Flashback Friday: The Mix Tape

So a combination of things have been leading me to nostalgia lately, mainly the fact that it's my ten year high school reunion this summer and things like that. Nostalgia can really bug me sometimes, but right now I'm actually having a little fun with it.

After my rant the other day about not knowing who Justin Bieber was, I started thinking back on the music I listened to as a pre-teen/teenager and I realized, it probably wasn't much better. And then I remembered how I used to make mixed tapes of all the songs I liked - some off of CD's and some I taped even right off the radio as my boom box (does anyone even make these anymore?) had that capability.

Then I realized - while it was made in 2001, my car has a tape deck. Not a CD player. A tape deck. So for the mere fun of it I dug out all the mixed tapes I could find that I made from about ages 12-15 or so. And I have been listening to them while I've been driving around town. And laughing alot.

Here is a sample of the gems I have found so far:

"I Can't Help Myself" by Joey Lawrence. At the time he was most famous for his role on the sitcom "Blossom" and went through a bit of a teen idol phase. Now he's bald and best known for having been on Dancing with the Stars and apparently has a new show coming out this fall.

"MmmBop" by Hanson. I will admit, when this song first came out I loved it. I couldn't get enough of it...and then it was played and played and played and pretty soon I wanted to pull my hair out.

"One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. I have to laugh, my first "boyfriend" (I put this in quotes because we were in 8th grade at the time, how could you really actually date then?) and I had this as "our song". But it makes no sense for that purpose - it's a song about losing a loved one to the AIDS virus. Makes no sense to me!

"Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. Yep I went through a "girl power" phase. Enough said here.

"Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio and several other songs from the movie "Dangerous Minds". I really liked the movie and it seemed like everyone my age had to have the soundtrack. I knew almost all of the words to this and also the parody by Weird Al "Amish Paradise."

There were others, so many others, that surprised me and made me laugh. But others made me smile, I still like some of that music and actually enjoyed hearing some of it again! I'm working to find some of the songs I don't have in MP3 format (wow from cassette tapes to MP3's) so I can continue to enjoy them if I ever replace my tape deck in my car with something else!