Mixology: Great Googily Moogily!

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.

Great Googily Moogily! (7/1/98)

In retrospect, 1998 had a lot going on. President Clinton became embroiled in the whole Paula Jones/Monica Lewinsky scandal that nearly derailed his presidency. The U.S. started voicing concerns about the possibility of Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. The Unabomber pleaded guilty. A startup called Google launched in California. Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota.

As for me, I was in a pretty good place, all things considered. Deb and I had been dating for nearly a year. I was 30, living with a couple of buddies of mine, renting out half a house in a nice residential neighborhood. Work was going well; I was a supervisor with a good staff working for me. That summer, I played a lot of softball and golf and drank a lot of beer. I honestly can't think of anything that wasn't going well.

I didn't go to a ton of shows in the first half of the year, seeing the Foo Fighters a couple of times in Boston and Portland, the Tragically Hip twice at Bill's Bar (legendary!) and later in the year at the Orpheum with Cracker, Girls Against Boys at the Karma Club, Cheap Trick and the Afghan Whigs, both at the Paradise and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at Avalon. I only saw a couple of Sox games, but I went to a bunch of Bruins games, saw the Patriots play down in New Orleans while I was there on business, saw UNH football play at Northeastern and in December, flew up to Toronto to catch one last game at Maple Leaf Gardens. My buddy Phil went with me and we were going to meet my brother, who was flying in from Texas; he ended up missing his flight and we traded our three tickets to a scalper for two and some cash. The Leafs ended up getting shut out by Eric Lindros and the Flyers, 3-0, but we had a blast.

As for the mix, it was on a 110-minute tape, hence the extra-long playlist. The first side was full of some older funk and rock favorites of mine, while the second side was mainly newer stuff I was listening to. The whole thing holds up pretty well.

Side A: Googily
It's Your Life - Lenny Kravitz
Give It Up or Turnit a Loose - James Brown
Word Up - Cameo
U Got the Look - Prince
Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing - Living Colour
Freedom - Jimi Hendrix
I Can See for Miles - The Who
Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
The Girl I Love She Got Long Wavy Black Hair - Led Zeppelin
Let There Be Rock - AC/DC
Godzilla - Blue Oyster Cult
Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie

Side B: Moogily
Dive - Nirvana
The Guns of Brixton - The Clash
Right Turn - Alice in Chains
Ty Cobb - Soundgarden
Heroin Girl - Everclear
Hey Johnny Park! - Foo Fighters
Siva - Smashing Pumpkins
Worst Thing - Sebadoh
Back in the State - Rocket From the Crypt
Last Cup of Sorrow - Faith No More
Park Avenue - Girls Against Boys
Party Hard - Pulp
Electioneering - Radiohead
Where You Get Love - Matthew Sweet
Money City Maniacs - Sloan
Someone Who's Cool - Odds




Great googily moogily:


Live Godzilla from 1980:


Last Cup of Sorrow: