Mixology: Sweatmusic, Vol. 12

Mixology is a recurring feature in which I take a look at one of the many mix tapes I made over the years. Some are better than others, but all of them are fun to revisit.

Sweatmusic, Vol. 12 (6/3/89)

Contrary to the name of the tape, this is neither a workout mix (I wasn't doing much working out back then) nor was it the 12th in a series. I was still living at home in Kingston, NH, about three weeks after graduating from UNH, and a mere two days before starting work at my first post-graduation job as a reporter for the Peabody Times (RIP).

My dad gave me my first CD player as a graduation gift, so by this point I had a handful of CDs. The first one I bought was The Cult's Sonic Temple, which had just come out. I also remember hitting the Strawberries in Newington, NH, with my buddy Chris Pollet and getting some reduced-price CDs: Joe Jackson's I'm the Man, The Police's Outlandos D'Amour, the soundtrack to the Who's Kids Are Alright movie, and Jimi Hendrix Live at Winterland. This was in addition to the fairly large vinyl collection I already had. This tape features songs from CD, vinyl and even my cassingle of a U2's "When Love Comes to Town" that had the Patti Smith cover on the flip side.

I wanted to make a new mix to listen to in my new Hyundai Excel hatchback while I schlepped the 45 minutes from Kingston to Peabody every day. After a few months, I tired of the commute and living at home and moved down to the North Shore into a rooming house in the Magnolia section of Gloucester. Anyhoo, on this particular evening, it was particularly hot and humid as I made the mix, so I came up with the clever title based on that alone.

The mix is primarily classic and hard rock with a few newer songs mixed in. A couple from the Who, one from their peak in the early '70s and one of the better songs off the mixed bag that is 1981's Face Dances. The Joe Satriani song reflected my waning love of wank guitar; for a few years, I listened to a lot of that stuff: Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Tony McAlpine. Satriani and Eric Johnson were the most tuneful of those guys, so this song didn't feel totally out of place on this tape. I gave a Can-Rock shout out to Max Webster, one of my favorite bands growing up, and Red Rider, whose "Lunatic Fringe" got a revival in the Matthew Modine wrestling flick Vision Quest.

Listening to this the other day, I realized how much I had loved Robert Plant's first solo album Pictures at Eleven. It wasn't a huge departure from his Zeppelin sound, but I liked his guitarist, Robbie Blunt, a lot. Doobs and I were discussing this album the other day; he called "Slow Dancer," the song on this mix, "Kashmir Jr." Which is true, but I still liked it. Cozy Powell played drums on it and another song on the album; Phil Collins played on everything else.

I listened to this tape a fair amount that summer but it eventually got lost in the shuffle. Hadn't heard it in years before I dug it out a few days ago. It's a great document of a fun time of my life, literally my last days of freedom before I joined the working world.

Side A: It's Not the Heat
My Wife (live) - The Who
I'm the Man - Joe Jackson
Fire Woman - The Cult
Drive My Car - The Beatles
Hole in My Life - The Police
Foxy Lady (live) - Jimi Hendrix
Dancing Barefoot - U2
The Crush of Love - Joe Satriani
Check - Max Webster
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - AC/DC

Side B: It's the Humidity
Hey Hey My My - Neil Young
Gallows Pole - Led Zeppelin
Big Ten Inch Record - Aerosmith
Mean Street - Van Halen
Little T&A - The Rolling Stones
Listen Like Thieves - INXS
Slow Dancer - Robert Plant
Another Tricky Day - The Who
Lunatic Fringe - Red Rider
One Foot Out the Door - Van Halen




Hole in My Life:



Antoher Tricky Day: