The Collection Vol. 10 (Winter 1998)

Side A

R.E.M.-Daysleeper
snippet of Labelle's "Lady Marmalade"
Aretha Franklin-Respect
Fastball-Fire Escape
Jewel-Hands
George Michael & Mary J. Blige-As
Toni Braxton-Breathe Again
Notorious B.I.G.-Hypnotize
Seal-Kiss From A Rose
Goodie Mob-Cell Therapy
Hootie & The Blowfish-Goodbye
Jay-Z-Lucky Me

Side B

Whitney Houston feat. Faith Evans & Kelly Price-Heartbreak Hotel
Donna Lewis-I Love You Always Forever
'N SYNC-God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You
Goodie Mob-Guess Who?
Bruce Springsteen-Secret Garden
U2-With Or Without You
snippet of Barenaked Ladies' "It's All Been Done"
The Proclaimers-500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be)
The Braids-Bohemian Rhapsody
The Cranberries-Linger
Dave Matthews Band-Crush
The Flys-Got You (Where I Want You)

If you take a good look at the tracklist, you'll notice that some of the songs on there were never radio hits. That's simply because Vol. 10 marked a new era for me in making mixes as I got a three-disc CD player that Christmas and I could now record songs beyond the dial. I'm not exactly sure how soon after I got the CD player that this mix was completed since stuff like the Jay-Z, Goodie Mob and Hootie CDs belonged to my brother and it would have taken time for me to develop my favorites when it came to non-singles. I do distinctly remember recording "Daysleeper" a day or two after Christmas, but for me to put a song like "Guess Who?" or "Goodbye" on The Collection would have taken a week or two of familiarity with those albums.

Untitled 60 Minute Mixtape (Fall 1998)

Side A

Melissa Etheridge-I'm The Only One
V.A.S.T.-Touched
Busta Rhymes-Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See
Outkast-Rosa Parks
Ecoline Crush-Surefire
Fatboy Slim-Praise You
Love Unlimited Orchestra-Love's Theme
Lenny Kravitz-Fly Away
Sugar Ray-Everymorning
snippet of Nirvana's "The Man Who Sold The World"

Side B

Chemical Brothers-Block Rockin' Beat
The Offspring-Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
Stevie Wonder-For Once In My Life
snippet of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man"
Marilyn Manson-I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me
Busta Rhymes-Gimme Some More
Eminem-My Name Is


With there being more than a few random mixtapes that don't belong to The Collection, I often get confused with the chronology. I didn't realize that the introduction of Sony's red tapes could have possibly put this one before Vol. 9, but I can't honestly say that with any confidence. I don't exactly recall the reasoning behind me getting a 60 minute cassette, especially since I was obviously in love with the 90 minute ones, but it might have been one of those times when the hour tapes were the only ones available at Walgreens. I did not label this one or even bother to write down a tracklist, probably out of frustration at it not being 45 minutes on each side. To me, its feeble running time did not deem it worthy of being part of The Collection. Nonetheless, I still had some good times with this one, even if it did get the stepchild treatment.

The Collection Vol. 9 (Fall 1998)

Sorry for the long wait between posts. I was very busy with my best albums and singles of 2011 lists for Hectic But Eclectic.





Side A

Squeeze-Tempted
SWV-Can We
Eagle Eye Cherry-Save Tonight
Jackson 5-I'll Be There
Everlast-What It's Like
Beck-Tropicalia
snippet of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing"
Garbage-Special
Barry White-Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe
Cake-Never There
Beastie Boys-Body Movin'
Foo Fighters-I'll Stick Around
Alanis Morrissette-Thank U
snippet of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny"

Side B

Al Green-I'm Still In Love With You
Stevie Wonder-Living For The City
EPMD-Crossover
Lauryn Hill feat. D'Angelo-Nothing Even Matters
Timbaland-Here We Come
Jay-Z-Hard Knock Life
snippet of Diana Ross' "I'm Comin' Out"
Queen & David Bowie-Under Pressure
Semisonic-Singing In My Sleep
Smashing Pumpkins-Cherub Rock
The Wallflowers-One Headlight
snippet of Steve Miller Band's "The Joker"
Smash Mouth-All Star

The most immediate thing you'll notice if you've been following this blog is the switch in color Sony made with their cassettes from blue to red. I'll gladly admit that such an ordinary change in hue is mundane, but it had an effect on me. Of course, there was the sense of betrayal that came with an unexpected new color. How dare they, I used to think. I was falling into a nice routine and they had to go and mess it up. I eventually got over it, maybe even within that same hour. Once I saw that they were now selling five-packs instead of three, I became accustomed to the red cassettes really quick. Anything that helped me indulge my music addiction further was welcome.