they got eaten and I had to use the bic pen to wind their guts back in after the rescue from the tape player’s jaws.
Or the times when they wouldn’t play any more. Or the times when the song you wanted was at the complete opposite end of the tape and a rewind / fast forward became an uncomfortable silence.
Or that horrible night that someone spilled a mixed drink on the whole collection and the soda glued many of them into unplayability.
Yep, I sure do miss tapes.
Oh the Bic pen savior method. Yes, I did that quite a few times. I did try to get around the long re-wind period by putting my favorite song first, but I still had to rewind crazily to get to it and that did suck.
Man, you need more coordinated friends — that dude who spilled the drink should be shot and quartered. Or at least tarred and feathered.
Good times!
[...] met Tonya my freshman year of college through sheer luck and serendipity. We both roomed blind which meant we threw caution to the wind [...]