Sunday, March 26

1978

If any of you have read my profile, you'll notice that the only group under music that I have listed is The Kinks. They are my favorite group, and starting here, I take a few liberties with the rules in order to get their songs on here. "Misfits" is a great track, though, an underrated gem and I think everyone can appreciate it. Certainly easier to argue for its exclusion than, say, "Waterloo Sunset," but nevertheless these are my mixes and I'll do what I want with them.

This is the second mix of the 70s to start with a Clash song, but really, can you blame me? When you get down to it, there weren't many other bands in the late 70s (an era of singles if there ever was one) that were making consistently important music. There were some great young bands here that would have major growth periods: The Cure, The Talking Heads, The Cars, and Devo all matured greatly after this major year for all of them, and Elvis Costello had one of his biggest hits, one which catapulted him into critical favor for the next decade.

One thing that has been really difficult about the 70s is the differences in production styles. The two major movements of the era were obviously Punk and Disco, and not coincidentally they are polar opposites when it comes to the quality of their production. Punk is raw and fuzzy, and many of the records were created on small budgets by producers who were talented at capturing the moment rather than shaping a sound. Conversely, disco thrives in the studio, where its style can come to the forefront. This creates a disappointingly segregated mix, because unlike the 90s and 00s, where sprinkling hip hop throughout the mix was acceptable, these two styles are so different that any mingling would be immediately jarring.

Anyway, just a thought. Enjoy the mix, and comment below.

Unfortunately, sendspace doesn't appear to be working today, so here's a yousendit for now. When it's blocked, let me know in the comments section. Thanks.

Download the mix here.

1. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
2. Is This Love - Bob Marley
3. Down in the Tubestation at Midnight - The Jam
4. Ever Fallen in Love? - The Buzzcocks
5. Human Fly - The Cramps
6. Where Were You - The Mekons
7. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
8. Just What I Needed - The Cars
9. Peace Love And Understanding - Elvis Costello
10. Because The Night - Patti Smith
11. Misfits - The Kinks
12. Killing an Arab - The Cure
13. Take Me To the River - Talking Heads
14. Definitive Gaze - Magazine
15. Heart of Glass - Blondie
16. Le Freak - Chic
17. One Nation Under a Groove - George Clinton
18. Das Model - Kraftwerk
19. Ambition - Subway Sect
20. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Devo
21. Beast Of Burden - The Rolling Stones

Monday, March 20

1979

At the end of the 80s, Rolling Stone named their greatest records of the decade, and coming out on top was The Clash's third record, their masterpiece, London Calling. That the record was released in 1979 says less about the mediocrity of the 80s and more about the strength of the record, it's influence on the group's genre and beyond was tremendous, and even in a mix with "Rapper's Delight" its title track is the most important song on this mix. Currently, Gang of Four's Entertainment has become a popular influence, and it's also represented here.

There's also some straight-ahead rock, like Tom Petty and Neil Young (is this the first live track I've used?). The last Talking Heads, the first Pink Floyd, the best XTC single I feature, and the first big Cure single.

This was the last year disco was really big, so I picked a bunch of great records from the era. "Got to Be Real" and "I Will Survive" are two of the records which have withstood the backlash over the years and really maintained their status as classics. "There But for the Grace of God" should be in that same category, and lesser-known disco gem from New York-based Machine.

Finally, hip hop fades away with the last song on the mix, "Rapper's Delight." Though not technically the first rapping on record, and certainly not from the most talented group of the early era, "Rapper's Delight" is nevertheless the Colombus of the genre, the one that everyone else sat up and took notice of. For this reason, it's the first representation of its genre, and the last we'll see of hip hop as we go back.

Enjoy.

Download the mix here.

1. London Calling - The Clash
2. Damaged Goods - Gang of Four
3. Gangsters - The Specials
4. Making Plans for Nigel - XTC
5. Chuck E's in Love - Rickie Lee Jones
6. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
7. Cars - Gary Numan
8. Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
9. Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) - Pink Floyd
10. Refugee - Tom Petty
11. Hey Hey, My My - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
12. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
13. Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn
14. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
15. There But For The Grace Of God - Machine
16. I Want Money - Flying Lizards
17. Rapper's Delight - The Sugarhill Gang

Monday, March 13

1980

Jeez, it feels like I started this two weeks ago, and here we are, on the cusp of the '70s. Time really goes by fast.

Okay, 1980, another great year, up there with the best in my opinion. Two of my favorite songs ever are included on this mix, the essential Talking Heads single "Once in a Lifetime" and the great, great "Mirror in the Bathroom" by the Beat, or, as they are known in America, the English Beat. Check out DK and DJ Food's Solid Steel mix for a great drum and bass remix of the song.

The rest of the mix is basically self-explanatory. Joy Division's single, a few great one hit wonders in "Shack Up" and 'Never Say Never," more tail-end punk in "Los Angeles" and "Holiday in Cambodia," arena rock at it's highest peak with Queen and AC/DC, and the last big single from one of musical heroes, "(Just Like) Starting Over." There's more to come from the ex-Beatle, of course, just as we haven't seen the last of Bob Marley, who by this point had made the shift from political figure to pop star, but still had the ability to make deeply moving music.

Blondie's "Rapture" was the first big hip hop crossover, with Debbie Harry (kind of) rapping and name-checking Grandmaster Flash (which he would later sample). Similarly, Kurtis Blow was the first hip hop solo star, and "The Breaks" is his best, party-starting song.

Next week, the 70s. It's a big transition as we go furthur back, because we are moving into years that I wasn't alive to experience. This obviously changes my perspective, and it makes me rely more on charts and second hand accounts of what was popular at the time. I'm trying to reserve only a small portion of each mix to music that would only make it simply because it lasted longer, but this will happen more and more the further back I go, simply because some music sounds dated now and I wasn't around to experience it first hand. I'm sure ten or twenty years from now a lot of the music that I loved simply because it was of the the time will fall by the wayside; in fact, I'm sure a lot of it already has. But this is inevitable, and the best I can do is talk to my elders, read the books, check the charts, and wish for the best.

This is as good a time as ever to remind everyone that these are works in progress, so if you have any suggestions (or you were around when I wasn't) please don't hesitate to let me know where I got it wrong. I want to make these as good as possible, and while my taste dictates many of my decisions, I may have included one song and neglected another because of a misguided assumption about what mattered in, say, 1974.

Anyway, 1980 is here, so enjoy some far-reaching pop from the beginning of the me decade.

Download the mix here.

1. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
2. Whip It - Devo
3. What I Like About You - Romantics
4. Never Say Never - Romeo Void
5. Shack Up - A Certain Ratio
6. Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
7. Back in Black - AC/DC
8. Ace of Spades - Motorhead
9. Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
10. Totally Wired - The Fall
11. Los Angeles - X
12. Precious - The Pretenders
13. Rapture - Blondie
14. The Breaks - Kurtis Blow
15. When You Were Mine - Prince
16. Video Killed the Radio Star - Buggles
17. Mirror In the Bathroom - The English Beat
18. Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
19. People Who Died - Jim Carroll Band
20. Redemption Song - Bob Marley
21. (Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon

Monday, March 6

1981

I grew up in a Rolling Stones household. My Mother loved - and still loves - Mick Jagger, and so I grew up surrounded by the Rolling Stones. Although I appreciated a lot of their music, it was, of course, the worst way to explore a band. Unless I had thrown myself into the group with the same enthusiasm, the only possibility was that I would grow to feel rather indifferent towards them. This was pretty much how I felt until I (re)discovered them myself. It was with Between the Buttons, but that was just an in for me to be able to explore what is undoubtedly one of the greatest catalogues in pop music history. There are a lot of heavily represented groups on this project, groups that took a big chunk of music history and made it their own. There's no shortage of Beatles, Bowie, Marvin Gaye, the Kinks. But at current count, the Rolling Stones have ten songs on this project, more than any other artist. It begins, as does this mix, with "Start Me Up" a great stadium rock song from the Stones last solid record (although their last one was pretty decent). It's been sold and marketed so many times that it's difficult to just hear it as a song, but if you listen with an open mind, you can still hear a band going strong sixteen years after they broke. It's quite an accomplishment.

Elsewhere on the mix, some really great songs stretch their legs out. The full version of "Tainted Love" is too good to cut, even at nine minutes it stands as a near perfect pop song, shoving two great covers together to create one great new wave classic. The similarly epic "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club is truly fun, especially mixed in with "Super Freak" and Heaven 17's debut single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang." The last seven minute-plus track is the revolutionary "Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel." One of the great early displays of the DJ on record, keep in mind that Flash was not using any samplers or multi-track recording. This was all done on the fly with turntables and wax.

Rick Springfield, Bowie and Queen, and Psychedelic Furs we all know, along with one of the better songs by Depeche Mode and the best song by Billy Idol. But 13-16 might be new to some people (to varying degrees). Japan are actually british, and "Ghosts" was their biggest hit in their home country. Then it's three punk classics from three very different punk scenes, the mostly straightforward Boston punk scene, and D.C. and L.A.'s very different hardcore scenes. The best of the three is probably Mission of Burma's "That's When I Reach for My Revolver," though there's little doubt that Bad Brains are one of the most important hardcore bands in that genres history.

81 is an odd year, where leftovers from the late 70s meet some 80s start ups. But the transition is not as surprising as one would expect. There has always been a strong contingent of Punk/New Wave fans, and looking to groups like Devo and The Talking Heads it is no surprise. That one genre has been so unfairly maligned in recent years while the other continues to stand as a defiant alternative to the mainstream is partially due to Mtv's new wave push causing backlash, but also because of the other influences that New Wave added to its basically Punk roots. Like disco before it, new wave suffered from homophobia and people who were mostly turned off by the gender neutral aspects of many of the genres biggest stars. The fact that the music was essentially dance music obviously didn't help it either. Certain bands have been totally immune to this backlash, like the Cars and The Talking Heads, mostly because they were on the fringe of the movement and focused more on its rock and roll roots. I'm not saying that this was the only reason; certainly everything from the 80s has been hurt by the dated nature of so many of the trends that were meant to seem futuristic, but only ended up becoming dated. I just find it sad how many decent genres have been hurt over the years not because of its quality (as you'll see in the late 70s, there is some fantastic disco), but because of universal biases that people still haven't gotten over.

Sorry to be so depressing. The mix is exactly the opposite, so get listening.

Download the mix here.

1. Start Me Up - The Rolling Stones
2. Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
3. Under Pressure - David Bowie and Queen
4. Pretty In Pink - Psychedelic Furs
5. Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
6. Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
7. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
8. Super Freak - Rick James
9. (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang - Heaven 17
10. Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club
11. Don't You Want Me Baby - Human League
12. Ghost Town - The Specials
13. Ghosts - Japan
14. That's When I Reach for My Revolver - Mission of Burma
15. Banned In D.C. - Bad Brains
16. Rise Above - Black Flag
17. Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five