More Mixtape Madness

Oh man, what a great tape!!

A few nights ago my sister dug out a tape I had made for her 21st birthday party. Whether she had requested that I make it or I'd just done it to be nice is not clear, but make it I did, in classic Jeff style. As soon as we started to listen to it, it all came flooding back to me.

I had armed myself as usual with a stack of records, some mine, some Sis's (I can't be sure, but I think I had probably discussed the ones she wanted on the tape, although I could probably have guessed most of them). Sat myself down with my headphones on while in the same room my mother, my Sister and girlfriend Laura sat and watched TV. As I had a mic hooked up to the stereo I could mix in TV sounds as the music played, and at one point cajoled Laura into saying the words "get down" at the end of one track. Listening back to it 22 years on was a trip down memory lane for sure. OK, you're saying to yourselves, don't keep us in suspenders, Jeff. What was the track listing? Oh, dear reader, I knew you were gonna ask that question.

Uh-oh, hang on, those titles on side 2 are a bit long, there must be more...

Yep. Thought so.

Just in case you are having trouble deciphering the handwriting, the track listing is as follows:

Side 1

• Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria (12")
• Red Box - Chenko (12")
• Peter Gabriel - Big Time (12")
• Soft Cell - Down In The Subway
• The Cure - In Between Days (12")
• New Order - Blue Monday (12")
• Hipsway - The Honeythief (12")
• Morrissey - Suedehead (12")
• Marc Almond - The Boy Who Came Back

Side 2

• The Cure - Hot Hot Hot!!! (12")
• Blancmange - That's Love, That It Is
• Soft Cell - Bedsitter (12")
• Echo & The Bunnymen - People Are Strange
• Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth (12")
• The Smiths - Shakespeare's Sister
• Intaferon - Baby Pain (12")
• The Blue Nile - Tinseltown In The Rain (12")
• Thomas Dolby - I Scare Myself
• Aztec Camera - Jump

Pretty damn good if I say so myself. As I say, this groovy tape was made for my sister's 21st birthday party in 1988. The title of the tape (I gave all my tapes titles) was a quote from one of our favourite shows, the brilliant yet underrated Filthy, Rich & Catflap, starring Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson and Nigel Planer.

The quote was "...the most disgusting, debauched, depraved.... PAAAARTY!!". And no, the party wasn't any of those things. But the music was bloody good.