Side A
Depeche Mode-Enjoy The Silence
Blues Traveler-Most Precarious
Grant Lee Buffalo-Truly Truly
Everclear-Father Of Mine
Smashing Pumpkins-1979
Green Day-Longview
Third Eye Blind-Graduate
Will Smith-Just The Two Of Us
Pearl Jam-Betterman
Counting Crows-Round Here
Hootie & The Blowfish-Only Wanna Be With You
Wyclef Jean-Gone Till November
INXS-Need You Tonight
Side B
Creed-What's This Life For?
Sublime-Doin' Time
Atrixo-Audacious
Live-Selling The Drama
Nine Inch Nails-Down In It
Barenaked Ladies-One Week
Bush-Swallowed
Soft Cell-Tainted Love
Monica-The First Night
Billie Myers-Tell Me
Dave Matthews Band-Stay
Lauryn Hill-Can't Take My Eyes Off You
snippet of Dovetail Joint's "Level On The Inside"
I probably used up all the summer jams for Vol. 6, which didn't matter to me at the time because I still played the hell out of it. If I had to take a guess, this might have been created in late-July or early August because I remember the Monica and Lauryn Hill songs got airplay towards the end of the season. Overall, this volume felt like summer winding down when I listened to it. As much as I enjoyed Vol. 7, it felt like my vacation had already hit its peak by then and it showed in the music. Following Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine," was there really room enough for another smash?
This was also the first mixtape I had the courage to play in front anyone that wasn't family, even if it was for a few songs. By this time, all of my friends knew that my taste was varied, so I tried not to force different kinds of music on them too much, or at least the stuff I felt they couldn't relate to. I distinctly remember being at a friend's house and planning ahead to play this mixtape since "Tainted Love" was a song we both liked. I would simply suggest that we listen to it at an opportune moment and just like that, I would get to share this passion of mine beyond my room. I knew that the following song, "The First Night," would be acceptable, and for the next few tracks, I had my first audience. I think we might have either been playing video games or having a conversation, which allowed Billie Myers to sneak in. Somewhere around "Stay," the stereo was probably turned off. I might have gotten too nervous or ashamed to let it play since their reaction to "Tell Me" was not as enthusiastic as I had hoped. I was thrilled and scared at the same time because I had yet to learn how to cope with being confident around others when it came to my love for pop and rock music.
Side note: If you pay attention to the photo of the track list, you'll notice that I have Pearl Jam's "Betterman" listed as "In Hiding." Obviously, I had no idea what the song was called and it didn't help that they were in their anti-music video phase during that time. It was the main way I had of identifying songs on the radio.
Here's a look at some of the tracks:
Song that for the life of me I could never catch at the beginning: Blues Traveler - Most Precarious
For a while, I think I had convinced myself that this was my favorite Blues Traveler song much in the way that people are attracted to rejection, making the chase more alluring. I wanted this song so badly, but I was always a verse or chorus too late(after all, this is its third appearance on this blog). Aside from being a huge tease, I think I was also attracted to it because it felt like the most compact song they had done in a while. Not too much noodling. Just straightforward catchiness.
Song whose lyrics I obsessed over: Barenaked Ladies - One Week
The chorus I could easily understand, but it was like I needed an interpreter for everything else. It didn't help that there were some pop culture references that I had yet to understand included here, but it was done so rapidly that I had no hope of following it. I think I printed the lyrics to this song off the Internet within a month of being back at school. At one point, I think I could correctly recite about 85% of this song.
First song I recorded from a CD: Wyclef Jean - Gone Till November
During the fall of 1997, the pop version of this song was my favorite thing going. The video couldn't come on enough and I cherished each time someone requested it on The Box. I even bought the single on cassette, which also came with the remix featuring R. Kelly and Canibus (in typical tape space scavenging fashion, I recorded Missy Elliott's "Beep Me 911" on the other side). Since my budget was limited and I couldn't afford to buy The Carnival, imagine my shock when I listed to The Source compilation that my brother owned and heard Wyclef rapping instead of singing over the entire track. It didn't feel right at first, but I grew to love the original version. I didn't get my first CD player until Christmas of that year, so I think I found a few extra minutes at the end of this tape for me to record it.
Song that I'll begrudgingly admit to liking: Creed - What's This Life For?
I don't think it's appropriate to say that I hate Creed since I have never been forced to listen to them. If I despised them that much, I could have just easily switched the station whenever they came on. If I love an artist, I've probably listened to them a ton of times, and if I'm going to hate someone then I need to apply that same scale in spins. With that being said, I find Creed to be one of the most irritatingly dull bands of their time. At their worst, the songs were turgid and smacking of righteous self-importance. Whenever their first single, "My Own Prison," came on Q101, I had to turn the station for risk of boring myself to death. I found the follow-up much more appealing though. "What's This Life For?" felt like less of a retread of the grunge era (still, a retread nonetheless) and the way the song built after the second chorus really stood out to me. It's one of the few moments I genuinely enjoyed from this band. Just try not to tell too many people, okay?
First song to make me flip out in public: Lauryn Hill - Can' Take My Eyes Off Of You
I was in a clothing store with some friends where WGCI was playing over the speakers. They announced that they were about to play a new Lauryn Hill song and my ears had immediately perked up. If you've been reading for a while, you'll know that The Score was the first real album I owned, and with that started my infatuation with L-Boogie. I knew that she had a solo album coming out soon and it was instantly one of my most anticipated moments of the year. That day in the clothing store was my first encounter with solo Lauryn since "Sweetest Thing" back in 1996. When she first sang "I love you, baby" in that powerful, honey-roasted rasp of hers, I started smiling. Heavily. There was so much joy in the way she sang it and it completely took me over. I told my friends that I needed this moment to embrace the song and they completely understood, smiling and enjoying the song themselves as well. Whenever the chorus hit, I kept saying, "Oh my God, this amazing. Oh my God," like a stunned, deranged person. I made it my mission to record it when I got home. This version here is the one found on the Conspiracy Theory soundtrack, not The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which didn't have the same energy and power.
Song I'm afraid time has forgotten: Grant Lee Buffalo - Truly Truly
At the time, I felt like this was the best song in rotation on Q101. It wasn't necessarily my favorite, but I could tell that there was something more serious going on besides the same commercialized product that was played around the hour. I heard an actual songwriter somewhere in there who cared a hell of lot more about melody then giving the kiddies something to mosh to. Naturally, it finished at 72 out of 101 on the station's year-end countdown.
"No no, you've got it all wrong! This lesser-known follow-up single is way better than their big breakthrough hit that everybody loves. Don't look at me like I'm crazy!": Billie Myers - Tell Me
It's not like I had planned to like this song more than "Kiss The Rain" just to be a contrarian, although it may seem like that in some cases. I liked the song enough to include it on Vol. 6, but I just felt so many more colors emanating from "Tell Me." It probably had to do with all the sitars and sex talk. This was another one of those songs that didn't come on the radio as often, so catching it was rare and rewarding.
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