91: Life During Wartime

I found the super-hi-res photo of Liz Phair as a free download on her official Web site. I had the Iraq war and the Patriot Act on the brain at the time, hence the title, and Liz's Army rucksack fit the theme.

1. YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND | QUEEN
2. STEP INSIDE LOVE | KATE PIERSON & JOHNNY SOCIETY From a fascinating collection of Lennon/McCartney covers, but NOT Beatle songs, but songs John and Paul gave away to other artists.
3. A MAGAZINE CALLED SUNSET | From an EP available for free download at the offical WILCO Web site.
4. JUST ANOTHER | PETE YORN
5. HUMPTY DUMPTY | AIMEE MANN
6. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU | EVAN DANDO
7. PEG | STEELY DAN
8. STARFISH AND COFFEE | PRINCE
9. BOMBS AWAY | THE POLICE
10. LIFE DURING WARTIME | TALKING HEADS Live at the Pantages Theater, Hollywood; December 1983
11. KING OF BIRDS | R.E.M.
12. DRAGONFLY | THE THORNS
13. I'M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME | THE JAYHAWKS
14. THE COMMON KISS | JOHN WESLEY HARDING
15. OUR LOVE | RHETT MILLER
16. ROCK ME | LIZ PHAIR
17. BYE BYE LOVE | THE CARS
18. AWKWARD AGE | JOE JACKSON BAND
19. MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL | XTC
20. JANE SAYS | JANE'S ADDICTION (LIVE)
21. FIGHT THE POWER | Yes, it's a cover of the Public Enemy song by BARENAKED LADIES

Mix 89: Antipodean

The cover is a still from the best movie ever, L.A. Confidential, with my head pasted onto Guy Pearce's body. Not even Russell Crowe as "Bud" White can hold me back!

The title "Antipodean" celebrates not only the nationality of Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, but the purpose of the CD- my wife was travelling to Australia for a wedding!

1. Batman theme - I like the Style Council and Spandau Ballet, so I bought a CD from The Jam, but I could never get into them.
2. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville - A cover of one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, a B-side from 10,000 Maniacs.
3. Gone - A saw John Hiatt live and acoustic at the South Shore Music Circus the previous summer.
4. True Fine Love - Steve Miller Band
5. Dream a Little Dream - The Mamas and the Papas
6. Electrical Storm - A U2 song I found for free on the Internet, but I never heard it again anywhere. Totally dropped off the face of the earth.
7. Remedy - The Black Crowes
8. Badlands - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, live at Arizona State University, 11/5/1980
9. The Bitch Is Back - Elton John
10. Hanging on the Telephone - Blondie
11. Need You Tonight - INXS
12. The Magnificent Seven - The Clash
13. "45" - I saw Elvis Costello & The Impostors on the tour to support this CD When I Was Cruel, 6/14/2002.
14. Faces & Names - I saw Dave Pirner on tour to support this CD 8/5/2002.
15. Annie Waits - I saw Ben Folds on tour to support this CD in the summer of 2002.
16. Centerfold - J. Geils Band
17. Everything In The World - Squeeze
18. Lift Me Up - Jeff Lynne
19. South City Midnight Lady - "Goddamnit, The Doobie Brothers broke up! When did that happen?"
20. One Sweet World (live 1993) - Dave Matthews Band

Mix 90: Ably Backed

I don't listen to this mix often, mainly because I made it for my then-girlfriend, shortly before we broke up. The good news is, we reunited six months later and are now married, but this mix, while perfectly OK, reminds me of a lousy period in our relationship.

The cover is an elaborate inside joke. My wife and I often quote our favorite movies, and I often get the quote mostly correct while my wife gets every quote exactly right. This scene from the movie Singles was the first time I ever caught her in a misquote.

1. Overture/It's A Boy - I included this Who song because it had been in a Claritin commercial recently.
2. It's Oh So Quiet - Bjork
3. Too Much Passion - The Smithereens
4. Waiting for Somebody - Paul Westerberg
5. Go All The Way - The Raspberries
6. Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
7. Lovely Rita - The Beatles
8. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey - I found this Kristen Hersh cover of the Beatles song on one of those free CDs they include with your purchase of UNCUT magazine.
9. Can't Cry Anymore - Sheryl Crow
10. Take The Money and Run - For some reason, the "whoo hoo" at the opening of this Steve Miller Band song always made my wife laugh.
11. The World (and all it's problems) - John Wesley Harding
12. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man - Chuck Berry
13. Jungle Boogie - Kool & The Gang
14. Cat Handcuffs - Steve Martin
15. All-Star - Smash Mouth
16. Stay Up Late - Talking Heads
17. Fa Fa - Guster
18. Where You Get Love - Matthew Sweet
19. Uptight (Everything's Alright) - This Stevie Wonder classic had been recently featured on Six Feet Under.
20. Outta Site Outta Mind - A live version of the Wilco song from a "Live At The Hard Rock Cafe" collection.
21. Swan Swan H - A live and unplugged performance by R.E.M., and possibly the worst mix-ending song ever!

Highway 88 Revisited

"Nigel Stubleigh" was a silly alter ego my wife and I invented when we were still just dating. I took the album Highway 51 Revisited, pasted my head (wearing a tinfoil hat + goggles, naturally) onto Bob Dylan's body, and PRESTO! Instant classic.

NOTE: A bunch of these songs were borrowed from my wife's CDs.

1. Junior Walker & The All-Stars' "Shotgun" is a perfect opening track.
2. Cherry Bomb - John (Cougar) Mellencamp
3. Richard Thompson - I Feel So Good
4. Bruce Springsteen - "Pink Cadillac" is one of my favorite Springsteen songs: it was released as the B-side to "Dancing In The Dark".
5. Michelle Shocked - Hello Hopeville
6. Fountains of Wayne - Leave The Biker
7. Jonatha Brooke - Linger
8. Howard Jones - I copied this remix/edit of "No One Is To Blame" from my old mix tape 12 (August 1993)
9. Lindsay Buckingham - No One Is To Blame (alternate version)
10. The Faces - Ooh La La
11. Ani DiFranco - Little Plastic Castle
12. Shelby Lynne - Life Is Bad
13. Live - I Alone
14. Dave Pirner - "Start Treating People Right" is from Dave's soulful solo debut, Faces & Names
15. Cream - I Feel Free
16. Eric Clapton & The Band - "Further On Up The Road" Live at "The Last Waltz", Winterland SF, 11/26/1976
17. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "Watching The Detectives" live at Hollywood High School
18. The Beastie Boys - Sneakin Out The Hospital

Mix 87: Ex Libris Anita Curleigh

The Title: This mix was created when my wife and I first started dating. We had silly faux-English nicknames for each other, and her nickname was "Anita Curleigh". I borrowed a bunch of her CDs for this mix, which led to the title.

To create the cover art, I took my teenage head off, and pasted it onto one of my favorite photos of John Lennon. I added tint to my eyeglasses too.

1. The song "Pressure Drop" from the Specials was taken from the Grosse Point Blank soundtrack. I added some dialog from Minnie Driver and John Cusack too.
2. One of my favorite R.E.M. songs is "I Believe"
3. Van Morrison "Back on Top"
4. Aretha Franklin "Rock Steady"
5. The Police "On Any Other Day"
6. The Pursuit of Happiness "She's So Young"
7. Fountains of Wayne "She's Got A Problem"
8. Dave Edmunds "I Hear You Knocking"
9. Beastie Boys "I Don't Know" is a non-rap, semi-instrumental, totally boring track from Hello Nasty.
10. Sheryl Crow "Home"
11. Tori Amos "Mr Zebra" is a short and silly Beatlesque track from Boys for Pele.
12. Joni Mitchell "River"
13. I always liked the combination of Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham's voices on Fleetwood Mac's "Hold Me"
14. Counting Crows "Rain King" (live and acoustic)
15. "Ripple" is the one and only Grateful Dead song I have ever included on a mix.
16. World Party "Put The Message In The Box"
17. Stevie Wonder "Hey Love"
18. From John Lennon's LENNON box set, this is a live recording from an Elton John concert at Madison Square Garden: Elton bet Lennon that if "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" reached Number One on the charts, Lennon would sing it with Elton live in concert. Lennon lost the bet, and this recording is the result!
19. The Band "Acadian Driftwood" from The Last Waltz