Mixology: Songs for the Terminally Deranged

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.

Songs for the Terminally Deranged (9/10/93)

I've documented in the past about the suckiosity of 1993 for me, so there's no need to go into that now. At the time this mix was made, I was living in Middleton, working a copy desk job at the paper that I believe was giving me an ulcer, single and generally unhappy. Hey, shit happens. I prefer to dwell on the positives: It was a good year for rock.

I saw a lot of rock shows in '93, most of them with my brother, who was still living with our parents and had just graduated from Dartmouth. I saw Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney, Living Colour, The Tragically Hip. Two days before I made this mix, we went to see Urge Overkill at the Paradise in a particularly excellent show.

A few months earlier, we went to Lollapalooza. We had an excellent time in 1992 seeing the show at Great Woods in Mansfield (now known as the Comcast Center). It was a hell of a bill: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry, Ice Cube, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Lush. By the time it got dark, the fans on the lawn were going nuts for Ministry, who were awesome, and ripped up the back fence to start a bonfire, which they then danced around. It was pretty cool to look at from our vantage point in the seats, but it got the festival banned for a few years from Mansfield.

So in '93, we had to schlep out to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, to a former Air Force base. It wasn't that much further away, but it took us forever to drive the last few miles to get into the place. As a result, we missed the first few bands including Tool and Rage Against the Machine. I went with my brother and his girlfriend, but unlike the year before, there were no seats. It was just a zillion people in a huge dusty field and the crowd surfing was relentless. There was literally no relief from the jabronies flying overhead, kicking you in the skull or shoving you. JP and I basically spent the whole time protecting Angela from flying meatheads. It was exhausting. It was hard to enjoy the show, which was pretty good, with bands like Fishbone, Alice in Chains, Primus and Dinosaur Jr. We were all covered in an inch-thick layer of dust by the time the thing was over. I was 25, but I already felt like I was too old for that standing-in-a-field BS.

Also that summer, I drove my brother to New York City for the day so he could interview for a law firm internship. While JP was at the interview, I met up with my old buddy Bryan, who was interning at People Magazine in the city. JP didn't get the internship, but he ended up interning at a law firm in Exeter and digging it, and eventually went to law school the next year down in Austin and became a law-talking guy.

As for me, the highlight of 1993 was when the Blue Jays beat the Phillies in the World Series for their second straight title on Joe Carter's historic homer. And then the year was over, and I was thankful.

Side A
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Sister Havana - Urge Overkill
Ugly Truth Rock - Matthew Sweet
Los Angeles - Frank Black
Someday I Suppose - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Touch Me I'm Sick - Mudhoney
Swallow My Pride - Soundgarden
Aneurysm - Nirvana
Kool Thing - Sonic Youth
50-ft. Queenie - PJ Harvey
The Downward Road - The Pursuit of Happiness
Tommy the Cat - Primus
Catholic School Girls Rule - Red Hot Chili Peppers
N.F.B. - Anthrax
Rudderless - Lemonheads

Side B
New Orleans is Sinking - The Tragically Hip
Toys in the Attic - R.E.M.
Dancing in the Moonlight - Thin Lizzy
Here Among the Cats - Max Webster
Intruder - Peter Gabriel
Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car - U2
I Should've Known - Aimee Mann
Knowing People - Matthew Sweet
Positive Bleeding - Urge Overkill
Quiet - Smashing Pumpkins
Dive - Nirvana
You Got It (Keep It to Yourself) - Mudhoney
Me-Jane - PJ Harvey




Los Angeles:


Dancing in the Moonlight: