The Theory

July 2025
TRT: 1h13m45s

Been a minit since I made a new mix, but I got a friend coming over and I have to have something for him. Most of the time when I make a mix tape, it seems to be in the summer.

Structured as a double elpee (4 sides) with a short break between discs.

1. 2 seconds of silence

   I've started adding silence to the front of my tapes. I embed the covers of the original albums in the song files. If I make a cover for the mix itself, this gives me a file to attach it to; and since it's the first track, my cover will be the thumbnail for the folder.

Side A (20′01″)

2. The Dave Brubeck Quartet “Unsquare Dance”
   From Time Further Out: Miro Reflections (Columbia 1961)

   Fun little ditty. At first I thought the handclaps were switching from the upbeats to the downbeats evry other measure…& then I realized it was just in 7/8 time.

3. The Staple Singers “Great Day”
   From Hammer and Nails (Riverside 1962)

   Joyful song about all the sinners going to hell. With handclaps.

4. The Stooges “No Fun” (my edit)
   From The Stooges (Elektra 1969)

   A slab of garage rock with handclaps. Stooges doing the Stooges thing. How great were they? How great is that John Cale produced first album? I faded it out a little early, during the long guitar break at the end. Sorry but I have a lot to get to.

5. The Supremes“Where Did Our Love Go” (Motown 1964)

   A perfect pop record. Clap clap clap clap.

6. The Cars “My Best Friend’s Girl”
   From The Cars (Elektra 1978)

   Another perfect pop records. Clap-clap clap. Clap-clap clap-clap.

7. The Coup “Magic Clap”
   From Sorry To Bother You (Anti- 2012) (not to be confused with the movie of the same name—that came out 6 years later)

   Intense political rap band. Rap-funk-rock kinda. Uses the famous “let's go” handclap rhythm.

8. Donny Hathaway “The Ghetto” (excerpt)
   From Live (ATCO 1972)

   Just the last 2 minutes and change of the song, starting from whe Hathaway asks the audience for a soul clap. Then he asks them to sing, the women one part and the men another. The audience and the band do their thing beautifully. Raucous and laid-back at the same time.

Side B (20′43″)

9. Badfinger “No Matter What”
   From No Dice (Apple 1970)

   Classic Beatlesque love anthem saves its handclaps for the last verse. Not much in the lyrics department.

10. Big Star “O My Soul”
    From Radio City (Ardent 1974)

    Feel-good banger with major riffage and wailing vocals from Alex Chilton, major drum fills from Jody Stephens, and handclaps low in the mix.

11. Carla Thomas“B-A-B-Y” (Stax 1966)

    From one Memphis act to another. Hayes-Porter classic. Thickass horns. All the elements that made Stax Records records great. I finally gave up the handclap theme here.

12. Solange “Don’t Let Me Down”
    From True (Terrible Records 2013)

    Down beat song, super heavy drums. This eepee she made with Blood Orange is when Solange really started getting good.

13. Janelle Monáe feat. Solange “Electric Lady”
    From The Electric Lady (Bad Boy / Wondaland / Atlantic 2013)

    A Lot happening in this happy funky groove. Solange is one of several backing vocalists on this and that's it as far as I can tell despite her being listed as featured.

14. 6 seconds of silence

Side C (19′31″)

15. Mahavishnu Orchestra “Open Country Joy”
    From Birds of Fire (Columbia 1973)

    Starts out with some mellow, pretty fiddle stuff, takes a pause, and then gets right into some serious John McLaughlin shredding.

16. Men I Trust “Show Me How”
    From Oncle Jazz (2019)

    Supermellow atmospheric love song. Dok says it reminds him of Philly Soul.

17. Sly and the Family Stone “In Time”
    From FRESH (Epic 1973)

    Stretchd out funk with a little drum machine. RIP to Sly Stone, a singular artist.

18. Pungo “Ha!”
    From Waltz (1985)

    Gettin weird in the back half. Japanese noise punk? Or something. Super loud and slitely off-kilter sax, accordion, guitar, drums and grunts comin' right at you.

19. The Four Kings “Rag Mop” (Stomper Time Records 1958)

    Originally originally, Rag Mop was a lightning fast jazz number by Henry “Red” Allen from 1946 called “Get The Mop”. Johnnie Lee Willis and Deacon Anderson made it into a Western Swing tune, adding the “ragg” part, in '49. The Ames Brothers did a popular cover. This is a more 50s R&B kind of take with real bright horns. A hundred acts have coverd it. Did the Blues Brothers ever use it? Seems like the kind of song theyd do.

20. Deejay patter from the Hound’s July 26, 1986 show, archived at thehound.net

    The Hound backsells the “essentially stupid Rag Mop.”

    In the 80s & 90s, the Hound spun rare 45s evry Saturday morning on legendary East Orange NJ community radio station WMFU. A huge number of his shows are available at thehound.net. I recommend listening. It's a true treasure trove of rock & roll, are & bea, blues, jump, country, rockabilly, Western swing, etc etc etc. A lot of it you've never heard before.

Side D (13′43″)

21. Jessie Mae Hemphill “Black Cat Bone”
    From She-Wolf (Vogue 1981 / High Water Recording Company 1998)

    Really great Hill Country Blues. Tambourine.

22. Sade “Please Send Me Someone To Love”
    From the Philadelphia soundtrack (Epic 1993)

    I'm just saying it's confusing when the band and the singer in the band have the same name. Sade take on the soul/blues standard. About as laid back as you can get.

23. The Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (Scepter 1960)

    A really nice Goffin-King song. Watch this video of the Shirelles on some tee vee show. Four young ladies just having a great time.

24. 4 seconds of silence

 

25. Coda: Pete Ham “No Matter What” (solo acoustic demo)
    From 7 Park Avenue (Ryko 1997)

    Reprise of the Badfinger toon. I never really gave this song a second thought…it was one of those songs always in the background on Classic Rock radio…until my friend lent me this collection of Pete Ham's demo recordings. You know, sometimes you realize how good a song is when you hear it strippd. Really nice. And that's the end!

26. 2 seconds of silence

Summer Loop

I have a long tradition of summer mixtapes. This one is fresh for Summer Solstice 2023. It is in two sides, and it doesnt matter which one you play first. As the title implies, you can also play them in a loop.

Easy Side

1. Shade Sheist feat. Nate Dogg & Kurupt “Where I Wanna Be”
   From Informal Introduction (MCA 2002)

   This song feels like summer, and I wanted to make a mix that felt like this song. A one-bar loop from a Toto record—the repetition should drive me crazy but somehow it doesnt—and some competent emceeing from Shade & Kurupt. The star is Nate Dogg and the melody he sings. Not much to this record but I could lissen to it all day.



2. Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan “Watermelon Man”
   From At Newport '63 (RCA Victor 1963)

   The vocal trio perform their supersmooth rendition of Herbie Hancock's tune with Hendricks's lyric. Clark Terry & Coleman Hawkins help out.



3. De La Soul “A Rollerskating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’”
   From De La Soul Is Dead (Tommy Boy 1991)

   Stone cold classic from De La. Another song that sounds like summer.




4. The Staple Singers “I'll Take You There”
   From Be Altitude / Respect Yourself (Stax 1972)

   Nothing much I need to say about this song: you know it, you love it.




5. Van Morrison “Dweller On The Threshold”
   From Beautiful Vision (Warners 1982)

   Can't seem to make a mix without Van Morrison on it. Used to be Steely Dan filled that role. Both “problematic faves”! Funky groove. Horns. Yearning vocals. Catchy as fuck, for me at least.



6. David Lindley “Ain't No Way”
   From El Rayo-X (Asylum 1981)

   RIP to evryone's faverit roots rock multiinstrumentalist virtuoso sideman. Bandleader here, he & his crew do some fake reggae that just makes me smile.



7. Jungle Brothers “My Jimmy Weighs A Ton”
   From J. Beez Wit The Remedy (Warners 1993)

   Jokey hip hoppas getting self-referential. This record samples the J. Beez's own classic “Jimbrowski”, the KRS-One song that refrences that tune, and Public Enemy's “Miuzi Weighs A Ton”, among others. Layerd and weird-sounding production—almost too kitchen-sinky—but still boombap as hell. From the criminally underappreciated third album.



8. XTC “Summer's Cauldron”
   From Skylarking (Geffen 1986)

   Here's another album that's weird, layered and kitchen-sinky; but this one is popular and rightly hailed as a masterpiece.



9. The Pharcyde “Runnin'”
   From Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl / Capitol 1995)

   Classic early Jay Dee (AKA Dilla) production. That laid-back, jazzy sound that was so familiar by the time his golden era came around a few years later.

Hard Side

1. Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers “What'd I Say”
   From Genuine Houserocking Music (Alligator 1982)

   This kind of righteous noise is exactly my taste. I don't know why I didn't get into Hound Dog Taylor 25 years earlier.



2. R.L. Burnside “Shake 'Em On Down”
   From Too Bad Jim (Fat Possum / Epitaph 1994)

   More righteous blooze noise from one of the greats. The first cut on Too Bad Jim, a classic album that still gets me evry time.



3. Ibibio Sound Machine “Casio (Yak Nda Nda)”
   From Electricity (Merge 2022)

   Righteous electronic noise. Needs to be playd loud. Def fave album of last year.



4. Yeasayer “Ambling Alp”
   From Odd Blood (Secretly Canadian 2010)

   Righteous anthem with some weird sounds.



5. The Northern Boys “Give It To Me” (Sindhu World 2023)
   Not on a record, just on youtube

   The reason why this is the hard side. This is the hardest shit ever. A couple of retirees from Northern England expressin themselves. Raisin a glass to the gays and the bi's and the trans and the girls and the BIG BALD MEN!



6. Amy Winehouse “Rehab”
   From Back To Black (Island/Universal 2006)

   Where my alcoholics at?



7. Fiona Apple “Heavy Balloon”
   From Fetch The Bolt Cutters (Epic 2020)

   I spread like strawberries. I climb like peas and beans.



8. Hot Chip “Motion Sickness”
   From In Our Heads (Domino 2012)

   Badass synth noise. Remember when people thought the world was round?



9. Eddie Bo “Getting To The Middle Pt. 2”
   Bo Sound 45 BS-5555 (1970) collected on Eddie Bo's Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies 1999)

   Killer funk record, the instrumental version from the B side.



10. Tina Turner “You Got What You Wanted”
    Pompeii Records 45-66682 (1968) collected on any number of cheapo Ike & Tina compilations (would really be nice if there were re-issues of their work that were comprehensive and sounded decent)

    RIP to a great blues shouter.

Whaddaya think??

BOO-HOO

March 2023
TRT: 1h2m24s

Content Note: Brief mentions of war and suicide

This is my sad mix, my waa waa boo hoo mix, my goodbye Mom mix.  It's not anything she would like, just stuff that eased my heart or helpd me wallow in my misery after she died bout 2 years ago. 

1. Dinosaur Jr. “Keeblin'”
   From the “Out There” single (1993)

   Electric & acoustic guitars; the acoustic riffs while the electric squeals away.  J Mascis's creaky, resigned voice and a little piano later on.  That's what there is for arrangement.  I was introduced to this song via an all-acoustic version on the Freakin' Live! bootleg.  It and the “Hickory Wind” cover really hit my melancholy buttons.  I wish I had never got rid of that disc.  I found a download online but the sound quality is so awful.  The version on J's solo acoustic Martin + Me is good but not quite as good.  This here produced version I believe first appeared on the “Out There” single before being included as a bonus track on re-issues of Where You Been.  This band always had a tendency to put their best songs on b-sides…at least the ones I liked best. 



2. Kanye West (now known as Ye, and also now a Nazi) “Say You Will”
   From 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

   Toms, minimal synths, choir vocals, and Ye's autotuned emo singin.  808s is a landmark of emo rap and a go-to albums when I'm down.  As a beatmaker Ye is unassailable.  As a lyricist & emcee he's never been that strong, but he's great at spinning his weaknesses in his own favor.  His artlessness makes him seem direct, honest, unpolished, relatable.  (His misogyny & self-mythologizing are big crowd-pleasers too…the Naziism doesnt seem to be playing as well tho.)  It sometimes gives me a little second-hand embarrassment but I have a theory about how the embarrassing songs are actually the best.  I'll write about that in the future, staring with Queen's “You're My Best Friend”. 



3. Antony* and the Johnsons “One Dove”
   *Now known as ANOHNI
   From The Crying Light (2009)

   Crying Light is an all-time fave go-to album when I'm down.  One Dove is one of its most haunting songs.  ANOHNI's beautiful voice pleads for mercy over delicate piano & plucked strings and plaintive sax. 



4. Mike Doughty “White Lexus”
   From Haughty Melodic (2005)

   Doughty in singer-songwriter mode wants to “feel nothing on demand.”  Yeah….  Death.  Addiction.  Ya know. 



5. Valerie June “The Front Door”
   From The Order Of Time (2017)

   June makes good old NPR style country music.  This one's a weeper.  “How does it feel to know you can't go home anymore?” 



6. Robert Wyatt “Shipbuilding”
   From the “Shipbuilding/ Memories of you” single (1982)

   Something about war bringing prosperity—oh, and death—oops.  Beautiful melody that has stuck with me for years. 



7. Alabama Shakes “On Your Way”

   From Boys & Girls (2012)

   Weepy rocker. 



8. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway “You've Got A Friend”
   From Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972)

   Classic album that sat on my parents' elpee shelf and probably evryone's parents' elpee shelf.  Two great soul artists.  God damn.  Without a doubt the best version of Carole King's hit song.  Another record that makes me cry.  Well, that is my theme. 



9. Lucinda Williams “Lake Charles”
   From Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (1998)

   More of that NPR country.  Remember how big this album was when it was new?  But it turnd out it was actually good.  “Did an angel whisper in your ear/ Hold you close, take away your fear/ In those long, last moments?”  That gets me.  You have to wonder what the last moments are like.  It's silly but I wish that for my mother.  She wasn't religious but she loved angels. 



10. Van Morrison “Cul De Sac”
    From Veedon Fleece (1974)

    Building to the climax.  He's a covid-denying clown now, but in his prime Van Morrison might have been one of the great soul singers.  The famous Delta Doktor introduced me to Veedon Fleece way back when, and I think he said it's his faverit Van Morrison album.  I'm partial to Astral Weeks but it's hard to argue with this choice.  “Cul De Sac” is just, Aaaaaaaahhhh.  So comforting.  The more obvious choice for a boo hoo mixtape might be the song that follows it, “Comfort You”, but that one is just too much.  Toooooo much. 



11. Aretha Franklin “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
    From Aretha's Greatest Hits (1971)

    Classic Atlantic-era Aretha Franklin.  Part of the grand tradition of throwing one or 2 new songs onto a collection of old shit.  Undoubtedly the best version of the Simon & Garfunkel number.  The backup singers.  Just, so good. 



12. The Beach Boys “I Just Wasn't Made For These Times”
    From Pet Sounds (1966)

    Brian Wilson laments his mixed up life before a Wall of Sound. 



13. Sugar “Man In The Moon”
    From Copper Blue (1992)

    That early 90s shiny, fuzzy, dense guitar sound.  No one has a denser guitar sound than Bob Mould.  I lissend to this album a lot when it was new and I was a teenager.  Real loud.  I lissend to this album instead of killing myself.  This wasnt one of my faverit songs.  It always sounded a little out of place to me, but I find it comforting now.  It has stuck with me, as has the Man in the Moon himself.  I saw him once, when I was little, a legit vision, sitting high in a tree (a tree that's not there anymore) above my sandbox, round and serene.  He's a good friend of mine. 



14. The Suburbs “Cig In Backwards”
    From Credit In Heaven (1981)

    Melancholy lyrics & melody over bouncy, upbeat instrumentals is what the Suburbs do best.  This song just immediately came to mind after the Sugar song.  The band is from the same 80s Twin Cities scene as Mould's old band but a very diffrent sound. 



15. Antony* and the Johnsons “Thank You For Your Love”
    *Now known as ANOHNI
    From Swanlights (2010)

    More rocking than the other ANOHNI tune on here.  It even has drums.  Turns into a rave-up by the end.  Shouldnt this be the last word, the summation of all my weeping for my old mom?  Thank you for your love. 

Boo Hoo Mix, 2nd Draft

Trying to make a sad/healing mix. This is my second draft, and it aint workin. Most of the songs are the right ones but in the wrong order. “Made In The Dark” only sort of works, and “Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord” doesnt belong here at all. Pharoah Sanders's tenor is a tone I'd really like to have on this mix, but this is not the piece. The bigger problem is the mix doesnt go anywhere. It doesnt build. I feel like I keep skipping the climax and going str8 to the denoument.

1. Valerie June “Front Door”
2. Dinosaur Jr “Keeblin”
3. Ye “Bad News<”/li>
4. Alabama Shakes “On Your Way”
5. Lucinda Williams “Lake Charles”
6. Solange Feat Lil Wayne “Mad”
7. Van Morrison “Cul De Sac”
8. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway “You've Got A Friend”
9. Hot Chip Made “In The Dark”
10. Aretha Franklin “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
11. Pharoah Sanders “Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord”
12. Sugar “Man In The Moon”
13. The Suburbs “Cigarette In Backwards”

What do I do with this?

Not As Much As You

Rolled by: Me
Aroundabout: October 2021
For: Evryone
TRT: 1h13m45s

Just some stuff I've bin listning to lately.

1. Message start


2. The Last Word “Keep On Bumpin' Before You Give Out Of Gas” (Polydor 1974)
   Collected on The J.B.'s – Funky Good Time: The Anthology (Polydor 1995)

   Superfun driving tune featuring members of the J.B.'s. Why they called themselves “The Last Word” for this record, I have no idea.



3. Eddie Bo “Getting To The Middle Pt. 1” (vocal) (Bo-Sound 1970)
   Collected on Eddie Bo's Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies 1999)

   A SLAB o funk from the GREAT Eddie Bo.



4. The Jiants “Tornado” (Claudra 1959)
   Collected on Legendary Wild Rockers (BBE 2011)

   The tremolo guitar riff is meant to evoke a twister. I think it sounds just like “How Soon Is Now”. I wonder if the Smiths were ripping this joint off?

   The comp I found this on, Legendary Wild Rockers, is a real choice collection of early rock n roll (at least volume one is). I bought it for a tune I heard on the Hound show, “Goo Goo Muck”, but “Tornado” is another standout.



5. Chuck Cleaver “Bed”
   From Send Aid (Shake It! 2019)

   Slow n shaky “Rumble”-like guitar riff + drum machine. I highly recommend Cleaver's first solo album.



6. Solange “Stay Flo”
   From When I Get Home (Columbia/SAINT 2019)

   Electronic slow funk.



7. Hot Chip “Spell”
   From A Bathfull Of Ecstasy (Domino 2019)

   Drum & synths.



8. SAINt JHN “Roses” (Imanbek Remix) (Hitco 2020)

   More synth and drum (machine) and vocal effects. I don't really keep up with new R&B (or maybe they call this rap, but us oldheads don't recognize it as rap) but sometimes I turn on the radio. Don't accidentally buy the original version. It's the remix by the Kazakh that brings the heat.



9. Van Morrison “Cleaning Windows”
   From Beautiful Vision (Mercury / Warners 1982)

   Happy little bop about a guy who's got it all: music, books, baked goods, smokes, and a job. But his solitary life will eventually come to an end. Even the most melancholy Van Morrison album contains at least one uptempo number, like “The Way Young Lovers Do” from Astral Weeks or “Bulbs” from Veedon Fleece. I should make a whole tape of these Van bops! Yes I love the slownsad stuff too—God Damn I love the slownsad stuff—but he's smart to give us a little relief, usually at the beginning of side 2.



10. JJ Cale “Lies”
    From Really

    Another guitar bop with horn flourishes, this hit is about as lively as Cale gets and damned catchy.



11. Bob James “Feel Like Making Love”
    From One (CTI 1974)

    Mellow crooney thing not to be confused with the Bad Company song. James played keys on the Roberta Flack version of this tune, and then he decided to cut his own. Some sweet elevator music fuh yuh.



12. The JB's “Blessed Blackness”
    From Food For Thought (People 1972)

    More sweet elevator music, the JB's in a kinda smooth jazz mode completing a set of organic 70s groovers following up the earlier set of current electronic tunes.



13. Kraftwerk “Boing Boom Tschak”
    From Electric Cafe (EMI / Warners 1986)

    Back to synths, with electronic drums and layered vocals. This is the first movement of the suite that takes up side one of the Electric Cafe album, and it rocks hard. It might be my imagination but I feel like this album is a little underappreciated in the Kraftwerk canon, with some fans pining for a lost “original” version which doesnt really exist, and the band eventually reworking it; but to me this is classic Kraftwerk, just maybe a little dancier, which isnt bad at all.



14. Huey Lewis And The News “Some Of My Lies Are True (Sooner Or Later)”
    From Huey Lewis and the News (Chrysalis 1980)

    And now we steer into some 80s cheese.… 1980 found Huey Lewis and the News posing as skinny tie rockers in the style of the Romantics or the Knack, but who really wanted to be a doo wop rhythm n soul throwback kind of groop. No secret their whole catalog is kind of crap, but this debut album has a little bit of life to it at least.



15. Joe Jackson “You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)”
    From Body and Soul

    80s cheese? Or sophisticated jazz rock?



16. Joe Bataan “Charangaringa”
    From Saint Latin's Day Massacre (Fania 1972)

    Smooth but intense Latin soul. Building to the climax.



17. Fiona Apple “Hot Knife”
    From The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (Clean Slate/Epic 2012)

    Polyrhythmic layerd vocals, tympani and very percussive piano. Boom ba-boom ba-boom.



18. Van Morrison “Joe Harper Saturday Morning”
    Found on numerous compilations, most recently the comprehensive The Authorized Bang Collection (Exile/Legacy 2017)

    Going in for the close.

    I've no idea about the story this song is telling but I sing along to the chorus with great conviction. A standout from Morrison's 1967 sessions for Bang Records, for an album that was never finished. And you can read all about the drama that ensued.



19. Wilson Pickett “Time Is On My Side”
    From The Wicked Pickett (Atlantic 1967)

    Irma Thomas ballad gets the Wilson Picket treatment. I heard some English rock band did this song too.



20. Toots & the Maytals “Sailing On” (Jaguar 1973)
    Found on the Jamaican Roots Reggae album and the US, Island Records version of Funky Kingston, where I took it from

    Still going for the close with another midtempo singalong number.



21. Joseph Spence and the Pinder Family “I Bid You Goodnight”
    From The Spring of Sixty-Five

    Originally derived from an 1871 hymn by Ira D. Sankey and Sarah Doudney entitled “The Christian's Good Night”, this Goodnight became a traditional “lowering down” song in the Bahamas (that is, they sang it while they lowered caskets into the ground). The theme being that death is not goodbye but only goodnight because we will live again. The Incredible String Band appropriated it into their epic hippie spaceout Very Cellular Song, with handclaps. (A different section of that song took on a life of its own after being quoted in Be Here Now, another epic hippie spaceout.) I've heard that the Grateful Dead played it too. I fell in love with the Incredible String Band version, singing it to my kids often at bedtime. Eventually I went looking for its source and found Joseph Spence.

    Until next time!



22. Message end

Transition that feels a little off: Roses into Cleaning Windows. Problem is Cleaning Windows isnt compressd enuf. It can't help but sound soft coming out of the extremely compressd Roses. I potted up the initial drum roll as much as I could but it will never sound as loud as I want it to.

Transition I like the best: Hot Knife into Joe Harper. I love the way that guitar riff hits.