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.
The fidelity and type of the cassettes were unchanged, so it was business as usual as far as the quality went. I'm also not sure if it's because I owned the blue ones longer, which made them more susceptible to wear and tear, but the red cases held up much better. Fewer of them fell apart and look only slightly used today. I can't say the same for the previous versions. The red cases also looked more pristine over time while the blue ones were doomed to be dingy.
I felt that Vol. 9 was another strong effort and I remember it being one of my most played during the time. Not every mixtape after this would be perfect, but it looked as if I had finally hit a groove with four straight volumes that I regarded highly. I probably relied more on older songs here than on any other previous mixtape, either because the well was starting to run dry for current stuff or the amount of oldies I was curious about was just endless. I never set out to record a specific older song; it's just that when I recognized something, I instantly jumped at it. A lot of my musical education came during this time and it has helped me impress a good deal of middle-aged people.
Song that confirmed even more that my favorite artist could do no wrong: Beck - Tropicalia
Sometime during the run for Odelay, Beck became That Guy for me. He had a sense of humor, he was eclectic and also a little awkward. That helped me relate to him, but just about every single he released stuck in my ear and became my favorite song of the moment. "Tropicalia" was no different. Bossa nova on alternative radio? Only Beck could get away it. That's part of what made him That Guy.
Song I was telling everybody at school about before it got really, really popular: Smash Mouth - All Star
No one really expected big things from Smash Mouth after "Walkin' On The Sun," including me. I liked that song a lot, but they seemed like the typical quirky 90s band with a limited shelf life. The first time I heard "All Star," I wanted to hear it again immediately. The chorus was catchy and simple enough that it stuck with you, but it was a lively song all around. I remember being so energetic telling people about this song, saying "Ohhh, have you heard that new Smash Mouth song yet? It's pretty good!" In hindsight, that doesn't sound like the coolest thing one could say, but it came from a sincere place. That's why I keep defending "All Star" to this day, because my opinion of it was not affected by hearing it in every other TV show or movie trailer and that I was always open to the possibility that it could in fact be just a very well done pop song with universal appeal.
Biggest surprise on the radio at the time, at least for me: Everlast - What It's Like
Count me among those who thought that I would never hear from Everlast again back at the beginning of 1998. The success of this song and his rebranding as a hip hop folkster was a welcome twist amongst the growing trend of artist who thought they could rap that were starting to appear on alternative radio. At this point of my youth, I always associated songs that told stories with being "deep," so I felt extra thoughtful and introspective whenever this came on.
Song that I had no idea how much I loved until I was able to hear it in its entirety on a regular basis: Stevie Wonder - Living For The City
The scene in Jungle Fever where Wesley Snipes is searching for his crackhead brother forever solidified that this song was a monster to me. Since I hadn't seen Jungle Fever when it was first came out in theaters, that had been the only time I heard it all the way through. Thanks to Vol. 9, I could listen to it anytime and it was easily one of my most anticipated songs here. The "dadada daa daa" part where everything just exploded slayed me every time.
Song I feel obligated to mention because this band had a lot of really good songs at the time and this might be one of my last chances to talk about them: Garbage - Special
Each time that Garbage has made an appearance on one of my mixtapes, I wanted to write about them but could never fit it in. It's a bit disrespectful considering that I probably liked all their singles from this period. I can't recall if any of the singles from their next album, beautifulgarbage, made it on to The Collection, so instead of taking a chance I'm going to highlight them now. Garbage, I'm so sorry for not giving you your props sooner. My younger self would like to thank you for so many fun listening moments, with "Special" being the most upbeat out of all them. Please forgive me.
Song that took forever to grow on me, believe it or not: Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
Every time "Cherub Rock" came on MTV, I used to change the channel. My thought process went something like this: "I can't even see what they look like. Plus, it's taking too long for them to actually sing. This is crap and why am I watching it?" Yep, I could definitely be petty as a youth. Thankfully, I eventually gave the song a chance and it ended up being one of my favorite Pumpkins songs. I started to realize that the chorus wasn't all that bad, even if I could barely make out what the band looked like.
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