For those of us of certain age, who used to hang out in the later part of the 20th century … mix tapes made for yourself and given to friends might be an early equivalent to contemporary social media. Might not.

These mixtape recordings will each be presented as one long file, not broken up by song or piece, just like a mix tape.

The first fine example known as I don’t owe you this!! was made around in later 1983, judging by the audio bouquet of live mushrooms, angst filled thoughts, vandalized burgers and theme parks. This all leads up to some great demo’s and lousy sounding interviews (recorded on trains. Loud trains) with some of London’s finest looking scruffs circa late 1976.

… _ _ _ …

The first guest mixer mix tape in the series is Beauty’s Hurricane. This one made by A.M. in 1986 I believe. Lots of great recognizable and unrecognizable tunes here. Edgy Pre-This and Post-That tunes, mostly UK but not too much.

… _ _ _ …

The Tape of Leisure series were made during a period of time that was very stressful, when I lived in two places that were 150 miles apart. I’d spend 1/2 the week in one place, the other in the other. I made that 3+ hour drive twice a week and needed good music to listen, relax, focus and laugh too. Some wonderfully weird 80’s & 90’s covers of ’60’s tunes. It’s like Wavy Gravy said: The 90’s are just like the ’60’s, if you’re standing on your head.

… _ _ _ …

The next selection is a collection of late 1970’s, UK Mod 45’s. In high school, my friend Sam had all of these records and I recently found the tape that I made back then. Lots of very bright guitars but not the brightest lyrics. Music from bands included are: Secret Affair, Squire, Purple Hearts, The Chords, Lambrettas and Merton Parkas. A nice slice from a small piece of R-N-R history. Psst – that was the Lambretta scooter that I got back then…