Anatomy of a Mixtape - Olive Juice '87 Part VII "Roll the Tape"
"Roll the Tape"
Part VII - “Roll the Tape”
Well, let’s start where it all began. Wednesday, March 4, 1987.
It’s late on a school night. A young male, simply known as Olive Juice, sits hunched over a bedside table, nervously, yet carefully, writing out the names of 15 songs he has painstakingly chosen to share with a close friend. The statement is powerful and the lettering on the cassette needs to display just as much confidence as his choice in songs — no shaky hesitation in the lettering, no smudges of the pen, and for the love of all that’s holy, no freakin’ misspelled words. Because remember, the only thing that lasts longer than the sentiment of a good mixtape, is the unholy presence of Wite-Out on a mixtape label. It’s turning your head to the same side as your partner when going in for the first kiss, it’s nervously answering “Good” to the greeting of “What’s up?”, it’s audibly farting on the first date. It’s a move you’ll be forever remembered by in the pantheon of things you don’t want to be remembered for.
And while Bon Jovi’s “Living On a Prayer” was the #1 song on the Billboard chart on March 4th, 1987, what will Olive Juice choose as his number one? His launching point?
What does he want to say?
What is the “attention getter”?
Here we go. Song by song.
Side A:
Track #1 - “Your [sic] the Inspiration”
And right off the bat, we start off with a misspelled word. Better known by its correctly spelled title, “You’re The Inspiration” by Chicago, Olive Juice serves up a sloppy mistake, failing to take proper grammar into consideration while labeling the subject of his affection. Dammit! “You’re”, “You Are!”, “He or she Is!” the inspiration! And if this person is so inspiring, couldn’t you take the time to double check the damn spelling? The sentiment is there in the song title but he gets a “D” in English...and sentiment aside, a “D” in his choice of lead off track.
Leading off with Chicago is a great call...if you’re making a tape for your mom.
But I will say this, if he realized his mistake, I give him credit for gliding over it and not trying to fix it. Dropping in an “apostrophe” is easy enough, but he left too little space between “Your” and “the” to put in an “e”. Doing so would have just created an eyesore and would likely have been more noticeable than this grammar mistake.
Regardless, this song peaked in ‘85 — two years prior — so from the first track we know this isn’t just a playlist of Olive Juice’s favorite songs “of the moment”. At least, not current hits.
Track #2 - “Heart to Heart”
Or, as it’s more likely recognized by its actual title, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship.
I’ve got one question for Olive Juice. What the fuck? I guess it’s conceivable that, to an unfamiliar listener, hearing the line...
“Baby we can make it if we’re heart to heart,”
...might make it seem that “Heart to Heart” was the logical name for this song.
BUT, if I were going to be documenting this track for a mixtape geared towards a crush or serious significant other, it may have dawned on me that, while “Baby we can make it if we’re heart to heart” is repeated twice and could very well be referencing the song title, it is much more likely that “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” is the actual name of the song since that phrase is repeated slightly more often throughout the tune at a total of 16 times.
While I scratch my head at this second gaff in as many songs at such an early stage in this mix, I realize towards the end of “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” there’s a bit of an abrupt end to the recording. This leads me to believe that both of these songs so far were recorded off of the radio.
A classic 80s pastime.
Track #3 - “Lean On Me”
Not the Bill Withers classic, but the Club Nouveau cover that spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart in, you guessed it, March of ‘87. While I’ve always considered them a one hit wonder, you might be surprised to learn (as I was) that Club Nouveau actually put out four more albums after this.
There’s an abrupt ending on the tape to this song as well.
So while early signs of examination pointed to an experienced mixtape producer, I’m starting to question Olive Juice’s maturity and understanding of this delicate process. Part of the thrill of making a mixtape is saying to someone, “Here, these are songs that I have, I want to share them with you.” Abrupt endings to songs in an effort to avoid annoying DJ back announcements are not only completely unsmooth, but they just ruin the moment in general. Save those for when you’re taping songs off the radio for your own enjoyment. I get it, sometimes it just had to be done. Like when you didn’t have the ‘45 for Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” so the only way you were ever going to get a personal copy of “Hey Hey What Can I Do?” was to record it off of the radio, because it was only ever available as a b-side until it was released on CD in 1990.
But anyone can sit at home and tape songs they like off the radio. A mix should be a way of flexing musical muscle. This is who I am. Ziggy Stardust is a part of me. I often freak out in a Moonage Daydream. You’re probably going to want to freak out in one with me. Come along for the ride. If done correctly, the mix should generate a response such as, “Yes, I want to come along on that ride.”
Taping songs off the radio for your mix will lower the probability that you will get that response. As will 60-minute tapes and Wite-Out on the labeling.
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