Remember when you actually had to listen to the radio to hear your favorite song? And remember when you would stub your toe tripping over your Jansport so you could record the song onto the blank tape you had waiting for such a time as this? And remember how you really hoped the deejay guy wouldn’t talk over the first part of the song so you could get a genuine, mix tape worthy recording?
And remember when you and your best friend would sit on her bed for hours, mentally grouping every 3 songs that came on together to play “past, present, future”? Remember how you always hoped that your future song would be Save the Best For Last by Vanessa Williams because that meant the best was yet to come? Remember that?
I found these in my attic today.
One is simply labeled 1993.
All I can say is, thank God for iTunes.
Darla says
March 11, 2008 at 7:16 AMROFL! My friend “Accountable” did the SAME post and said just about the SAME thing you did (and I know you don’t know each other).
Check it out tho:
http://itisjustallaboutme.wordpress.com/2008/02/16/music-a-series/
Sister Honey Bunch says
March 11, 2008 at 7:34 AMDude, you have to share the songs on 1993 with us. This was just a mean way to leave us hanging.
Heather says
March 11, 2008 at 7:54 AMYES!! Yes, I do remember making mix tapes on my boom box. And now I’m going into some kind of panic attack remembering the 80’s…and the first part of the 90’s for that matter.
cynthia says
March 11, 2008 at 8:40 AMi was more of an 80’s kinda girl, atleast the way you described it…listening to “Love Songs”, boy that takes me back !
fun memories.
Jennifer P. says
March 11, 2008 at 10:20 AMI still have one of those big zipper cases FULL of tapes. We have a portable stereo that has a tape player, and so I think maybe, maybe one day I will play them again! Mostly I remember how I had to save two allowances to be able to buy one tape–and how it took me almost a year to collect everything Erasure had recorded. And the Depeche Mode. I was the most popular girl at the party dragging in my big zipper case of new wave goodness :)! Hard to part with the past, but I must say the future is much less space consuming!
Thanks for such a fun trip down memory lane. I love the way your “Saved the Best for Last” song sounds recorded! Are you ever going to tell us what’s on the 1993 tape? That’s the year I graduated, so I might even be able to guess a few of them :)!
Wilson Ramblings says
March 11, 2008 at 11:55 AMOh my goodness – can you believe that we’ve moved from tapes to cds to mp3s to whatever you call itunes stuff? I still have boxes and boxes of tapes. I just can’t let go of them, but have no use for them… do I even have anything to play them with? What were some of your favorites that you found on those tapes?
Curtis, Alicia and Xavier Brown says
March 11, 2008 at 11:55 AMOkay, I’m in tears just from seeing “To Emily, Love Brandy”. I’m jealous you have that. What songs are on it? Boy, do I miss that girl . . . Jenny Dolder and I were talking about her Saturday on the way to Henry Walvoord’s 1st birthday party. I still have that tape that you gave me in high school. Remember???
minnesotamom says
March 11, 2008 at 12:59 PMMan, do I remember that! To this day I associate certain songs with specific “taglines” from a DJ at the beginning or end. For instance, whenever I hear “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” I hear in my mind a man’s voice saying: “Take us along baby, this is Zippo in the morning!”
Ugh. But funny!
emily says
March 11, 2008 at 1:49 PMHa! I do that too! And I’m always surprised that Fields of Gold actually has a first verse, as all my recordings of it are only of the second.
Debbie says
March 11, 2008 at 4:46 PMOh Emily. I have a rubbermaid bin full of tapes that we mixed in college, but it was the EARLY 80’s. I just don’t know what to do with them. I have a cassette player and feel a little guilty parting with them because they were part of my youth. But really, what am I going to do with them? Heck I still have vinyl albums. Yes, I am that old. But I don’t have a record player…lot of good that will do, huh.
Tracey says
March 11, 2008 at 6:43 PMI can remember being camped out next to the radio with my finger on the record button of my tape player (we didn’t have boom boxes yet, circa 1980) waiting for Rick Springfield, Jesse’s Girl and trying to time it just right so it sounded perfect.
Did you see him on Oprah a week or so ago? I think I still have a crush on him.
Sarah says
March 11, 2008 at 7:24 PMAh, the days of mix tapes. I felt my age recently when talking with a young 22 year old teaching colleague about transferring audio book tapes from CD to tapes so they would play in our classroom listening centers. Her response: “Why would you do that? Where do you buy tapes anyway? How do you make a tape from a CD? Why would you not download it and burn it to a CD” Girls, she DID NOT KNOW anything about mix tapes, dubbing, or even the form of media itself. WE ARE A DYING BREED…THE LAST GENERATION OF TAPERS! Thanks for that post, Emily, and for the one with your pics! They are great!
Debbie says
March 11, 2008 at 8:50 PMDon’t forget–a mix tape was the PERFECT gift. Best friend or boyfriend, birthday or break up.
My tub is around here somewhere. One of these days I’ll dust it off!