Mix Tapes

I was listening to Billy Squier's "My Kinda Lover" one morning last week on the way to work, kinda thrashing my hair around while belting out the chorus at the stop light in between taking glances in the tiny sunvisor mirror applying lipstick and mascara when The Captain called.

The Captain and I have been friends for over 20 years, and are the same age (he would remind you that I'm older than he is by about nine teenytinyweelittle months).  So, we are 80's Babies.

Now, I'm not the kind of girl who hangs on to 80's music.  Sure, I prance at Duran Duran but that's about it.  It's nails on a chalk board to me when Flock of Seagulls or Aha come on the radio.  I'm just so over "Blister in the Sun", "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Come On Eileen".  There are some stand-out classic bands such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Cure...DURAN DURAN!  But for the most part about 80's music, a resounding 'meh' from me.

Anyway, Billy Squier has a few good songs that fit a mood, such as (you guessed it) "My Kinda Lover".  And yes, I was in That Mood.

Captain:  What're you doin'?
Me:  Me and Billy are jammin'.
C: Billy?  Billy who?
M:  Billy Squier!
C:  uhhhh....you...realize you're dating yourself.  Right?
M:  Yeah.  *laughing*  But it rocks!  And it's perfect for my mood right now.

Thus was the genesis of Mix Tape Talk.

The Captain and I did the Old Person Thing:  reminisced.  I can't believe I'm old enough to 'reminisce about the good ole days', but alas, I am.  We goofed on each other about making tapes for babes (or workout music, or I'm feeling pissed at the world and these are the songs I need to hear, or wow, I'm really borderline suicidal so in order to push me over the edge, these tunes will seal the deal). 

Then I posed the question:  What do kids do NOW?  Do they even DO this kind of stuff anymore?  The equipment is totally different.  The media range is unlimited.  So we goofed about what today's equivalent might be until The Captain arrived at his meeting.  After giggling so hard I almost peed my pants and finishing up the final touches of my lipstick, I headed up to my office.

Since this conversation, I've been taking an informal survey.  Here is my über-important, society-changing, high-definition, freshly roasted, multi-platinum, organic, gluten-free verysoscientific finding:  Kids today don't make mix tapes. 

Brilliant, huh?  Think it's because they don't have to spend hours in their room loitering by the radio, one index finger on the 'record' button, one index finger on the 'play' button, waiting for the sliver of a second between when the DJ quits talking and The! Perfect! Song! starts?

Yeah, me too. 

I was relieved to know that the actual act of expressing love (or, at least, a big crush) towards another has not fizzled with the fizzling of the cassette tape.  The love's (or crush as it were...) still there, it's just expressed in the form of loading up an iPod, downloading iTunes and burning to a CD or some other wayfreakineasy way of accessing music.  There art of recording music from putting your tape player close to the turntable or radio is gone.  Gone are the days of passing an Act of Congress to edit commercials, overlaps of song, DJ voices out of the original tape onto a new tape with songs specially arranged.

Me? I was partial to Sony or Maxell. or the see-through kind (a.k.a. the kick-ass marketing that got the best of me).

What I could've done with one of these!  *dreamy sigh*  Ohhhh all you boys (ahem...young men) that I loved sosoSO much, you would STILL be listening to my mix tape TODAY!

In what seems to be a grass-roots green effort (maybe?) the cassette tape has other functions:

Lamps
Lamps
Skeletons (Hey, at least it's educational!)
Ummm...wallet
Home "decor"
Or the very ironic and seemingly conflicted iPod holder

*goes back to thrashing my hair around to My Kinda Lovah*