Thursday, November 16, 2006

mixtape of the people, for the people, by the HBCC

(Emmitt Smith is Handsome. Boobs McGee is Handsome too)

First off, congratulations to Emmit Smith who won last night’s dancing with the stars. Wow! Is this guy handsome or what?! Besides, beating AC Slater at anything is pretty much phenomenal. Sup now, Zach?

Second, parties.

Okay, so we started talking about this earlier this week, but I passed over one of the quint-e-fucking-ssential aspects of a good party: the music. Yeah, I said it, the music. Namely, the mixtape. Because unless you’re going to hire a DJ (lame) you don’t want to be hunched over your Apple iBook all night changing tracks at randome. It’s usually better (in this case) to get an iTunes playlist all lined up before people come over so you can DJ a little and then put it on automatic at other times.

Really though, good music I think can make or break a party. It’s like working in PR: when things are going right, no one says shit. When things are going wrong, everybody’s got something to say and no one’s having a good time.

Now, this will forever be up for debate: what makes a great mix tape? Sure, there are a ton of other factors to consider (genre, years, party theme, etc. etc. etc.) Well, readers, I’m gonna need your help and I’m going to try to be as specific as possible.

I’m going to take on the DJ duties at my 12 year middle school reunion (I know, a little untraditional, but that’s just how we roll at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington Hills, MI) So, I’m trying to put together the ultimate mix tape that’s just gonna throw everybody straight back to 1994 and earlier, when we used to go lace up our roller skates at Bonaventure skate rink or hit the arcade and watch all the Caldeans go crazy on Mortal Kombat or listening to 96.3FM on the radio.

Late 80’s, early 90’s is what I’m thinking here people. (yes, I ‘graduated’ middle school in ’94) But think about it: what a difficult time period to fit into one mixtape. I mean, shit, in just the first four years of the 90’s alone you’ve got two major genres exploding: gangster rap and grunge. Those two alone put you at opposite ends of the spectrum with regard to audiences. Then throw in the waning hair rock thing, the teen idols (Debbie Gibson, anyone?), the emerging boy bands (when did NKOTB hit it?), the R&B groups (boys to men), and some emo in there somewhere (that has never really been my forte).So, okay, enough rambling. Please help me out here. Below is a list that the HBCC has come up with. Your help is greatly appreciated. Feel free to leave artist and song suggestions in the comments section, because I have the feeling that for the people who frequent the HBCC, this kind of thing is right in their wheelhouse. THANKS! (I’ll post the final playlist in like two weeks time once I’m done compiling and building and sculpting and painting my masterpiece. click on the list to enlarge and then click again to magnify)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw Young MC on your list...which is HIGHlarious.

What about Paperboy -Ditty; Rob Base - I wanna rock and It Takes Two; Marky Mark - Good Vibrations; Tone Loc - Wild Thing; of course B.B.D. - Poison; and Boyz to Men - Whatever song you had your first kiss to, on the dance floor in the gym, under the basketball hoop, Stantonandorchard.

Ok, maybe I was just going for shock value instead of actually caring if you get jumped at this reunion for playing any of those songs.

Anonymous said...

color me badd-i wanna sex you up
rick astley-never gonna give you up
richard marx-don't mean nothin
fine young cannibals-she drive's me crazy
2 live crew-hoochie mama
terence trent t'arby-wishing well
james-laid
squeeze-pulling muscles from a shell
gin blossoms-hey jealousy
blind melon-no rain
toad the wet sprocket-all i want
emf-unbelievable
jesus jones-right here, right now
arrested development-mr. wendall

ok so i went a little overboard. these songs are straight from my ipod. no joke--i do have richard marx on my ipod

stantonandorchard said...

i knew it, i knew you people would be masters at this. masters of the universe.

paperboy - ditty? shit, that will blow people's minds!

rick astely - NGGYU? wow. yes, i said it, wow.

color me badd - i wanna sex you up? if it makes the comments twice its definitely in. tick tock you don't stop...

Anonymous said...

A word of advice on the iPod playlists - keep the laptop locked/ipod out of sight/stream it in from another room. Otherwise, all of your party people get the idea that they, too can be master DJs. And all your hard work curating a playlist is for naught as they start pulling up irrelevant Bon Jovi mp3s.

True story.

stantonandorchard said...

Audrey, good point. And that was exactly what happened at my party as my friend who works for a music magazine waited all of about a half hour after showing up before whipping out her own iPod and trying to plug it in.

Ever seen that Pop-Copy skit on Chappelle Show? The part where he's like, "If they have a disc, tell them we use Mac. If they say its a Mac, tell them we use Windows. And if that doesn't work, just tell them we use Linux." Well, she couldn't synch up cause it was formatted for Windows. True story. Nerdy, but true.

emily said...

dmbmeg - my hat's off to you. Brilliant.

I graduated from high school in '92 (yep, I'm graying already) and our class song was So Hard to Say Goodbye by Boys II Men.

But I'm from Texas, so basically it was all this 80's pop plus some Garth Brooks and Clint Black.
Where's Madonna on this list?
And don't forget Smells Like Teen Spirit. Gotta have the grunge that started it all!

stantonandorchard said...

word, so those who might be checking in: i did a little research this weekend and pulled the village voice top 25 singles for '91-'94. Here's a small taste:

1991 - PM Dawn, Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
1992 - Arrested Development, Tennessee (A GAME OF HORSHOESSSS)
1993 - Snow, Informer OR The Breeders, Cannonball
1994 - Warren G, Regulate

There's more, but, like I said, that's just a taste