"Subdivisions" - Rush

Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone

I always thought that Rush was just a phase, something that I would outgrow and look back at with shame. Fuck that, these guys from Canada rocked until the very end. Rush has two songs on the mixtape and it could of been a lot more. In fact, here I present the 4 runner ups that almost made the tape:

1. Dreamline
2. Limelight
3. The Spirit Of Radio
4. The song "Rush" by Big Audio Dynamite

"Subdivisions" is an anthem to the looser, nerd and outcast.  Honestly the fact that this song hasn't been used in Stranger Things yet is mind blowing to me. Released on the album Signals in 1982 it reached #5 on the rock charts in the US.  The opening synth chords and Neil absolutely killing every fill in the first 60 seconds is what makes vintage Rush, vintage Rush.  Geddy's voice pleads for acceptance and brings us along for a journey through the dull suburbs of America.  Alex doesn't really have much to do here but he gets to take center stage next time we talk about Rush.

"Posse on Broadway" - Sir Mix-A-Lot

'Cause the 808 kick drum makes the girlies get dumb

Before Macklemore, Sound Garden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Queensryche there was the OG Seattle musician, Sir Mix-A-Lot. And before he was the man to bring attention to abundant behinds, he was Swass. Ice T has a song, "Midnight", were he talks about his night avoiding death from rival gangs and the cops. "Posse on Broadway" is kind of like that except it is just Mix talking about hanging out with his crew (5 fellas and twenty-two freaks) and getting Taco Bell.

Now there are those that will claim that my Freshman year at college I opened my dorm room windows, moved my Bose speakers into them and played this song on repeat into the quad for hours while I left and went to class. These vicious rumors are untrue. But if they were true, then I would suggest the whole campus owed me a debt of gratitude for expanding their minds.

"Coma" - Guns N'Roses

And when the bell's stop ringing, it was nobody's fault but your own

When Axl stepped off the bus in the beginning of the "Welcome to the Jungle" music video a large swatch of my peers were instantly sold on hair metal. Me I took a little more convincing and finally came around. But in the late summer of 1991, as hair metal was dying and within weeks of the release of Ten and Nevermind, GnR released Use Your Illusion 1 and 2. Between them they contain 3 absolutely epic songs. The biggest hit "November Rain", the tragically underrated "Estranged", and clocking in at ten minutes thirteen seconds, "Coma".

"Coma" is the kind of song you loose your voice to screaming in the car. The song builds and builds. The time signature changes multiple times like a prog rock song. At around 4 minutes we calm down and Axl finds peace with his situation. He is in a coma. But the doctors just won't let him rest. Once he is brought back he has had enough and snaps beginning his absolute rant of a breakdown at the 8 minute mark. Two solid minutes of the best lyrics Axl ever wrote and the rest of the band shredding behind it.

"Stuart" - The Dead Milkmen

I first became aware of this about ten years ago, the summer my oldest boy, Bill Jr. died.

I do not know if there is a song in existence that I have quoted more in my life than this song. I can in no way claim to be anything more than a casual fan of The Dead Milkmen. Their brand of Indie rock was never really my thing. I would occasionally hear them back in the day on Double X but it wasn't until high school I really listened. The sheer insanity of this song, from the story being told to the insane dig at Des Moines Iowa, defies explanation, but hey so do The Dead Milkmen

"Fuck wit Dre Day" - Dr. Dre

And them rhymes you were kickin' were quite bootylicious

There is the order things happened in real life and then there is the order things were discovered by some whites boys in a school district with 1 black kid in the high school. I first heard Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" at my friend Tim's house. At this time I didn't know N.W.A. or why Dre had beef with some guy named Easy, and honestly I think I didn't appreciate the rhymes or flows at first. But as I ingested more rap and hip hop I began to understand. I grew to appreciate the flows, the rhyming schemes and the intricacies of the lyrics. 

The Chronic was Dre's first studio album after the breakup of NWA. The tracks and guest verses are top notch. The skits are hilarious and timely. The Chronic is when we first hear a young Snoop Dogg and his work on "Fuck wit Dre Day" is genre defining. Dre has brought 2 rappers so far into the forefront they each have Fortnite skins.  Oh yeah he also had to restart his label several times and was such a successful business man he become a billionaire.  Not bad for a kid from Compton.

"Listen Like Thieves" - INXS

But they're loosing touch when the lights go out

In Pittsburgh we had a rock station in the 80s at 100.7 called Double XX. It was where new wave or alternative rock could be found. It introduced me to The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds and Love and Rockets. Spoilers, 2 of which will make the mix tape. It also was where you would hear a band like INXS. The album "Listen Like Thieves" was considered a critical success for the Australian band. It broke them into the US market and prepped them for the massive mainstream success that their next album, "Kick", would provide.

This has always been my favorite INXS song. I love the way it flows from verse to chorus seamlessly. Then we get to the break where Michael Hutchens assures us that we are all we need and that we need to do it for ourselves. He and the band then power into the final chorus and one last time assure us that all the power is in our hands.

"Territorial Pissings" - Nirvana

Just because you're paranoid don't mean they're not after you

So kids, Unc here and I am going to explain to you how we used to find out about music. Sure we had the radio, but there used to be this thing called MTV. By the early 90s MTV has started showing content besides music videos. But they stilled showed the popular pop videos all the time and were pretty much a mirror to radio. Except late at night they would have these shows that focused on other genres. Fab 5 Freddy, Dr. Dre (a different one) and Ed Lover would host Yo MTV Raps! We had Riki Rachtman and Headbangers Ball for heavy metal. But one night in 1991 Matt Pinfield had a bunch of grungy guys called Nirvana on live. They didn't perform this song but about 30 seconds into "Smells Like Teen Spirit" I knew I was hearing something special. This sound was going to be the death, not just for me but for the industry as a whole, of Hair Metal. That night I learned about grunge. Of the 5 artists with 2 songs on the mixtape, 2 are grunge.

Listening to the opening chords of "Territorial Pissings" must of been how a teenager in the late 60s felt hearing the opening The Beatles "Revolution". This song is animalistic, non stop and absolutely primal. Kurt is screaming for his life, his voice constantly cracking until it just gives out. The instruments are being beaten to within an inch of their life but the sound is beautiful.

"Certain Kind Of Fool" - Eagles

They say that he was crazy The kind that no lady should meet

Long before "Hell Froze Over" the Eagles created one of my favorite concept albums. Not sure what about concept albums really hooks me in but I do tend to really enjoy them.  Definitely an album type that will rear its ugly head several more times.  

Desperado was the Eagles second studio album.  The cover is adorned with the band in Wild West outfits holding rifles and looking as much like Outlaw Man(s) as they could.  Glenn Frey wanted to show off the bands artistic chops and tell the story of the Dalton brothers.  "Certain Kind of Fool" tells the story of a poor boy who found his way out by being good with the steel.  The American story, rags to riches with a gun in his hand.  It brough him money and fame but as we learn, it's a certain kind of fool who loves to hear the sound of his own name.

The Story so far...

 I don't really remember how or where the idea came from but at some point in time this year I decided it would be a good idea to do a song list for my 50th birthday. Obviously the list would have 50 songs on it, but how would I choose?

My first idea was maybe doing a different song for each year. So starting in 1975 and picking a song that was released that year. Well then, I thought, maybe I need to go with songs that charted that year. but after some mental back and forth I settled on release year. So I started with 1975. Bohemium Rhapsody from Queen immediately jumps to mind. But that is also the year Thunder Road from The Boss came out. Despite everything my mother tried to instill within me, I can still appreciate Led Zepplin and Kashmir is a damn solid song. This was only year one. So I decided 1 song a year wasn't the path to go down. I had almost decided to abandon my project. None of my selection ideas were really working, when inspiration finally hit me.

You ever see a really cool recipe online, click the link, and then have to read through 5 paragraphs of exposition on how baking with the author's grandma is how they learned what love was? I was going to do that. I was going to create a mixtape for my 50 years on this earth and Pinterest the shit out of the entries. A few ground rules:

• No Artist may have more than 2 entries on the list
• The songs aren't necessarily my favorite or the artists bests, just songs I love
• No musicals, theme songs, entrance songs
• Don't be an ass
• The list isn't ordered

So here we are. 45 separate artists, so 5 artists get a double entry.  I only break one of the above rules once and I think the song got enough radio play to justify it. I hope you enjoy the mixtape I have put together for you as much as I have enjoyed living the 50 years it took.