A while back I began digitizing old cassette tapes. Among them are five favorites tapes I recorded in the early 80s when I was working at my college's radio station (WESU 88.1 FM in Middletown, CT). I recorded one tape each semester I worked there. My radio show included a fair amount of alternative music from independent record companies so there was a lot of obscure stuff on the tapes.
I kept all my notes about my work at the radio station, including lists of what was on the tapes, in a spiral-bound notebook. So when I began digitizing these tapes, I went looking for the notebook. A couple of years earlier, I had looked through and reorganized all my old papers. I thought the notebook was with everything else.
It wasn't. I tore through all my papers several times and didn't find it.
So my iTunes playlists of these cassette tapes are woefully inadequate - in a number of cases neither I nor Google could figure out the name of the song and/or artist.
Tonight I was in the living room acting as a cat pillow and looking at the bookshelves, pondering whether any decluttering could be done. Decluttering is strangely difficult for me. I don't actually feel a lot of attachment to possessions, as in, I usually don't feel terribly upset if I lose or accidentally destroy something. But when I look at a specific item wondering whether I should get rid of it or not, I often come up with a lot of excuses why I should keep it. I guess I kind of feel sorry for it. (This doesn't extend to old pizza boxes and so forth, fortunately.)
But in my mode of contemplation I felt freed of some of that, and I decided that I might start decluttering my outmoded collection of psychology books on the second-to-top shelf. When the cat decided to hang out elsewhere, I went over there and picked out about five books to get rid of. There were several other books I figured I wasn't too likely to consult again, but some of them were Yale Press books, and I tend to save all my Yale Press books because I used to work there. And the rest were Martin Seligman books, and since I have something of a collection of his stuff, I didn't want to get rid of any of those either. Then next to the psychology was the Eastern philosophy and Buddhism, but even though I thought I was unlikely to consult many of them again, I knew I had enjoyed reading them and wanted to keep all of them.
So much for that shelf. I moved up to the next shelf, which began with music. I was tempted to skip over all the music books on principle, but I went ahead and started looking through them.
And I found my WESU folder!
The playlists
(Some of the songs degraded too much to be digitized.)
Tape I, Spring 1981 (sophomore year)
Side 1
Side 2
Tape II, Winter 82 (junior year)
Side 1
Side 2
Tape III, Spring 82
Side 1
Side 2
Tape IV, Winter 83
Side 2
Tape V, Spring 83
Side 1
Side 2
I kept all my notes about my work at the radio station, including lists of what was on the tapes, in a spiral-bound notebook. So when I began digitizing these tapes, I went looking for the notebook. A couple of years earlier, I had looked through and reorganized all my old papers. I thought the notebook was with everything else.
It wasn't. I tore through all my papers several times and didn't find it.
So my iTunes playlists of these cassette tapes are woefully inadequate - in a number of cases neither I nor Google could figure out the name of the song and/or artist.
Tonight I was in the living room acting as a cat pillow and looking at the bookshelves, pondering whether any decluttering could be done. Decluttering is strangely difficult for me. I don't actually feel a lot of attachment to possessions, as in, I usually don't feel terribly upset if I lose or accidentally destroy something. But when I look at a specific item wondering whether I should get rid of it or not, I often come up with a lot of excuses why I should keep it. I guess I kind of feel sorry for it. (This doesn't extend to old pizza boxes and so forth, fortunately.)
But in my mode of contemplation I felt freed of some of that, and I decided that I might start decluttering my outmoded collection of psychology books on the second-to-top shelf. When the cat decided to hang out elsewhere, I went over there and picked out about five books to get rid of. There were several other books I figured I wasn't too likely to consult again, but some of them were Yale Press books, and I tend to save all my Yale Press books because I used to work there. And the rest were Martin Seligman books, and since I have something of a collection of his stuff, I didn't want to get rid of any of those either. Then next to the psychology was the Eastern philosophy and Buddhism, but even though I thought I was unlikely to consult many of them again, I knew I had enjoyed reading them and wanted to keep all of them.
So much for that shelf. I moved up to the next shelf, which began with music. I was tempted to skip over all the music books on principle, but I went ahead and started looking through them.
And I found my WESU folder!
The playlists
(Some of the songs degraded too much to be digitized.)
Tape I, Spring 1981 (sophomore year)
Side 1
Going Underground, The Jam London Calling, Clash Monday, The Jam Lost Number, The Fools G-O-O-D-B-Y-E, Jags Follow Your Heart, Kingbees Bad Reputation, Joan Jett Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Ian Dury Ant Music, Adam & the Ants Digital Stimulation, The Units Nurds, The Roches What Does Sex Mean to Me?, Human Sexual Response Teenage Kicks, The Undertones Police on My Back, Clash Sodium Pentathol Negative, [unknown artist]
Side 2
Time Drags So Slow, Tourists Walking on Thin Ice, Yoko Ono Complicated Game, XTC Roxanne, Police Fear of Failure, October Days Lips, Wazmo Nariz Don't Give Yourself Away, October Days Holiday in Cambodia, Dead Kennedys Call Me, Ring Ants Invation, Adam & The Ants You Say You Don't Love Me, Buzzcocks I Only Wanna Be With You, Tourists
Tape II, Winter 82 (junior year)
Side 1
Radio Clash, Clash Into You Like a Train, Psychedelic Furs Your Academy, Mission of Burma 12345678910, Human Sexual Response Slow Down the World, Earthling Planet Earth, Duran Duran I Have No Shoes, Shox Lumania Into the Light, Siouxsie & the Banshees Charlotte Sometimes, The Cure Land of the Glass Pinecones, Human Sexual Response Two Soldiers, David Byrne
Side 2
Poppa's Got a Brand New Pigbag, Pigbag Chihuahua, Bow Wow Wow Fashion, David Bowie Eggs in a Briar Patch, David Byrne Tainted Love, Soft Cell Public Alley 909, Human Sexual Response Ring of Fire, Wall of Voodoo O Superman, Laurie Anderson Cloud Chamber, David Byrne Rebel Waltz, Clash All About You, Scars
Tape III, Spring 82
Side 1
Right To Know, D-Day Transglobal Express, Jam Senses Working Overtime, XTC Useless Information, Chris & Cosey Adventures in Plastic TV Land, Pope Paul Pot Walk the Dog, Laurie Anderson We Are All Animals, Diagram Brothers Mechanical Beat, Puppies Thru the Fence, A Blind Dog Stares Ceremony, New Order
Side 2
Tell Me Why, Metro Don't You Want Me (ext. mix), Human League Cat People (theme), David Bowie Indian Ocean Voyage 2, Port Said St. Elmo's Fire, Brian Eno The Crickets in the Flats, David Thomse & The Pedestrians Goosebumps, Debra DeJean Lust to Love, GoGos Charlie Don't Surf, Clash This Is Style, Get Smart! Catwalk, Fingerprintz
Tape IV, Winter 83
Should I Stay or Should I Go, Clash Stray Cat Strut, Stray Cats Pop Cliché, Neats Pipeline, Agent Orange Alternative Ulster, Stiff Little Fingers Shallow Water, Flesheaters All the Young Punks, Clash We're Desperate, X Town Called Malice, Jam White Wedding, Billy Idol No Thugs in Our House, XTC He's So Strange, GoGos Dancing With Tears in My Eyes, X
Side 2
Sex Bomb, Flipper California Uber Alles, Dead Kennedys We've Got a Bigger Problem Now, Dead Kennedys Video Is Not Art, Cold Dogs in the Courtyard Emotional Blank, Amoebas in Chaos There's Nothing on This Side, Wall of Voodoo Sexthink One, Shriekback City Up!, Egoslavia Try Jah Love, Third World Love My Way, Psychedelic Furs
Tape V, Spring 83
Side 1
I Ran, A Flock of Seagulls The Look of Love, ABC The Message, Grandmaster Flash Da Da Da, Trio The Roof, Vortex The Gun, Lou Reed Stop the Music for a Minute, Quentin Crisp Eat or Be Eaten, Iggy Pop Garageland, Boffo Fuck the System, XS I Don't Care About You, Fear Ha Ha Ha, Flipper Repetition, The Fall Totally Wired, The Fall
Side 2
Time to Get Up, Les Microwaves That's When I Reach for My Revolver, Mission of Burma Weather Box, Mission of Burma The Voice of America The Damage Is Done, Cabaret Voltaire Baby O Baby, Martin Rev Black Box Disco, Vortex Stationary Dance, Savant Broken English, Marianne Faithfull Rise Sam and Rimsky Karsakov, John Cage All About You, Thomas Leer
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Comments
Unfortunately, I know only about half the songs. I think I would have enjoyed listening to you in high school more than WHFS, which was good but not quite as good as college radio.
Seeble.
Is the X song a cover of the Ultravox song?
Which stuff do you recognize/like?
London Calling, Clash
Complicated Game, XTC
Roxanne, Police
Holiday in Cambodia, Dead Kennedys
Radio Clash, Clash
Into You Like a Train, Psychedelic Furs
Your Academy, Mission of Burma
Planet Earth, Duran Duran
Into the Light, Siouxsie & the Banshees
Charlotte Sometimes, The Cure
Poppa's Got a Brand New Pigbag, Pigbag
Tainted Love, Soft Cell
Ring of Fire, Wall of Voodoo
Transglobal Express, Jam
Senses Working Overtime, XTC
Useless Information, Chris & Cosey
Ceremony, New Order
Don't You Want Me (ext. mix), Human League
Charlie Don't Surf, Clash
Should I Stay or Should I Go, Clash
Pipeline, Agent Orange
Alternative Ulster, Stiff Little Fingers
All the Young Punks, Clash
White Wedding, Billy Idol
Sex Bomb, Flipper
California Uber Alles, Dead Kennedys
We've Got a Bigger Problem Now, Dead Kennedys
There's Nothing on This Side, Wall of Voodoo
Sexthink One, Shriekback
Love My Way, Psychedelic Furs
I Ran, A Flock of Seagulls
The Look of Love, ABC
The Message, Grandmaster Flash
Da Da Da, Trio
Ha Ha Ha, Flipper
Repetition, The Fall
Totally Wired, The Fall
That's When I Reach for My Revolver, Mission of Burma
Weather Box, Mission of Burma
The Damage Is Done, Cabaret Voltaire
Rise Sam and Rimsky Karsakov, John Cage
...although most of those I only have the vaguest recollection of (other than the reasonably popular ones), since I haven't heard them in some time.
And how wonderful that you found it. Them. (The notebook. The playlists.)
Otherwise, the song and artist names definitely bring back memories! I was playing London Calling (the whole thing, not just the title song) just a few days ago -- 10-year-old Arthur really likes "Rudie Can't Fail".
I don't know how easy it'd be to do, though.
Me too. I run a home for unwanted books in the dog room. It's already filled to capacity, so any incoming unwanted books have to sleep on the floor.
And WESU reminds me irresistably of Tank McNamara.
My own first big bloom of interest in music was in that same era, and so many of these songs figure in my memories of college, too. Although I can't swear how many of them I actually played on the college radio station at the time.