I was the mix tape king. I went on to become the mix cd king. I took great pride in my mix tapes. I very carefully picked the songs, the theme and I even designed the covers, often put together from various pictures/ads in magazines. Mix tapes took hours to make. Mine were always 90 minutes long and always tailored directly to the person they were made for. I started making them when I was a little kid with my hand held tape recorder. I would make a radio show for my cousins Jenny and Chris back in Illinois. It was KBIL Radio and I was the DJ, the singers and I even did mock commercials. It was as grand as radio was in the 30's. Well at least I like to think so. Once I got hooked on KFI Radio out of LA (for whatever reason we got in AM radio in Arizona) and America's Top 40, those radio shows morphed into the multi song mix tapes. Mine could rival any compilation put by Ronco or K-Tel. Mine weren't just popular songs, but songs you may not think to listen to or ones you've never heard of. But all together the songs had a theme. When I got into making mix CDs and using my computer to design the covers, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I could make them faster and not have any mistakes, like forgetting to hit record or get glue all over the place cutting and pasting the covers. I loved making mix CDS. I made them all the time and for anyone who wanted one. I specialized in making them for my favorite bartenders. That way, I was guaranteed to like the music when ever I went out for drinks. Then came the iPod. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPod, but it killed the mix CD. No one keeps CD cases and inserts anymore. Most people don't even buy the actual CD. I don't. Now, if I spent hours making a mix CD for someone, they'd just upload it onto their iPod and discard the CD. I'm not complaining really, I do the same thing. I don't have room for a bunch of CDs. I can't believe I bought into the idea of having my vast collection of music all on my computer and iPod. I remember the days when I took pride in having my album, cassette and CD collection on display. They represented rites of passage, growth in taste, life experience, love lost, etc. I still make mix tapes though. Sort of. I still go through all of my music and make an 18 song playlist. I burn one copy onto CD and put one on my iPod. I play the CD in my car and my iPod everywhere else. I listen to it over and over until I'm sick of it. Then I make a new one. I miss designing the cover art, but I still have my graphic design for that. I still do most of the graphic design work for Flask.Here is what I've been listening to lately: Kings of Leon, the entire catalog of The Killers, Raw Deluxe, Vampire Weekend, my Bad Things Mix CD (originally made for John), Dave Matthews Band, Sarah Mclachlan vintage R.E.M. I am absolutely addicted to the Kings of Leon CD. One of the best I've heard in a really long time. And I can listen to anything by The Killers over and over.
Peace to All.
