Mix Tape of the Day: April 6, 2015 - Power Pop!

The fun part of this blog is when I learn something new.  For example, I now know that there is a genre that consists of my favorite type of music that I have been unable to classify up until this point.  See, I wanted to do a list featuring certain songs that were only tangentially related content-wise and I was wondering why I picked this collection of songs to feature together.  I looked them up and learned that they all belonged to the genre known as "power pop," which is like a harder rock version of "pop rock."  Whatever the distinction is, I'm glad I can finally have a go-to answer when people ask what kind of music I like.

(This list is far from complete, as many will be appearing on later mixes.)

1. Surrender - Cheap Trick (1978) I love this song!  And I never realized it was one of the earliest examples of this genre (I mean technically, the earliest exaples would be from the '60s, but this is the song that made the genre popular).

2. Just What I Needed - The Cars (1978) "I needed someone to bleed...at Circuit City." - Circuit City ad circa 2005

3. My Sharona - The Knack (1979) In Eerie, Indiana, a man switched his mind with an 8-track tape of this song.  That's fantastic.

4. Turning Japanese - The Vapors (1980) Haha, yeah, this one counts too.

5. What I Like About You - The Romantics (1980) The '60s influence really shows in this one.  Doesn't get better than this.

6. 867-5309/Jenny - Tommy Tutone (1981) Yep, the signature sound of the early '80s is all thanks to the power pop genre.

7. Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield (1981) Be honest, you get this one confused with "My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars  and "Jenny" all the time just like I do.  Well, now you know the reason!

8. Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols (2000) After a couple decades of a power pop dry spell, it's second heyday came back.  Probably due to that whole "20 year nostalgia law" where kids of the past grow up to become artists who repeat what they experienced in their youth. Let's start with a song that caught me off guard the first time I heard it and stuck with me ever since.

9. Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne (2002) This is the original song that sparked my quest to uncover today's genre.  I originally just knew I wanted to do a mix with this song and I immediately thought of "Bohemian Like You," and then I wondered, "What other songs work with these two?"  And I ended up featuring nearly every song I've wanted to use on a mix thus far with no qualms because they all go together!  I am no longer ashamed of loving this song so much.

10. Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne (2003) I also discovered that there is a theory that links all the major power pop songs together.  "What if Stacy's mom was Jessie's girl and her number was 867-5309?" Pure genius.

11. I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs (2004) Hey, this one counts too!  All my faves!

12. 1985 - Bowling for Soup (2004) I nearly overlooked this gem! It was even telling me to put it on the list with it's ode to the '80s when power pop was still going strong.  Fun Fact! In high school, I had this on a mix CD right after "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys.  It was a purely random placement, but after digging up my old CDs, I discovered that the two are the exact same melody, only "1985" has a faster tempo.  Somebody even mashed them up with ease!

13. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer (2009) Thanks Weezer, for keeping this genre alive today.

Mix Tape of the Day: March 21, 2015 - Music from the O.C.: California, Here We Come

This is one of the first mixes I've wanted to do ever since starting this project, and I'm happy to finally have this opportunity.  Tomorrow, I'm heading to Orange County and that means it's time to share some of the brilliant, wonderful music of one of my favorite series of all time The O.C.  (I loved it mostly for the music. It was my first foray into the daunting world of indie music.)

1. California - Phantom Planet (2002) Gotta start with the series theme song of course.  Ever since that first episode premiered, this song has been forever linked with the west coast in my mind.  Fun fact! I watched the first episode of The O.C. when it premiered because I remember all the ads making it look like a terrible ridiculous show, so I wanted to see the train wreck.  Instead, I became a fan for life, due to the great writing, humor, pathos, and of course, the music.

2. Saturday Morning - Eels (2003) As I write this, it is Saturday morning.  And I've got a long day ahead of me.

3. Honey and the Moon - Joseph Arthur (2002) I received the first two O.C. mixes for my 17th birthday and I just fell in love with them.  Had they been vinyl records, they'd be worn to dust by now.  There weren't just fun songs.  There were songs that spoke to my heart.

4. A Lack of Color - Death Cab for Cutie (2003) One of the best characters on the show was the "geeky" Seth Cohen.  And he was our prototypical mid-2000s version of a geek.  But he wasn't an offensive stereotype.  He was self-aware and multi-dimensional.  He made the "Seth Cohen Starter Pack" to allow newcomers to get to know him better, so I had to include an element of that kit here in the form of this song.

5. We Used to Be Friends - The Dandy Warhols (2003) Maybe you know this as the Veronica Mars theme song (which was also a wonderful show), but I was first introduced to it through The O.C., so it will always be a part of my memories with that show.

6. Specialist - Interpol (2002) This one I can't quite put my finger on.  I don't really understand it, but I can't stop listening to it.

7. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap (2005) Thanks to the hilarious "Dear Sister" sketch from SNL that spoofed the Season 2 finale of The O.C., this song has become somewhat of a joke.  But if you can remove yourself from that absurdity, you're left with a haunting song.

8. Something Pretty - Patrick Park (2003) I'm not one for lyrics in my songs.  It's often the music that gets me.  But this lovely folksy song just paints a great picture with it's imagery.  "I'm the 'OPEN' sign that's always busted." What a great metaphor.

9. Walnut Tree - Keane (2004) When I listened to my mixes, this would always be the song I'd look forward to the most.  Keane just has that effect on me.  I once listened to this song on a particularly long train ride as I was leaving a dear friend behind, never quite knowing when I'd see her again.  So now I've got that memory linked with this one.

10. Eastern Glow - The Album Leaf (2004) This is my go to sunrise song especially if you manage to see it after staying up all night.  But I haven't yet had the opportunity to synch the two up just right.  Hopefully there will be a sunrise in my future where I remember to play this song.

11. Dice - Finley Quaye (2003) Favorite moment of the series?  Well that has to be when Ryan races against the clock to tell Marissa he loves her at midnight on New Year's Eve.  Writing that out seems like such a cheeseball story element, but in context, with this song in the background, it is perfect television.

12. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley (1994) Thanks to...Shrek, I was already a fan of this song.  But when Marissa played this song for Ryan in the second episode of the series, saying it reminded her of him, I knew that this was a special show.

13. Forever Young - Youth Group (2006) Here it is.  My second favorite song of all time.  A cover of Alphaville's "Forever Young" that was commissioned for the show.  Just as "Hallelujah" was the first song Marissa played for Ryan, this one was the last.  That "whatever song comes up next on the radio will be our song" scene is one of my favorites in the show's history.  My high school life ran right alongside that of Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Summer.  I graduated when they graduated.  And this song came out just in time for the senior prom.  It was my end of the year anthem, and remains to this day my favorite song (save for one other).

Mix Tape of the Day: March 14, 2015 - Pi Day

How am I going to do a Pi Day mix?  Why, by choosing a bunch of songs with a runtime of 3 minutes and 14 seconds of course!  I'm going by official album track listings, so while the links may be off by a few seconds, there was still good intention behind each choice.  This is going to be a strange one.

1. Stay with You - Lemon Jelly (2004) To get us ready for this eclectic mix of songs, it's only fitting that we start with this electronic house music.  Just endlessly repeating the same phrase over and over, like a circle.

2. My Number One - Luv' (1980) More like "My Number Pi," amirite?

3. Waiting - Green Day (2000) Green Day just keeps popping up!  Can't keep them down.  Just like pi...

4. NYC Beat - Armand Van Helden (2007) How do you like them apple pi?

5. There's No Other Way - Blur (1991) This is to make up for the day that I skipped out on making a Blur mix.

6. Light Up the Night - Boyzone (2013) Can a 20-year-old boy band still call themselves "Boyzone"?

7. Bad Boy - Cascada (2004) This is the first song that comes up when you search Wikipedia for songs with a length of 3:14.  So It must be historically significant.

8. Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths (1986) I'm going to have to wean myself on to the Smiths.  I know that they are supposed to be the band you list as your favorite if you want to call yourself a music critic, but it's daunting to go into their work unfamiliar with their catalog.

9. Let's Work Together - Canned Heat (1970) Hey! A song that I actually knew before starting this endeavor!  Since pop songs are required to be between 3 and 4 minutes for radio airplay, I thought I'd encounter many more familiar songs.

10. Celebrate - Three Dog Night (1969) Oh, right, we are here to celebrate pi!

11. Time is Tight - Booker T. and the MG's (1969) If you're thinking to yourself, "This sounds like the intro for the Blues Brothers," you are not alone.  It was influenced by "I Can't Turn You Loose" and the Blue Brothers would pair the two similar instrumental pieces together to make an extended epic intro.

12. Horny as a Dandy - Mousse T. vs. The Dandy Warhols (2006) Here's a mashup of Mousse T.'s "Horny" and the Dandy Warhols' "Bohemian Like You."  Had it not been 3 minutes and 14 seconds long, I would have never discovered it.  And my life is all the better for that random time code.

13. Invincible - Lemar (2012) Like Lemar, pi is invincible.  It'll always go on forever and ever.  And this song is just an incredible feat, worthy of infinity.