What You Should Have Heard #17

My Mix CDs

I’ve got a lot of music but limited space to hold it in, especially in my car. So I’ve gone the old tried-and-true way of making mix CDs to have access to as many bands as possible while driving. I’m going slightly old-school since I’m a bit backwards and have no iPod.

Most of the songs will be more upbeat, with probably only the occasional ballad or slower song included. I like to sing in the car, and the more upbeat songs are more fun to sing.

I’ll be going in alpha-numeric order with these, so if you’re wanting to argue with me about what Weezer songs should be included, you’re going to be waiting for a while.

My only limitations are that I use 80 min. discs, and I’m only going to use one disc per band/artist. I will make exceptions for only my most favorite bands with huge playlists (Foo Fighters and Self, off the top of my head), but I’d really like to boil everything down to just one disc.

Here’s the list guide:

Track # - Song Name - Album Name

Beastie Boys Mix CD

1. So What’cha Want – Check Your Head
2. Body Movin’ – Hello Nasty
3. Intergalactic – Hello Nasty
4. Three MCs ad One DJ – Hello Nasty
5. Sure Shot – Ill Communication
6. Root Down – Ill Communication
7. Sabotage – Ill Communication
8. Girls – Licensed to Ill
9. Fight for Your Right – Licensed to Ill
10. No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn – Licensed to Ill
11. Paul Revere – Licensed to Ill
12. Hold It Now, Hit It – Licensed to Ill
13. Brass Monkey – Licensed to Ill
14. Shake Your Rump – Paul’s Boutique
15. Egg Man – Paul’s Boutique
16. Hey Ladies – Paul’s Boutique
17. Shadrach – Paul’s Boutique
18. Ch-Check It Out – To the 5 Boroughs
19. Triple Trouble – To the 5 Boroughs

The Beastie Boys is (gah, I cringe just typing that because it sounds weird, but I know it’s grammatically correct) a group that I didn’t really care all that much for when I first became aware of them (Fight for Your Right). It wasn’t until college and the release of Hello Nasty that I really started to get into them. It also didn’t hurt that I had some friends who were fans and opened my eyes (and ears) to some of their classic songs like Brass Monkey and Girls.

Going through their catalog, even now when I don’t like everything they do, I’ve grown to respect them. You can really see the trio mature and evolve as musicians. In a market that is dominated by African Americans, this trio of Jewish kids has had a steady and successful hip-hop career for more than 25 years. They’ve survived in a genre whose popularity was eventually overshadowed by its bastard child, rap (and really, it’s only been recently that I’ve made a distinction between the two in my own mind).

Beastie Boys’ Wikipedia entry

Beastie Boys’ AllMusic entry

Beastie Boys’ Official Site

Beastie Boys’ MySpace page

Beastie Boys’ Facebook page

Here’s the video for “Sabotage.” I haven’t really liked a lot of the group’s videos, but this is a classic. If you’ve not seen this homage to ‘70s-era cops/detectives, give it a view.