Mix Tape of the Day: May 15, 2015 - The Best of 1996

1996! Many exciting things happened that year!  Musically, it gave us a standard set of songs to play on our acoustic guitar at parties, much to everyone's chagrin.

1. If It Makes You Happy - Sheryl Crow (1996) Thanks for being so reliable, Ms. Crow.

2. Wonderwall - Oasis (1995) Everyone is born knowing how to play this song, right?

3. Who Will Save Your Soul - Jewel (1995) The song that introduced us to Jewel and, by default, Jewel's voice.

4. Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla (1995) Yeah, you know this song.  You probably forgot why, but you know it.

5. One of Us - Joan Osborne (1995) Speaking of meeting God, what if he were Alanis Morissette?

6. 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins (1995) This takes me back to my teenage life in the '70s, you know, if I were born 25 years earlier.

7. Follow You Down - Gin Blossoms (1996) Thanks Pandora's '90s Alt. Rock Station for reminding me of this one!

8. Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion (1996) I can't make it through the '90s without including at least one Celine Dion song.

9. Children - Robert Miles (1995) Clubbin' and ravin'.

10. I Love You Always Forever - Donna Lewis (1995) I like this, most of the time.

11. Beautiful Life - Ace of Base (1995) Ace of Base?  At means that that song is going to be coming soon.

12. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something (1994) Oh, this is my favorite.  Well, until...

13. Hook - Blues Traveler (1994) ...the hook brings me back.

Mix Tape of the Day: April 3, 2015 - The Best of 2002

I love the music of 2002.  Maybe because it was the first year that I really started paying attention to the music around me.  Whatever the reason, I found it unbearably hard to make today's mix of 13 songs.  That means, in order to get every song I actually wanted on this list, over the next few days, we'll have some mixes inspired by the songs I left off.

1. Complicated - Avril Lavigne (2002) 2002 was the year we met Avril Lavigne, a common face on my mixes.  It was incredibly hard to choose between this one and "Sk8er Boi," because, while I acknowledge that the latter is sillier, it holds a special place in my heart.  But I ultimately went her first hit, the one that made us all (well, 14-year-old me) fall in love with her.

2. All You Wanted - Michelle Branch (2001) I guess I never realized how important Michelle Branch was to my early teenage years until now.

3. Just Like a Pill - Pink (2001) Although I was more familiar with Pink's "Don't Let Me Get Me," I found myself enjoying this one a bit more.  I think that's because it sounds similar to "Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing.

4. Underneath It All - No Doubt ft. Lady Saw (2001) No Doubt was all over the chart this year!  But none of them can beat "Underneath It All."  No Doubt was a pretty good band, it seems.

5. Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow (2002) Summer isn't here yet but that doesn't mean we can't look forward to the essential summer song of 2002.

6. Hot in Herre - Nelly (2002) Haha, I had to include this one.  It's just so wrong and right at the same time.

7. One Last Breath - Creed (2001) ....Here is the only Creed song we'll ever need.

8. Cleanin' Out My Closet - Eminem (2002) In 2002, I would probably say that I wasn't a fan of Eminem.  Yet I was just inexplicably drawn to this song.  It made me a fan.

9. Wherever You Will Go - The Calling (2001) Yeah, 4 chords!  Give us another jam!

10. No Such Thing - John Mayer (2001) Starting high school with a song about running through the halls of your high school was a perfect correlation.

11. Standing Still - Jewel (2001) These next three songs were probably the whole reason I turned out the way I am today.  When you're 14 years old, these pop rock ladies really speak to your sense of hopeless romance.

12. A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton (2002) Thanks to that magnificent piano and string section, this song is elevated to a grand status.  And while White Chicks was a critically-panned film, I once caught a brief scene on television that featured Terry Crews singing along to this song and I knew it was one of the best scenes ever recorded on film in history.

13. A Moment Like This - Kelly Clarkson (2002) It was all leading up to this moment.  When I started my freshman year of high school, Kelly Clarkson had just become our first American Idol.  And this song spoke to me.  It gave me the impetus to have the best four years of high school possible so that, come senior year, I could experience this very moment.

Mix Tape of the Day: April 1, 2015 - April Fools!

1. Dancin' Fool - Frank Zappa (1979)

2. Why Do Fools Fall in Love? - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1956)

3. Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin (1967)

4. She's a Fool - Lesley Gore (1963)

5. Everybody Plays the Fool - The Main Ingredient (1972)

6. Fool in the Rain - Led Zeppelin (1979)

7. Fools - Alphaville (1994)

8. Foolish Games - Jewel (1995)

9. Lovefool - The Cardigans (1996)

10. The Fool - Lee Ann Womack (1997)

11. Foolin' - Def Leppard (1983)

12. Nobody's Fool - Cinderella (1986)

13. Outro (a.k.a. I'm a Fool to Want You) - M. Ward (2009)

Mix Tape of the Day: March 27, 2015 - The Best of 2003

It's time to take a look at 2003, a year with a lot of great songs to choose from, many of them staples of school dances and bus rides. But once again, I had to settle on the songs I listened to most frequently at the time.

1. Ignition (Remix) - R. Kelly (2003) This song just screams summer vacation for me.  I don't even know what have these lyrics mean, but I love them.  ("It's like Murder, She Wrote once I get you out them clothes"?)

2. Where Is the Love? - The Black Eyed Peas (2003) And in 2003, the question on everyone's mind was "Where is the love?" Another 4 chord song to get us through some difficult times.

3. Like a Stone - Audioslave (2002) Remember Audioslave?  They were pretty cool.

4. Headstrong - Trapt (2002) Thanks to my high school's dance team and their constant performances, I'll always remember this song and the choreography that went along with it.  Especially the sharp movements during that really cool part of the song.

5. She Hates Me - Puddle of Mudd (2001) Maybe you find this song a bit too whiny, but sometimes, when you're upset, you need a song like this to get you through.

6. When I'm Gone - 3 Doors Down (2002) Ladies and gentlemen, 3 Doors Down!  Love them when they're gone!

7. Your Body Is a Wonderland - John Mayer (2001) Good ol' John Mayer, giving us the sweet love songs that were missing from the radio in 2003.

8. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence (2003) Finally, the big Evanescence song that we all know and love and sing to our children.

9. Fighter - Christina Aguilera (2002) 2003 was just filled with Christina Aguilera's female empowerment songs.  Since we already listened to "Beautiful," let's listen to "Fighter."

10. Are You Happy Now? - Michelle Branch (2003) Oh yeah, Michelle Branch was a person!  She was everywhere to me at one point.  Sorry that I forgot about you for a moment there!

11. I'm with You - Avril Lavigne (2002) After the success of "Sk8r Boi," many worried that Avril Lavigne would be a one trick pony, lost in the crowded genre among the Spearses and the Aguileras.  But "I'm with You" should she had some depth and that she'd be here to stay.

12. Don't Know Why - Norah Jones (2002) It was either this or the biggest hit of 2003, 50 Cent's "In da Club."  I was in more of a Norah Jones mood today.

13. Intuition - Jewel (2001) I did not realize that this was a Jewel song.  It doesn't sound like what I soundpicture a Jewel song to...sound like.  But it's pretty cool and one of my favorites of the year.