Cassettes

I recently started taking inventory of old cassette tapes that have been sitting in an old leather case since 1995 or so. I'm either throwing them away or replacing them digitally, via i-tunes. I've found a few sentimental favorites though.

First cassette bought: Xanadu the Soundtrack
Most loved in 5th or 6th grade: Pat Benetar "Crimes of Passion"
Most worn out cassette: U2 "The Unforgettable Fire"
Totally forgotten but loved : The Sugarcubes "Life's Good"
Most played in 1988: Depeche Mode "Black Celebration"
Gift tape that I never listened to: Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
All Time Best Mixed Tape: The one by the girl from Geneva

Mixed Tapes. i've kept a few of the best recorded cassettes with clever or romantic titles. It's funny to look at the cracked plastic cases encased in dust and think that at one time, they were my life. Rather, the makers of the tapes were. Or so i led myself to believe.

Of all the mixed tapes i've received in my life, some of the best were from a boyfriend in college. Presently, he's a junior high school English/drama teacher in a Portland, Oregon. Last i heard, he's married with two or three kids. Thankfully i completely escaped that fate... living in that overgrown town, driving a minivan, being bored out of my mind... but i still love the music.

A few of the best selections:

Swingin' Party--The Replacements
The Only Thing that Shines--Shriekback
My Bag-- Lloyd Cole
Uncertain Smile--The The
It's Only Life--The Feelies
Beyond Belief--Elvis Costello
Hearbreak a Stranger--Bob Mould
The Other Way of Stopping--the Police
Soon--My Bloody Valentine
Good Good Things--Descendents
Train in Vain--The Clash
Ana Ng--They Might Be Giants
Just Like Honey--Jesus and Mary Chain
Head On--Pixies
Carolyn's Fingers--Cocteau Twins
Deep Ocean, Vast Sea--Peter Murphy

Remember the "rules" of mixed tapes? Side A was usually the warm up for the hard hitting Side B. When i say hard hitting, i'm referring to the songs that implied, "Hey i like you, you could be my next big thing..." when you felt it, but couldn't say it. You never put a song by the same artist on one side, nor right after the other by that same artist. For the exciting surprise factor you didn't list the song titles. You decorated the cover by carefully pasting images on the paper jacket thing. Mixed tapes were given within the first month of dating, not first week.

Then came the ability to create CDs. The best part of that was being able to be precise about the times of songs, to not overflow the CD, nor fall short of the space available. In the world of mixed tapes, there was always that problem of finishing Side B, but seeing that smidgen of space left on the cassette, and the horror of beginning to record a song that cuts off.

Now one can created a mixed CD in less than 3 minutes. Great, but a lot is lost because of it. In my mind, it was a relaxing and structured way of pining. All these things: searching for the perfect opening song for Side A, rewinding/forwarding, carefully printing on the cassette jacket so the ink didn't run, the joy of handing it over and receiving it, analysing lyrics, playing and re-playing...