My dirty little secret - I don't do mix tapes

As my last entry waxed romantic on the joys of the mix tape (or at least described someone who does), I should come clean: I've never been a mix tape guy.

I've got plenty of old cassettes lying around the house, containing hundreds of songs that I taped off the radio in the '90s, but I don't consider those true mix tapes, as I did not record those with a specific track listing or mood in mind; I just taped whatever was on the radio.

I could never be a mix tape guy, because sometimes I'm JUST NOT IN THE MOOD for a song that comes on, and I need the ability to skip immediately to the next track. Mix tapes require a level of patience that I shall never possess.

Despite that, I thought it would be fun, as Rob Sheffield does in his book, to analyze one of my old quasi-mix tapes, featuring songs I taped off the radio, circa 1991. I dare say this is a stellar cassette.


Side A:
Good Vibrations, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch
Broken Arrow, Rod Stewart
The Promise of a New Day, Paula Abdul
Fading Like a Flower (dance version), Roxette
I Can't Wait Another Minute, Hi Five
Love On a Rooftop, Desmond Child
Crazy, Seal

Side B:
Emotions, Mariah Carey
Do Anything, Natural Selection
I Can't Wait, Nu Shooz
Red Red Wine (with rap), UB40
Running Back to You, Vanessa Williams
The Power, Snap

This is one of the few tapes I have that I really can listen to all the way through because it has a lot of happy dance songs, with no filler. "Good Vibrations" is a classic. "Love on a Rooftop" is a little-known song I've always loved - until I just found it on YouTube and realized that it actually sucks. Oh well. Ditto for "Do Anything," except that song still holds up for me.

Obscure YouTube links:
Good Vibrations - Marky Mark
Do Anything - Natural Selection
Love On a Rooftop - Desmond Child
The Promise Of a New Day - Paula Abdul