Mixology: Way Cool Tunes

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.

Way Cool Tunes (3/26/91)

Early 1991 was an interesting time. The Gulf War had begun in January, with the U.S. invading Iraq to liberate the poor sheiks of Kuwait. Names like Dr. Jack Kevorkian and Rodney King were introduced into the public consciousness. And I was a 23-year-old covering School Committee meetings for the Peabody Times.

I was living with a fellow reporter in a crappy apartment on the awesomely named Butman Street in Beverly. It faced a cemetery, which made for some creepy foggy mornings from time to time. It was one of three apartments I would rent within a 1-mile radius over the years, in addition to many others. Someday I'll write about each of those places. I moved a lot in those pre-marriage days. At the Butman place, our landlord wasn't big on so-called "amenities" like "heat" and "hot water." I remember winning $225 on a square in the Super Bowl pool that January (had Bills kicker Scott Norwood not missed a field goal in the dying seconds, I would have had another $250) and literally giving it right to the oil guy because our heat ran out the next day. Brutal. I was dating a woman whom I'd eventually move in with about three months later after the Butman Street lease was up.

I saw a lot of bands that year: Iron Maiden at the Worcester Centrum in January; Living Colour at UNH and INXS at the Centrum in February; An Emotional Fish at the Paradise and George Thorogood/Barrence Whitfield and the Savages at the Orpheum in March; The Tragically Hip (the first of many shows by the Hip) at the Paradise and the WFNX Best Music Poll show at the Orpheum (featuring Iggy Pop) in April; and Lenny Kravitz at the Orpheum in November. I also reviewed a Jay Leno show at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly in August and even got picked on by the big-chinned one; this was back when he was funny.

This was also the year that we got a coed softball team started at the paper. A few years later, I took over as captain and ran it for another 14 years (and 18,000 beers) or so.

This mix was full of stuff I was digging at the time, which cut a pretty wide swath from alt-rock (REM, The Cure, B-52s) to geezer rock (Roger McGuinn, Robert Cray) to one-hit wonders (Urban Dance Squad, An Emotional Fish) to hard rock/metal (Queensrych, DLR, King's X, Masters of Reality, Anthrax) to just good ol' rock (Pretenders, Tragically Hip) to James frickin' Brown.

It was a good year for the most part and at times, I actually did feel better than James Brown.

Side A
Celebrate - An Emotional Fish
Radio Song - R.E.M. (with KRS-One)
Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
King of the Hill - Roger McGuinn (with Tom Petty)
Deeper Shade of Soul - Urban Dance Squad
Little Bones - The Tragically Hip
These Things - Robert Cray
The Dogtown Shuffle - David Lee Roth
Theme for the Scientist of the Invisible/Domino - Masters of Reality
Mr. Wilson - King's X

Side B
Silent Lucidity - Queensryche
Jeremiah Blues (Pt. 1) - Sting
Channel Z - The B-52s
Fascination Street - The Cure
I Feel Better Than James Brown - Was (Not Was)
It May Be the Last Time - James Brown
Got the Time - Anthrax
Battleship Chains - Hindu Love Gods
Hold a Candle to This - The Pretenders
Fight - The Tragically Hip





Celebrate:


Domino (Funny, hadn't seen this before, I always thought this song would work great in an action flick. Apparently, Seagal agreed):