Drive To Memphis, Vol 4.
Spring 2007
Mojave 3 "Got My Sunshine"
Neil Diamond "Soolaimoon"
Nada Surf "Always Love"
Oasis "Little James"
Phantom Planet "California"
The Pogues "The Sunny Side of the Street"
The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
The Rolling Stones "Sweet Virginia"
Neko Case "Whip The Blankets"
The Sundays "Summertime"
Talking Heads "Road To Nowhere"
Ben Folds Five "Jackson Cannery"
Lyle Lovett "Fat Babies"
Jack Johnson "Taylor"
Brendan Benson "You're Quiet"
Cake "Stickshifts And Safetybelts"
Pat Benatar "Love Is A Battlefield"
The Go-Go's "Head Over Heels"
The Monkees "A Little Bit of Me, A Little Bit of You"
Spoon "The Way We Get By"
Islands "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby"
David Byrne "Miss America"
Spring 2007
Mojave 3 "Got My Sunshine"
Neil Diamond "Soolaimoon"
Nada Surf "Always Love"
Oasis "Little James"
Phantom Planet "California"
The Pogues "The Sunny Side of the Street"
The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
The Rolling Stones "Sweet Virginia"
Neko Case "Whip The Blankets"
The Sundays "Summertime"
Talking Heads "Road To Nowhere"
Ben Folds Five "Jackson Cannery"
Lyle Lovett "Fat Babies"
Jack Johnson "Taylor"
Brendan Benson "You're Quiet"
Cake "Stickshifts And Safetybelts"
Pat Benatar "Love Is A Battlefield"
The Go-Go's "Head Over Heels"
The Monkees "A Little Bit of Me, A Little Bit of You"
Spoon "The Way We Get By"
Islands "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby"
David Byrne "Miss America"
The road trip mix. A very different approach one must make for mix tapes dedicated to long drives with your wife (friends, etc.). This is about singing along. This is not about random crazy obscure songs, or how cool am I. This about feeling like you are on the Muppets and the whole gang is happy as pie and singing and being big dorks. I excel at being a big dork. Sure you can add in a lesser known gem (Islands) but after a few seconds the carload better be singing or you have messed up (Bones, Bones, Bittle little bones...). So above is a list of songs from a four volume mix I made for our long drive (nine hours) to Memphis last year. We do the drive a few times a year, so I was hoping we would listen to them a few times. The other volumes include hits by Bad Company, Weezer, Buffalo Tom, Tom Petty, The Who, Count Five, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Primal Scream, Smoking Popes, Futureheads, and many fine others.
LP is not a hip hop or reggae fan, so usually mixes for our road trips leave out the rap and ragga songs (with an occasional Kris Kross song for good times). And looking back at this volume I would of chosen a different Phantom Planet song since the O.C. killed that one... and LP is not a fan of the Ben Folds either - we often just skip over than one. Neil Diamond's song is one of the best sing-a-long songs of all time (hell, most N.D. rules on road trips). It's so hippie love and kind of makes you want to barf, but it's so catchy you cannot help embracing it (I guess that's kind of like all of those wacky cults). I once drove from San Jose to Irvine just listening to Neil Diamond (They Might Be Giants was the entire drive back). Lyle Lovett's song was actaully the wrong song... I think I meant to put "Bears" on there which is a brilliant little ditty, but "Fat Babies" is a good one just not ideal for the road.
Rule for the road mix: keep the downers out, unless the tempo is upbeat and you really don't realize how depressing it is. Also keep it simple. The mix tape is meant to have the hits... for those areas on the road that do not have good radio. Oh yeah, and always remember the Rolling Stones because they make everyone happy.
I know I should of wrote something about a love mix tape for Valentine's Day... but I didn't - so deal with.
