Songs mentioned on mix tapes in book "Love is a Mix Tape"
Publisher’s Weekly reviewed it thusly:
"A celebratory eulogy for life in "the decade of Nirvana," rock critic (Rob) Sheffield’s captivating memoir uses 22 "mix tapes" to describe his being "tangled up" in the "noisy, juicy, sparkly life" of his wife, Renee, from the time they met in 1989 to her sudden death from a pulmonary embolism in 1997. Each chapter begins with song titles from the couple’s myriad mixes—"Tapes for making out, tapes for dancing, tapes for falling asleep"—and uses them to describe a beautiful love story: "a real cool hell-raising Appalachian punk-rock girl" meeting in graduate school a "hermit wolfboy, scared of life, hiding in my room with my records," and how they built a tender relationship on the music they loved, from the Meat Puppets to Hank Williams. "
Because of my list-making compulsion, of course I needed to share these with you. Here are the mix tape songs Sheffield mentions in the book. Several turn up many times but they’re only on this list once. After this are the 22 tapes contents with the title, #s they are on the list below, and interesting/quirky comments about them:
1) RUMBLEFISH "She recorded it over a promo cassette by some band called Drunken Boat.." #1-19
2)HEY JUDE "As my Dad and I sat around the house one Saturday afternoon, playing Beatles records, we started batting around the idea that it was theoretically possible to loop a version of ‘Hey Jude" long enough to fill up an entire cassette." That is exactly what this tape is… #20
3)ROLLER BOOGIE-Tape made for Sheffield’s 8th grade dance. "Girls did not care whether a dance tape had the live version of "Carry On Wayward Son" or the studio version. In fact, they did not want to hear "Carry On Wayward Son" at all." #21-42
4)TAPE 635-Recorded circa 1980-1981 for Catholic summer camp (Camp Don Bosco, East Barrington, New Hampshire. A fellow camper and tough guy once confided privately:"I hate disco people-you know, disco PANTS. But there are some disco SONGS, you know, like ‘Funkytown’, that rock." #43-60
5)LOVE MAKES ME DO FOOLISH THINGS-Made after his first breakup, age 21. #61-83
6)BIG STAR:FOR RENEE First mix tape he ever gave his 1st wife, for which the book was written. #84-115
7)SHEENA WAS A MAN- November 1989. Nothing really said about tape specifically. #116-131
8)PERSONICS-This was fad in early 90s where you paid a small amount per song to choose tunes from catalogue and have a custom tape made. "The worst song on this tape is ‘Bird Song’ by the Holy Modal Rounders, which I had never even heard before; I included it because I was curious how bad a song had to be to cost only 50 cents in the Personics booklet." #132-142
9)A LITTLE DOWN,A LITTLE DUVET-"Renee made this tape for us to listen to while falling asleep.." #143-170
10)THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT-July 1991. No anecdotes. #171-196
11)THE COMFORT ZONE-Top 40 of the time. "In some circles, admitting you love Top 40 radio is tantamount to bragging you gave your grandmother the clap, in church, in the front row at your aunt’s funeral, but those are the circles I avoid like the plague, or, for that matter, the clap." #197-223
12)DANCING WITH MYSELF-August 1993. Relates that Kristi Yamaguchi said she psyched herself up for her routines by listening to her favorite band, Nirvana, backstage. "it was an epiphanic moment-punk rock was now music that even figure-skater girls could listen to. The door was open. Our turn had arrived." #224-249
13)HOW I GOT THAT LOOK The title came from a monthly feature in one of her favorite glossy fashion mags, a feature that gave away the secrets of the supermodels. Side One was titled ‘Pink Chocolate Lipstick’. Side Two was titled ‘Laminates and Molding Mud’. #250-277
14)52 GIRLS ON FILM-"Every time I have a crush on a woman, I have the same fantasy: I imagine the two of us as a synth-pop duo." # 278 – 306
15)CRAZY FEELING-Recorded 2 months before Renee’s sudden death. #307-333
16)PARAMOUNT HOTEL-2 months after. "There was a lot of music that summer. I made tapes for the long nights when I would sit out all night in my backyard chair, smoking Camel Lights and listening to my Walkman, staring out into the black woods at the edge of the backyard….Anything to keep from going back into my empty bed in our empty house." #334-361
17)MMMROB-"Hanson’s ‘MMMBop’ and Missy Elliott’s ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ were the first new pop songs I loved that I couldn’t share with Renee." #362-390
18)HYPNOTIZE-October 1997. #391- 411
19)JACKIE BLUE-February 1998. Nice anecdote about Jackie Onassis but too long to relate. #412-438
20)GLOSSIN’ AND FLOSSIN’-December 1998. "This is a classic example of a tape that tries to ruin a bunch of great songs by reminding you of a time you would rather forget." #439-459
21)BLUE RIDGE GOLD-Nice anecdote about his friends hating an AM "Music of your Life" station Rob was addicted to. "The station was stuck in 1963.." This was one of a series of "Cavalier Memories AM 1600" type music. #460-493
22)VIA VESPUCCI-"I made this tape while moving into my new apartment in Brooklyn."
Final note: In acknowledgements Sheffield thanks band Dump for "my favorite song ‘International Airport’ and to everybody who’s ever listened to it on a mix tape from me. I don’t think it’s anybody else’s favorite song yet, but you never know."
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