Mix Tape of the Day: June 6, 2015 - The Funnest Day!

Let's listen to fun songs! I'm in a great mood!

1. Shout - The Isley Brothers (1959)

2. Try a Little Tenderness (Live) - Otis Redding (1966)

3. The Ballroom Blitz - The Sweet (1973)

4. I Feel Love - Donna Summer (1977)

5. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister (1984)

6. Heaven Is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle (1987)

7. Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger (1997)

8. What's My Age Again? - blink-182 (1999)

9. 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) - Gorillaz (2001)

10. Fat Lip - Sum 41 (2001)

11. Sugar Tunes Numa Numa - Balan (2006)

12. How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty (2007)

13. Tongue Tied/I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Live) - Grouplove (2011)

Mix Tape of the Day: May 14, 2015 - The UFOs Have Landed!

It's the UFO Festival here in McMinnville, OR, so I've decided to check out some classic extraterrestrial songs!

1. Mr. Spaceman - The Byrds (1956)

2. The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley (1958)

3. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft - Klaatu (1976)

4. Come Sail Away - Styx (1977)

5. I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock of Seagulls (1982)

6. Astro Zombies - Misfits (1982)

7. Slime Creatures from Outer Space - "Weird Al" Yankovic (1985)

8. The Final Countdown - Europe (1986)

9. Pets - Porno for Pyros (1993)

10. Subterranean Homesick Alien - Radiohead (1997)

11. Intergalactic - Beastie Boys (1998)

12. Aliens Exist - Blink-182 (1999)

13. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois - Sufjan Stevens (2005)

Mix Tape of the Day: May 4, 2015 - Star Wars! Nothing But Star Wars!

1. Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band - Meco (1977) Welcome to 1977! Star Wars is popular! Disco is popular! It's a match made in heaven!  (In actuality, I'm saving the actual Star Wars theme for my John Williams day.)

2. Binary Sunset - John Williams (1977) First, we'll start with a calming look at the journey head, as Luke prepares to leave his home behind.

3. Yoda's Theme - John Williams (1980) And now, a trip to Dagobah to see our favorite wrinkly, green Muppet Jedi, Yoda.

4. Luke and Leia - John Williams (1983) I'm sticking with the calm themes for now, because things are about to get intense.

5. Duel of the Fates - John Williams (1999) The best feature of the prequel trilogy was undoubtedly John Williams's flawless score.  "Duel of the Fates" just sets up the epic story so well.

6. Across the Stars - John Williams (2002) For Attack of the Clones, love was the main theme that Williams worked with.  Try to ignore the actual reasons that brought this music into existence and just enjoy it.

7. Battle of the Heroes - John Williams (2005) And the main theme for Revenge of the Sith was fighting! So here's your final (but really the original) Anakin/Obi-Wan battle music.

8. The Saga Begins - "Weird Al" Yankovic (1999) Let's take a break from John Williams and hear from some other musicians.  First up, since I already played "Yoda" for you, here's Weird Al's other Star Wars song which is unfortunately about The Phantom Menace.

9. A New Hope - Blink-182 (1997) A Blink-182 love song to Princess Leia.  First, imagine it in your head and then press play.  The same exact song just played!  Wasn't that a neat trick?!

10. Goodnight - Shabutie (1999) I was surprised at how many people have actually written songs just about Star Wars.  This one takes the common indie route of linking Star Wars with childhood nostalgia and growing up.

11. Ewok Celebration - John Williams (1983) Yub nub!

12. The Imperial March - Darth Vader's Theme - John Williams (1980) The classic Darth Vader theme.  You know the one.

13. The Throne Room/End Title - John Williams (1977) Of course, we're going to end things right with the closing music to the original Star Wars!  What else?!

Mix Tape of the Day: April 17, 2015 - The Best of 2000

This is a first.  All of my favorite songs from 2000 were actually from 1999 or before, technically.  Well, there is one that I could have used, but we're going to listen to that one tomorrow.  For now, it's Y2K all over again.

1. Blue (Da Ba Dee) - Eiffel 65 (1999) I used to think this was deep and/or technically impressive, what with it's jumbled and indecipherable lyrics.  Then, thanks to a recent history lesson, I learned that it was just dumb, poorly translated Europop.  It's still amazing.

2. Better Off Alone - Alice Deejay (1998) Speaking of European club tracks, how about this one.  Thanks to my high school techno rave class, I learned about all these great tunes.

3. It Feels So Good - Sonique (1998) Let's keep grooving to this beat.

4. I Try - Macy Gray (1999) This is the song of the year 2000 for me.  Thanks to the constant "Now That's What I Call Music" ads I saw every day after school, I remember seeing the chorus of this song over and over again.

5. The Way You Love Me - Faith Hill (1999) Faith Hill sure loves love.

6. Waiting for Tonight - Jennifer Lopez (1999) Did you know that the actress who played Jack's teacher in Francis Ford Coppola's critically-acclaimed film Jack is the performer behind this song?!

7. All the Small Things - Blink-182 (1999) Where would we be without Enema of the State?  Probably acting our age.

8. Higher - Creed (1999) I lied last week.  Here's more Creed.  Sorry.

9. Back Here - BBMak (1999) I used to think they were saying "Don't turn your back on me, baby," instead of "Until you're back here, baby" until today.

10. Never Let You Go - Third Eye Blind (1999) Why has it taken me so long to feature a Third Eye Blind song?!

11. You Sang to Me - Marc Anthony (1999) I kicked off Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You" for this one.  I hadn't really paid it much attention to it until today, but it's a great love song in a year full of them.

12. Everything You Want - Vertical Horizon (1999) Some songs you just really connect to, you know?

13. Desert Rose - Sting (1999) Maybe it's due to the proximity in which I first heard them, but I always consider this to be a companion piece to Enya's "Only Time."  I love listening to both in the same sitting.  One takes me to a lush, relaxing, wet forest full of life while the other takes me to a dry, mystical, colorful desert filled with emptiness.