Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Usually wrong but never in doubt

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

You cannot shame the shameless.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Bark louder, little dog.

This blog will pay for itself.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

You are here: Home / Medium Cool / Medium Cool with BGinCHI – What If? (Mix Tape)

Medium Cool with BGinCHI – What If? (Mix Tape)

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Tonight we kick off Episode 6 of the weekly Guest Post series: Medium Cool with BGinCHI.

In case you missed the introduction to the series:  Culture as a Hedge Against this Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We’re Living In

Tonight’s Topic:  What if?  (Mix Tape version)

Take it away, BG!

In this week’s Medium Cool, we continue our rumination on the still non-hypothetical question, “What if you and everyone you knew were forced to stay at home for 2+ weeks?”

This time, you are limited to one mix tape, a Maxell XLII 90 minute cassette, as your dwelling only has a boom box (this is probably accurate for 80% of you). You can fill it with any kind of music you want, but be careful, it’s all you’ve got.

Anyone going over the 90 minute limit (NotMax, I see you) will have their mixtape shredded by WaterGirl’s fierce cat, Willow (see below) and forced to listen to Nickleback until the Trump Virus subsides.

Medium Cool with BGinCHI – What If? (Mix Tape) Medium Cool with BGinCHI – What If? (Mix Tape) 1

Construct your list carefully, jackals.

Reader Interactions

232Comments

  6. 6.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    I’ve got a handful in my garage but nothing to play them with, unfortunately.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    You are a cruel beast, BG.

    I would choose as many of my favorite Van Morrison songs as I could get on the tape.

    To be listened to in single song increments, as a full body meditation:)

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: My fierce kitty (photos above) – BG assigned her as the enforcer for anyone who goes over their 90 minute allotment.

    edit: so yes, she is overstepping her bounds in criticizing your choice of songs.  she is technically the time enforcer, not content approver.

  9. 9.

    ThresherK

    Remember when you had to slide little switches around for Metal tapes (not the genre) and Dolby wasn’t something which blew out your eardrums at the movies?

  10. 10.

    p.a.

    Replacements Hootenanny,
    selections of celtic & Quebeçois. Barrule, Milladoiro, Runa, Mari Black, Les Poules à Colin, The Beeeaters…

  11. 11.

    oatler.

    There are a lot of “Ten movies/books/hobbies to enjoy when quarantined” listicles these days.

  13. 13.

    aliasofwestgate

    Are we limited by era to music of the mixtape peak? Because i’ve got a bazillion things i could use on that list of songs and a few ready made playlists i’ve already done up in that time limit. But a lot of the music is current and not english language, either.

  14. 14.

    piratedan

    well it would be a mix tape, ‘natch… songs that spoke to me emotionally or evoked a feeling or a sense of date and time, struck a chord, as it were.  If you want a playlist, well… I don’t think I’ll bore everyone with that, as music is indeed like art, what speaks to one, is not necessarily something that speaks to all.  If we decide to go down that rabbit hole, then not only is the music itself important, but just like in High Fidelity, the playlist has to have a sense of “flow” that allows the listener to move from one song to the next, be it based on a date/place in time or subject matter or genre.

    my apologies if I went down the TMI hole there but for me, growing up and creating mixtapes was a way to communicate with friends and people that interested/intrigued you, so its a button for me.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    Ask me in an hour and the list will most likely be entirely different. ;)

    Shostakovich Symphony #9, Lt. Kije Suite, It’s A Beautiful Day (full album).

    Ought to clock in at right around 88 minutes and change.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: You shouldn’t.  Neither I, nor Miss Willow, has ever (knowingly) listened to Air Supply.  Could be the best thing ever!  I was just shocked that, I mean Willow was just shocked that you would pick a single group for a mix tape

    edit: Miss Willow will take it back if you tell her how pretty she is.

    edit: unless they are the “all out of love, so lost without you” people?

  20. 20.

    James E Powell

    It would take too long to list each song, but I’m going with Side A: Soul and Motown hits, Side B: Beatles & Stones deep cuts.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @ThresherK:

    Nobody ever succeeded in explaining what recording bias does and why one needs different ones for different tape formulations. I could hear it in the resulting tape, but they couldn’t ‘splain it to me.

    IDK if it still functions, but own a cassette deck that sets custom bias for every tape prior to recording with it. Yay me.

    I see refurbished reel-to-reel decks are coming onto the market, some at impressive prices. Same with classic 1970s receivers–the more switches and dials the better.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    @NotMax:

    OOh, Shosty’s 9th is wonderful and one of my faves.  Mahler’s 5th is another of my favorites.  The adagietto shows up in the film Death in Venice.

  28. 28.

    BGinCHI

    1. Tennis, “10 Minutes 10 Years”
    2. Parquet Courts, “Pretty Machines”
    3. Songs: Ohia, “Farewell Transmission”
    4. Drive-By Truckers, “Zip City” & “Primer Coat”
    5. Hayes Carll, “Beaumont”
    6. Silver Jews, “Room Games and Diamond Rain” & “Pretty Eyes”
    7. Loomer, “Sunday Driver Down”
    8. girlpool, “Hire”
    9. X, “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene”
    10. The Silos, “Tennessee Fire”
    11. Wussy, “Don’t Leave Just Now”
    12. The Lemonheads, “Frank Mills”
    13. Superchunk, “Like a Fool”
    14. John Moreland, “Cleveland County Blues”
    15. Old 97s, “Valentine” & “Barrier Reef”
    16. Uncle Tupelo, “Black Eye” & “Chickamauga
  35. 35.

    Miss Bianca

    Well, having just spent a happy hour (not a Happy Hour, mind, just a…oh, never mind) with Richard Thompson and his new gal partner (Zara?) live on FB, I’d say a creamy and delicious blend of old and new Thompson, including his Fairport Convention days and all their attendant break-outs (Fotheringay, Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy, et al.) would probably do nicely. Just 90 minutes? Do I have to stick to albums? Ow, Miss Willow, OW OW –

  39. 39.

    aliasofwestgate

    As a radio DJ, playlisting or mixtape making was so integral to growing up in the 90s for me it’s unreal. I still love playlisting to this day on a whim. Mostly because music is what i breathe, especially when i was working as a pharmacy tech and doing work with the online radio station Radio Riel.  I played a mix of techno and jpop, with sets by request quite often in different genres. It remains eclectic on the main stream, with the other streams in specific genre.

    Flow is all apart of that, and always seems to be something some of us can put together on instinct. Others take hours to do so.

  40. 40.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan:

    Nobody ever succeeded in explaining what recording bias does and why one needs different ones for different tape formulations.

    I’ll give it a shot.

    It takes a certain amount of energy from an electromagnetic field to get all the magnetic “domains” in a magnetic material to align a certain preferential way to record information. That amount of energy varies between magnetic materials, and thus between types of magnetic tape. Some are “easy” and don’t take much energy (low-bias), some are “hard” and take more energy (high-bias).

    It would be like the differences needed to cut a record into bees wax vs into glass. Bees wax is soft so would need less energy to move the stylus than for the case of harder glass.

    HTH!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  42. 42.

    BobS

    The post-intermission portion of any 70s era Grateful Dead concert, i.e. the music never stopped.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I reject the premise of the question.  The iPod (and other such) exists.  And I reject your feline enforcer too.

  44. 44.

    BGinCHI

    My list above is a part of my playlist I use when I’m on the spin bike. I wear headphones and it’s just me (sweating, trying to breathe) and the music. It’s where I get the most out of songs.

    For cooking, I’d rather listen to a whole record, in order. Not sure you kids do this anymore, with your Alexas and whatnot. But in the kitchen I want to be pulled into the feel of a whole project, whereas while working out I want the perfectly curated mix.

  45. 45.

    Mary G

    The first things to come to mind were Vladimir Horowitz playing Traumerei, Joni Mitchell’s The River and the Hissing of Summer Lawns, Springsteen’s Thunder Road, Mozart’s everything, George Harrison’s Give Me Love, Chopin and Bach preludes, all of the Stones’ Exile on Main St. (hard to decide on one or two songs, possibly Tumbling Dice and All Down the Line), all of David Bowie, all of Stevie Wonder’s 70s work, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and many, many more. It would take me months to narrow it down to 90 minutes, and I don’t have the attention bandwidth right now, so mark me down as a failure. I’m listening to this Vladimir Horowitz performance from 1987 which is 90 minutes long all by itself, and it’s lovely

    ETA: Oh fuck, while looking for his songs, I see John Prine has the ‘rona and is intubated and in critical condition:

    An update on John pic.twitter.com/fPQbv0tLyB— John Prine (@JohnPrineMusic) March 29, 2020

  50. 50.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    I’ve definitely got something, but no fever so I’m hoping it’s just a cold and staying in my room.

  52. 52.

    WereBear

    Mind you, I made my choice with the quarantine, two weeks kind of limit. I didn’t want to listen to the whole tape at once… I suspect that would get old too soon.

    I could probably do the same with Ry Cooder, if I wanted to sing along.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    Just listened to Richard Thompson streaming from his (?) living room for an hour. Awesome as awesome can be. Thanks again, Bruuuce!

  56. 56.

    aliasofwestgate

    Most of my mixtape construction in the 90s consisted of me running for the tape recorder on my little stereo when the song i wanted next on the tape was finally on the radio again. XD

    Nowadays its what i’ve got on whatever platform i’m working with. Laptop or mobile device. Since i prefer android, it’s mostly Google Play at the moment, until they finish transitioning to Youtube music.

  57. 57.

    BobS

    @MomSense: I’ve been off work for 8 days- no fever/no cough, started with chills, then head & neck pressure, dizziness (today is the first without), difficulty breathing/fatigue with exertion, night sweats. I feel like I’m sitting out the World Series.

  60. 60.

    neldob

    Hmmm. Bachs mass in B minor, except its too long, so some James Brown and some Marvin Gaye and some Mozart wind concertos along with Massive Attack. Yikes. could I fit some Calle 13 in also? Segues would be important. or impossible.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    There used to be a store in NYC, behind Bloomingdales, where you could get a mix tape made. Check off your choices on long lists and there they were. So unlike the tapes I made off my boom box, what with the very rough transitions between songs. I would have been a lousy engineer for sure.

  63. 63.

    ThresherK

    I’d suggest two Big Country albums (The Crossing, The Buffalo Skinners), but they never managed to bring one in at under 47 minutes in the LP era, and I think never went under 52m in the CD era.

  65. 65.

    Josie

    Beethoven’s 9th Symphony by the Chicago Orchestra and Chorus

    ETA: Contains my favorite “Ode to Joy”

  66. 66.

    BGinCHI

    @debbie: I did NOT know that.

    I spent so many hours making tapes. Mix tapes, but also tapes with one record on one side of a 90 minute cassette and another on the other.

    Pairing the records was key.

  69. 69.

    A Ghost to Most

    “Into the Mystic” – Van Morrison
    “Bodhisattva” – Steely Dan
    For Everyman (whole album) – Jackson Browne
    “Ramble On” – Led Zeppelin
    “Jessica” – ABB
    “Streetlights” – Jason Isbell
    “The Living Bubba” – DBT here down
    “A World of Hurt”
    “A Ghost to Most”
    “Heathens”

  70. 70.

    debbie

    @BGinCHI:

    Pairing was absolutely key, like Tom Petty and Dire Straits.

    I remember adding up the times of the songs to make sure they all fit. Too much math!

  71. 71.

    MuckJagger

    @BGinCHI: 

    Right there with ya on Nos. 10 and 15. I’d add some Zevon to mine, maybe “Desperadoes Under The Eaves” and “Disorder In The House.” There’s a lot of Nick Lowe’s mid-period stuff I can listen to over and over, and Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” and a couple tracks by The Dream Syndicate. Anything else would be whatever I was humming to myself at the tjme.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BGinCHI: Fine.  Velvet Underground and Nico paired with Roxy Music (leave off “Bitters End” because it’s meh, exactly 2:00, and I only get 90:00).  Happy now?

  77. 77.

    BobS

    @debbie: I saw Fairport Convention on that tour- they were the opening act for Traffic at the Easttown Theater in Detroit. I’ve seen various incarnations of him&Linda&his bands at least 2 dozen times since. One time (mid-80s) at a poorly promoted solo show at the City Club in Detroit, only a couple dozen people showed up. He had us pull our chairs up in an arc around him, he played (plenty of requests), told jokes (he was kind of shy with Fairport- he became quite the raconteur over the years), bullshitting, etc. Helluva experience.

  78. 78.

    Scout211

    Just to prove that I am not even medium cool (more like not at all cool), here’s an actual playlist off of my iTunes player from the way back machine.  It was entitled “mellow mix.”  And it always made me feel mellow.  But then again, not at all cool.

    Here, There And Everywhere 2:26 The Beatles Revolver
    Graduation Day 3:11 Chris Isaak Forever Blue Rock
    Wicked Game 4:49 Chris Isaak Heart Shaped World Rock
    The Scientist 5:11 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head
    Clocks 5:10 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head
    Fix You 4:55 Coldplay X&Y
    Top Of The World 6:01 Dixie Chicks Home Country
    Lullaby 5:52 Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
    Catch The Wind 2:57 Donovan Donovan’s Greatest Hits
    Only Time 3:38 Enya A Day Without Rain
    Caribbean Blue 3:59 Enya Paint The Sky With Stars: The Best Of Enya
    Tears In Heaven 4:35 Eric Clapton Complete Clapton [Disc 2]
    How To Save A Life 4:24 The Fray How To Save A Life
    Closer To Fine 4:02 Indigo Girls 4.5: The Best Of The Indigo Girls
    The Mummers’ Dance 6:11 Loreena McKennitt The Book Of Secrets
    Harvest 3:12 Neil Young Harvest
    Old Man 3:25 Neil Young Harvest
    The Needle And The Damage Done 2:03 Neil Young Harvest
    I Don’t Believe You 4:36 Pink Funhouse
    Please Don’t Leave Me 3:52 Pink Funhouse
    Ave Mary A 3:16 Pink Funhouse
    Glitter In The Air 3:47 Pink Funhouse
    Dear Mr. President 4:34 Pink Feat. Indigo Girls I’m Not Dead
    I Will Remember You 3:44 Sarah McLachlan Mirrorball
    I Love You 4:31 Sarah McLachlan Mirrorball
    Angel 5:49 Sarah McLachlan Mirrorball
    Forever And For Always 4:04 Shania Twain Greatest Hits
    Wildflower 3:58 Sheryl Crow Wildflower
    Letter To God 4:05 Sheryl Crow Wildflower
    For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her [Live] 2:22 Simon & Garfunkel The Best Of Simon & Garfunkel
    Original Of The Species 4:41 U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

  81. 81.

    BobS

    @neldob: Thank you. I’m definitely getting better. I’d be fucking lost without participating on some of the threads here and on other sites- it’s helpful knowing there’s kindred spirits.

  82. 82.

    Benw

    Royal Tusk – stowaway

    Glorious Sons – spirit to break

    Kendrick – Humble

    Brkn Love – shot down

    SMKC – world on fire

    Parsonsfield – Santa Monica

    Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz – X

    GnR – Sweet Child o Mine

    The National – not in Kansas

    Plague Vendor – new comedown

    Social Distortion – sometimes I do

  83. 83.

    Betty Cracker

    I started a pandemic playlist on my phone a while back. Here’s a chunk of it.Medium Cool with BGinCHI – What If? (Mix Tape) 4

  85. 85.

    Brachiator

    I haven’t timed it all out, but I would select from the following,

    Leon Russell, Stranger in A Strange Land
    Louis Armstrong, Tight Like This, and St James Infirmary
    Van Morrison, Sweet Thing
    Carmen McCrae, A Song For You
    Bobby Darin, If I Were A Carpenter
    James Brown, There Was A Time
    Rikki Lee Jones, The Albatross
    A couple of Shakespeare sonnets
    A couple of songs by Purcell
    Charles Mingus, Canon
    Duke Ellington, Fleurette Africain
    Joni Mitchell, All I Want
    Peter Gabriel, Mercy Street
    A few Mowtown hits if I have room to squeeze some in

  91. 91.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    This time, you are limited to one mix tape, a Maxell XLII 90 minute cassette, as your dwelling only has a boom box (this is probably accurate for 80% of you). You can fill it with any kind of music you want, but be careful, it’s all you’ve got.

    This is a violation of my constitutional rights, you tape grabber! I’m gonna get the RIAA to file a lawsuit in federal court to get me another mix tape!

    In the meantime, I suppose I’ll play by your rules:

    1. Grand Designs- Rush (5:07)
    2. Manhattan Project- Rush (5:09)
    3. Marathon- Rush (6:11)
    4. Territories- Rush (6:20)
    5. Middletown Dreams- Rush (5:19)
    6. Countdown- Rush (5:49)
    7. Subdivisions- Rush (5:34)
    8. Two Tribes- Frankie Goes to Hollywood (3:57)
    9. Rage Hard- Frankie Goes to Hollywood (5:05)
    10. Stuck With You- Huey Lewis and the News (4:29)
    11. Doing it All for My Baby- Huey Lewis and the News (3:39)
    12. I Want a New Drug- Huey Lewis and the News (4:46)
    13. If This Is It- Huey Lewis and the News (3:54)
    14. Dreams- Van Halen (4:53)
    15. Panama- Van Halen (3:31)
    16. You Had Your Soul With You- The National (3:24)
    17. Yoshimi Fights the Pink Robots Part One- The Flaming Lips (4:45)

     

    I know those last two don’t match up with the rest well, but I like them a ton

  92. 92.

    prostratedragon

    @aliasofwestgate:
    Trying my own back in the 90s gave me a lot of respect for good dj-ing. On the jazz station I listened to, most had policy of the three number set, each set being about 15 minutes, say. Even if you know a lot of music, putting together 6 of those without it sounding like just a heap of things you like is pretty challenging.

    That said, my first thought was 90 minutes of Miles Davis, since I find Kind of Blue to be such a refresher. That, and something else, maybe Jack Johnson. This is a punt.

    (There’s a list of composers/bands who actually could be substituted here.)

  93. 93.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott:

    Thanks! Let me ponder, there could be followup questions. Okay, just one: how does frequency impact the force being applied?

    Is this on the final?

  95. 95.

    piratedan

    Go All The Way – Raspberries – 3:19

    I Think She Likes Me – Treat Her Right – 3.:47

    Zero Hour – The Plimsouls – 2:35

    Make A Circuit With Me – The Polecats – 2:52

    The Last Time – The Rolling Stones – 3:30

    No Reply – The Beatles – 2:20

    Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals – 2:37

    Baby Come Back – The Equals – 2:41

    It Getting Harder All The Time – The Mindbenders – 2:15

    Just Remember I Love You – Firefall – 3:15

    Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot – 3:34

    Pretty Lady – Lighthouse – 4:14

    Sometimes The Good Guys Finish First – Pat Benetar – 4:27

    Day After Day – Badfinger – 3:27

    Radio Free Europe – REM – 3:50

    Union City Blue – Blondie – 3:29

    Where Is The Moon Tonight – Southern Culture On The Skids – 3:24

    Girl Of My Dreams – Bran Tchaikovsky – 4:09

    Starry Eyes – The Records – 4:24

    Be Still – Los Lobos – 3:36

    Walk Right Back – Everly Brothers – 2:19

    The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes – Elvis Costello – 2:48

    Has She Got A Friend – Nick Lowe – 2:42

    My Best Friends Girl – The Cars – 3:46

    More Than  Feeling – Boston – 4:47

    Story In Your Eyes – The Moody Blues – 2:57

    Lips Like Sugar – Echo and The Bunnymen – 4:52

    Another Nail In My Heart – Squeeze – 2:58

    Senses Working Overtime- XTC – 4:40

    feel free to build your own… :-)

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    Short filmic interruption that TCM is showing Buster Keaton’s The Navigator Monday at 6:30 a.m. Eastern, followed by the waggish Marie Dressler in Tugboat Annie at 7:45.

  103. 103.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’ve had a list of songs like that:

    1. Waiting for the End of the World- Elvis Costello
    2. No One Lives Forever- Oingo Boingo
    3. Don’t Dream It’s Over- Crowded House
  107. 107.

    Zinsky

    @Mary G:  Mary G – I share a lot of the same tastes in music:  The Stones Exile on Main Street has to be represented (I would pick Turd on the Run or Rip This Joint), a Joni Mitchell song or two (A Case of You or Carey), a couple off Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust or Aladdin Sane, Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, a couple Beatles (Here Comes the Sun or Golden Slumbers), Mott the Hoople’s Sweet Jane and maybe Bad Company’s Seagull or Silver, Blue and Gold. Throw in a Sara Bareilles song or two, Steve Earle to fire up to and some Bob Marley to chill to and I would be fine.

    I also am so sad about the news about John Prine.  Such a brilliant songwriter and he went through so much already with his throat cancer, that it just doesn’t seem fair that he would catch this horrible disease.  I am so hurt by this… ?

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BGinCHI: I am quietly resenting you and your artificial strictures.  Just know that I shall mock you in my Nobel acceptance speech.

  110. 110.

    ThresherK

    @piratedan: Make A Circuit With Me – The Polecats

    Scraps of that song have floated to the top of my mind the last fifteen years, but I could never come up with an artist or title. Thanx!

     

    ETA: Dr. Feelgood (the English band, not the American song which followed years later), “She Does it Right”. These guys came out of nowhere (Essex, England) in 1974 with this.

  112. 112.

    Another Scott

    My list would probably be:

    • Quadrophenia – The Who (The whole thing)
    • Enjoy the Silence – Depeche Mode (Violator)
    • Day in the Life – The Beatles (Sgt. Peppers)

    I’d probably have to cut a track from Q.  :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  113. 113.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @NotMax:

    I have those set to record. With less to do, I’ve been watching old movies on TCM and they’re pretty good! Is it just me, or did Clark Gable play the same character over and over again in the 30s? My one complaint might be that in some movies (particularly from the 30s), the “banter” dialogue never lets up and the actors talk too fast. Real people have never talked like that

  115. 115.

    BGinCHI

    @WaterGirl: Me too. Doesn’t sound good at all for him. I’ve gotten a lot of texts from friends about it, so people are keeping him in their thoughts.

    What a life he’s lived. An absolute giant of a songwriter and performer.

    He may be, for me, the single most underrated American singer-songwriter. I saw him play 20 years ago (in Syracuse at a beautiful theater) and he just brought the house down. Two sets with his band and one long acoustic set.

    I love that man.

  117. 117.

    debbie

    @BobS:

    Yep, with Traffic too. I was besotted, having worn out out my copy of Liege and Lief. My youngest brother saw him many times over the years and could never get over how good he was.

  120. 120.

    aliasofwestgate

    My current fave list. Comes in short on time. (easy on the claws Miss Willow!)

    Spitz “Amae Te”

    Spitz “Juteemu” ( Je t’aime)

    Loveholic “Sky”

    Spitz “Omiya Sunset”

    David Usher “How Are You?”

    Doa (japan) “Come on!”

    Doa(japan) “Good Day Bad Day”

    Doa (japan) “Singin’ For Your Smile”

    Escargot  “Dodai”

    David Usher “Alone in the Universe”

    Monkey Majik “Sunshine”

    The Pillows “Scarecrow”

    Sakamoto Kyu ” Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo”

    Ito Yousuke “One Star”

    TM Revolution “His/Story”

    TM Revolution “Roll The Dice”

    Kota Shinzato “Hands Up!”

     

    There’s my sample. You can find almost all of it on youtube somewhere.  So far it’s my fave playlist for the moment.

  122. 122.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan: As you learned in kindergarten…

    ;-)

    I’m sure it figures into it, but I don’t know the details.  Though at audio frequencies, it may be a small effect.

    Of course the explanation I gave is wrong in practice, but the general idea still holds – the best recording electromagnetic fields depend on the material used.

    Wikipedia – Theory.

    HTH! :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  125. 125.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    As much as I like that song, I felt No One Lives Forever meshed better with a pandemic than Dead Man’s Party.

    I approached it from a movie soundtrack standpoint. Dead Man’s Party’s lyrics are better suited for a Halloween-themed movie. No One Lives Forever would work because of how surreal the song would be compared to events of a deadly pandemic. It’s more subtle lyrics-wise imo or at least not as obvious

  128. 128.

    NotMax

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Hallmark of the best screwball comedies was rapid delivery.

    As for Gable, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the key phrase. Although before he became top billed, Gable sometimes showed up cast as a heavy.

  129. 129.

    BGinCHI

    @piratedan: We must be about the same age, as I thought I was the only one who ever really loved Bram Tchaikovsky!

    “Strange Man, Changed Man,” great record.

  130. 130.

    FelonyGovt

    Here’s mine- don’t know if it’s over 90 minutes, I’ll risk the wrath of the lovely Miss Willow
    Lux Prima- Karen O & Danger Mouse- whole album
    Born Innocent- Proclaimers
    Don’t You Forget About Me- Simple Minds
    Three Little Birds- Bob Marley
    Miss You-Stones
    Sway- Stones
    I Can See Clearly Now-Jimmy Cliff
    Free Fallon’ -Tom Petty
    Born to Run- Springsteen
    What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding- Elvis Costello
    Na Na Hey hey Kiss Him Goodbye- Steam (for when Trump gets kicked out)

  131. 131.

    Zinsky

    @BGinCHI:  I’m with you on John Prine.  I saw him once in Iowa City in the early 1980s and again here in Minneapolis in 2006.  Both shows were fabulous – some of the tightest musicians I have ever seen live.  I am a musician myself and I don’t think they missed one note or transition in either show.  Tight!  I am also in awe that a 25 year old man could write songs like Hello In There or Angel From Montgomery.  A true songwriting genius!

  137. 137.

    debbie

    @Zinsky:

    I saw him in the very early 1970s in Boston Commons’ Sunset on the Park (I think) concert series. He is a national treasure. I hate hearing that he has coronavirus.

  140. 140.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @BGinCHI:

    I haven’t listened to much else of theirs, but I love the dream-like quality of that song as well as the content of the lyrics. It reminds me of some magical girl anime which makes it funny, but is still sweet all the same

  143. 143.

    BGinCHI

    @chris: That’s probably in my old neighborhood.

    If anyplace can withstand social distancing, it’s Buffalo, as long as the liquor holds up.

  145. 145.

    The Dangerman

    This isn’t too imaginative, but give me Dark Side of the Moon and a copy of the WIzard of Oz to blow my mind while listening to DSOTM (I can’t believe it was completely accidental; not with THAT album cover)…

    …and fill my 90 minute allotment with whatever minutes with Willow purring and meowing because I’m a suckup.

  146. 146.

    aliasofwestgate

    @BGinCHI:

    Thanks~

    Forgot one:

    Insert  Flow “Calling” in between Escargo “Dodai” and David Usher “Alone In the Universe”

    Whole thing times out at 1 hour 18 minutes.

  147. 147.

    Brachiator

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Is it just me, or did Clark Gable play the same character over and over again in the 30s?

    No. There is more variety to his work than you may be giving him credit for.

    If you are going through TCM films, try Manhattan Melodrama, Men in White, Night Nurse, Wife vs Secretary, and Test Pilot

    Interesting point about actors talking too fast. I prefer it to films which tried to imitate a style of slow, stilted dialog that they thought represented high toned drama from the theater.

    But I guess this technique and the Mid Atlantic dialect often used now seems artificial and foreign to contemporary viewers.

  150. 150.

    BGinCHI

    @Zinsky: This all day. The only consolation is that he has had a good, long life. Good family, good friends, amazing art.

  152. 152.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Betty Cracker:

    Thanks!

    I choose the Crowded House song because it was featured in 1994’s adaption of Stephen King’s The Stand, which was alright for what it was

    Something that could go in r/MovieDetails:

    In the first part of the miniseries, we see Larry Underwood walk out of a bar in Times Square. We hear a voice over of radio news talking about reports of Captain Trips, and several people are walking behind him on the sidewalk. Some are actually wearing surgical and dust masks! Apparently didn’t do them any good in the end…

  153. 153.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @WaterGirl:

    So sad to see that John Prine has coronavirus.

    A friend just texted me a screenshot of what I assume is a Facebook post from his family. So sorry to hear that.

  154. 154.

    Brachiator

    @debbie:

    Was it “Front Pages” with Rosalind Russell in the newsroom? All that back and forth left me breathless!

    The remake of The Front Page. His Girl Friday with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant

    I love the velocity of the dialog in that film.

    Robert Altman used overlapping dialog in his films, but without the same speed of delivery.

  160. 160.

    NotMax

    @debbie

    His Girl Friday (adapted from The Front Page). Wikipedia:

    His Girl Friday has been noted for its surprises, comedy, and rapid, overlapping dialogue. Hawks himself was determined to break the record for the fastest film dialogue, at the time held by The Front Page. He used a sound mixer on the set to increase the speed of dialogue and held a showing of the two films next to each other to prove how fast his film was. Source

  163. 163.

    Miss Bianca

    @BGinCHI:

    “Shoot Out the Lights,” then whatever fits.

    Your offer is acceptable.

    ETA: At least one of the “fitter” cuts would have to be Fairport’s Tam Lin, with Sandy Denny singing, Dave Swarbrick fiddling, and RT on guitar.

  166. 166.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @NotMax:

    Hallmark of the best screwball comedies was rapid delivery.

    As for Gable, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the key phrase. Although before he became top billed, Gable sometimes showed up cast as a heavy.

    Interesting, but rapid delivery could be a little too rapid, which happened coincidentally in a Gable picture, After Office Hours (1935) and the banter almost never let up for minutes at a time

    @Brachiator:

    No. There is more variety to his work than you may be giving him credit for.

    If you are going through TCM films, try Manhattan Melodrama, Men in White, Night Nurse, Wife vs Secretary, and Test Pilot

    Probably, I’ve only watched two films of his so far. In all of them, he tends to play the dashing hero who gets the girl at the end with some variation; as the second in command of the HMS Bounty and as an unscrupulous but charming newspaper editor

    Interesting point about actors talking too fast. I prefer it to films which tried to imitate a style of slow, stilted dialog that they thought represented high toned drama from the theater.

    But I guess this technique and the Mid Atlantic dialect often used now seems artificial and foreign to contemporary viewers.

    I definitely noticed that in a lot of older B&W movies. The Mid-Atlantic accent and either of those dialog techniques have not aged well. How hard was it to just talk like a real human?

  169. 169.

    Miss Bianca

    @debbie: Did my heart good. The last time I saw him was in…2010?…at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco.

  172. 172.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Prine recalls a particularly fine slap on the back that he got from Mr. Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, when they met for the first time in the ’70s. “I introduced myself,” Prine says. “He paused and then somebody said, ‘John wrote that song about Muhlenberg County,'” referring to “Paradise,” Prine’s classic ode to his ancestral home in Kentucky. “It turned out that Bill and his brother Charlie came from the same region, across the river from Paradise. Bill said, ‘Oh yeah, I thought that was a song I overlooked from the ’20s.’ What a compliment.”

  176. 176.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: He has a book ” ‘Beyond Words.” about his songs. I bought it because of the Skips part but when my brother came this fall one of his friends played with John and his picture  is in the book so I gave it to him.

  177. 177.

    Miss Bianca

    @WaterGirl: AAAAAAAGGGHHHH

    I knew it was only a matter of time before this disease started felling artists and notables I cared about. God *damn*.

  189. 189.

    chris

    Not Prine level but Joe Diffie has died from the virus. I keep thinking of Mick and Keef and Charlie.

  190. 190.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @NotMax:

    Really?

    Now that you mention that, I’m reminded of the losers who bought multiple tickets and sat through dozens of showings just so they could up the box office numbers for Avengers: Infinity War and Alita: Battle Angel.

    The Marvel stans just had to beat Avatar for the best box office numbers (which goes to Gone With the Wind, even when adjusted for inflation I believe, a Clark Gable film), which didn’t happen anyway, I think

  192. 192.

    Just One More Canuck

    forced to listen to Nickleback until the Trump Virus subsides

    firm but fair

    Chopin, Marcus Miller, The Band

  195. 195.

    Misterpuff

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Grand Designs is my favorite Rush song and it never gets any cred. Power Windows is a great album.

    But my mix tape would be Yes

    Heart of the Sunrise – Fragile (11:33)

    Starship Trooper – The Yes Album (9:29)

    Yours Is No Disgrace – Yessongs (14:26)

    Siberian Khatru – Close To The Edge (9:00)

    Flip the Tape Side 2

    And You And I – Close To The Edge (10:08)

    Roundabout (Single Edit)  (3:27)

    Turn Of The Century – Going For The One (7:55)

    Believe Again – Heaven & Earth (8:05)

    Awaken – Going For The One (15:38)

  196. 196.

    raven

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I “War Like a Thunderbolt” about the Battle of Atlanta the author explores the notion that most people view that battle through the lens of “Gone With the Wind”. When the film premiered at the Fox in Atlanta Gable met with the mayor and told him if he wanted the Cyclorama to succeed they needed to put Gable in there. There is a relief of the battle scene at the base of the painting and there is a dying Confederate with a big smile on his face. You guessed it.

  198. 198.

    Jeffro

    Ack – so late to this cool thread!

    I cannot begin to think about how many cassette mix tapes I made over the years for myself, for significant others, for buddies, and just because.

    One of the best mixes I made (not a cassette one, but a CD/iTunes mix) was after spending a long weekend holed up with my college buddies in Great Cacapon, fishing, kayaking, and getting hammered.

    1. Ok Go – Good Idea At The Time
    2. Against Me! – Spanish Moss
    3. Drive-By Truckers – Aftermath USA
    4. Huey Lewis & The News – Walking On A Thing Line
    5. AC/DC – Shoot To Thrill
    6. Ben Harper & Innocent Criminals – Faded/Whole Lotta Love
    7. Dropkick Murphys – Deed Not Words
    8. Foo Fighters – These Days
    9. Train – Free
    10. Warren Zevon – Splendid Isolation
    11. Social Distortion – Ring of Fire

    A classic!  Good times…

  200. 200.

    Haroldo

    One Red Rose That I Mean                         Captain Beefheart
    Song of Joy                                                     Sheila Jordan and Arild Andersen
    Little Wing                                                      Jimi Hendrix
    Diabelli Variations                                        Beethoven / Serkin
    Can’t Be Satisfied                                          Muddy Waters
    Evil Is Goin’ On                                              Howlin’ Wolf
    Útviklingssang                                               Carla Bley
    Cold Sweat                                                     James Brown
    My Shit’s Fucked Up                                     Warren Zevon
    Did She Jump or Was She Pushed             Richard and Linda Thompson
    Political Science                                            Randy Newman
    Bach Is Dead                                                 The Residents
    Spirit in the Dark                                           Aretha Franklin – Live
    African Marketplace                                     Dollar Brand

    90 minutes is quite the stricture, innit?

  201. 201.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    Oh man, I love the pandemic playlist

    I thought about a similar themed playlist, in these times of sheltering in place
    Gimme Shelter
    I Got A Get A Message to You
    Dead Man’s Party
    Hold On, I’m Coming
    Can’t Find My Way Home
    Shelter From the Storm
    Higher Ground
    Things Can Only Get Better
    The Earth Is On Fire

  204. 204.

    debbie

    @NotMax:

    I think Arsenic and Old Lace would be a contender too. Especially Cary Grant’s exasperated conversations with his aunts.

  207. 207.

    WaterGirl

    @Jeffro: BG’s culture threads are every Sunday at 5pm blog time.

    Maybe mark you calendar so you can see what the next topic is going to be?  If you click on the link to Medium Cool under featuring, toward the end of the week I try to include what the next topic will be.

  208. 208.

    Brachiator

    @debbie:

    The director, Howard Hawks, encouraged improvisation, and the film fell slightly behind schedule. Rosalind Russell felt that she didn’t have enough good lines and hired her own writer to punch up her part. One other tidbit about this, from the Wiki

    Her ghostwriter gave her some of the lines for the restaurant scene, which is unique to His Girl Friday. It was one of the most complicated scenes to film; because of the rapidity of the dialogue, none of the actors actually eat during the scene despite the fact that there is food in the scene. Hawks shot this scene with one camera a week and a half into production and it took four days to film instead of the intended two.

    Just an amazing piece of work. And Russell is great, even though a number of female actors were offered the part before she was cast.

  209. 209.

    Brachiator

    @Mary G:

    ETA: Oh fuck, while looking for his songs, I see John Prine has the ‘rona and is intubated and in critical condition

    This is terrible.  I confess that I don’t know his work well, but I pay attention when other artists praise him as an influence, and I know the work of many artists that he has inspired.

  211. 211.

    middlelee

    Born in the USA, Springsteen

    Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2

    Today I Started Loving You Again, Merle Haggard

    My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, Willie Nelson

    Life Could Be a Dream, the Crew Cuts

    Over There, James Cagney

    The Moldau

    You’re a Grand Old Flag, Cagney

    Dvorak Cello Concerto, Pablo Casals

    Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink, Merle

    Harrigan, Cagney

    That’s my 90 minutes and I didn’t even get to Emmy Lou Harris, Doris Day covers of Ruth Etting, and the rest of the female vocalists, including opera singers from the 20th Century.  It’s a start.

  213. 213.

    Jeffro

    Btw true confession time: I have not one but TWO, yes two cassette-playing boom boxes!

    1. An old Panasonic just like the one that got me through my teens and early 20s (thank you, eBay!)
    2. A Sony cassette/CD player that I use most days, especially when cooking or when hanging out in the living room reading.  I move it around with me (surround sound?  what’s that?)

    I still have about 25 tapes, 15 of which are old mixes and 10 of which are fave cassettes, like ‘Electric’ by The Cult and the ‘Where The Buffalo Roam’ soundtrack.

  214. 214.

    Brachiator

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I definitely noticed that in a lot of older B&W movies. The Mid-Atlantic accent and either of those dialog techniques have not aged well. How hard was it to just talk like a real human?

    I guess some people want hyper-realism and hyper-naturalism in movies. I understand this, but movies are also heightened reality. Dialog can be shaped like song lyrics, like music, depending on the needs of the story.

    Also, in the 30s, filmmakers were still experimenting with sound. And their models were not how people spoke in the everyday world, but theater, vaudville and the music hall, especially when it came to comedy, where audiences expected fast gags and jokes.

    I know some people whose experience with movies begins with Star Wars. And yet a lot of the dialog in that film was inspired by the jokey still of screwball comedies from the 30s.

  219. 219.

    middlelee

    @middlelee:

    Sound track to Dr. Zhivago, the Boston Pops and Oh Yeah, Great Big Sea.

    I’ll be thinking of favorite music for the next 6 hours but this is it for BJ.

  223. 223.

    A Ghost to Most

    Thinking mad good thoughts for John Prine. He is the embodiment of “The Living Bubba”.

    “But I can’t die now

    Cause I got another show to do”

    Jackson Browne is recovering.

  224. 224.

    August West

    Toccata and Fugue in D minor – J.S. Bach

    Underture – The Who

    Sing, Sing, Sing (from Carnegie Hall Concert) – Benny Goodman

    Sweet Little Sixteen – Chuck Berry

    Awaiting on You All – George Harrison

    The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys – Traffic

    I Talk to the Wind – King Crimosn

    El Condor Pasa – Simon and Garfunkel

    No Woman No Cry (live version from Legend) – Bob Marley

    Stormy Monday – The Allman Brothers Band

    Sweet Jane (live version from Rock & Roll Animal) – Lou Reed

    Starman – David Bowie

    Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – Chicago

    Joe’s Garage – Frank Zappa

    Freeway Jam – Jeff Beck

    Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell

    Sunday Morning – Velvet Underground

    Stolen Moments – Oliver Nelson

    In a Sentimental Mood – Duke Ellington and John Coltrane

    All Blues – Miles Davis

    Trois Gnossiennes – Eric Satie

  226. 226.

    Ruckus

    What difference does it make what I want to put on it, I have no machine to record that or play it back.

    I do have vinyl and a damn fine player. However listening to one record for 2 weeks straight would probably make the entire process pointless after the 3rd day as I most likely would have broken both the vinyl and the player. I have been in a situation for a lot longer than 2 weeks playing the same 7in reel to reel, over and over and over and over and over…… till everyone on the ship demanded that we never play music ever again. Which of course was the point.

  227. 227.

    kindness

    I was buying the TDK SAII100s cases from Costco back when the Dead were still the Grateful Dead.  Occasionally a set would go over 90 minutes.  Just sayin’.

  228. 228.

    Ruckus

    @Zinsky:

    One of the things I heard is that cancer, current or in remission makes one a more likely victim to this virus. Might be a weakened system if so. Have no idea about the truth to that at all.

  230. 230.

    Bokonon

    @BobS:  Los Lobos – YES!!

    I was going to see them perform in Boulder, Colorado right when the COVID-19 pandemic hit … they had to cancel.

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