Mixtape Monday: UU - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1

 

It's been almost five years since our last Monday Mixtape feature. The HERChives have been packed up twice during that time for home improvements. Now that things are somewhat back to normal - 8 boxes remain unpacked to restore the HERChives to their full capacity - let's pick up where we left off, shall we? Tape QQ was the last tape posted and, despite our best efforts, we failed to locate the tapes labeled RR, SS, or TT so here we are with UU.

A cool thing about today's Monday Mixtape is that it kicks off a long-forgotten sub-set within The Legendary Somewhat Alphabetical Mixtape Series dubbed The Greatest Hits. A blue foil star on the tape's J-card insert catches your eye as you look at the spine. Let's pop the tape in the old JVC deck and listen to what makes up The Greatest Hits Vol. 1.

• The familiar sounds of "Sirius", the opening track from Eye In The Sky, can only mean one thing... the album's title track will immediately follow, and sure enough, there it is. Although some folks may have only included "Eye In The Sky" on their mixtapes, I always added "Sirius" first because that's how I have always listened to those songs: in an uninterrupted, continuous segue. The album and those songs are favorites of Mrs. HERC. She was just singing along as they played so they are undeniably some of her Greatest Hits.
• Because the tape is labeled The Greatest Hits Vol. I, I'm not expecting any surprises in the form of deep cuts, B-sides, or other obscurities. The next song is "Every Breath You Take", certainly one of the greatest hits of all time. Although nearly everyone hears it as a creepy song nowadays, we naively thought it was a sweet love song when it was released. Sometimes, I still hear it that way. Like today.
• One of the things I like to do when listening to these mixtapes is try and figure out what I may have been thinking when I originally planned and recorded them. Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" is a little more upbeat than the first two tracks but continues a theme of love songs.
• Prince's "When Doves Cry" comes next with that unmistakable screeching riff before the drum machine kicks in. I wondered if this would be the 45 edit but was not surprised it is the full-length album version.
• The next song comes fading in and boy oh boy it is one of our favorite OMD songs, both then and now, 1986's "(Forever) Live And Die".
• If I were a gambling man, I'd have bet you a dollar that "Take My Breath Away" from Berlin and the Top Gun soundtrack would be the next song. This became our song after we saw the film and listened to the soundtrack album on repeat.
• Did not see Heart's "These Dreams" coming next but it is one of her favorite songs and these are her Greatest Hits. We had seen Heart on tour for their self-titled album in December 1985 with Y&T opening.
• Another surprise is the first 45 edit to appear on UU in the form of Madonna's "Live To Tell". While I'm not a fan of this song, the woman the tape was made for certainly was. I borrowed her 45 to dub onto this tape.
• The surprises keep coming with the ninth track on today's mixtape when "Because The Night" begins playing. I was not cool enough to yet own Easter, the song's parent album but I owned the song on two compilations at the time: K-Tel's Circuit Breaker from 1979 and Arista's Greatest AOR Hits: Portrait Of A Decade from 1985. I probably sourced the song from the latter as it was probably in the better shape of the two.
• One of the more frustrating soundtrack albums was the five-song mini-album companion to the 1984 John Hughes film Sixteen Candles. One of those five songs, Thompson Twins and "If You Were Here", is the next and likely last song on side A of the UU mixtape as the time is approaching 44 minutes.
• There is one final musical surprise in the form of the theme song from the Gidget television show, taken from the Television's Greatest Hits Volume II album which brings the total time of side A to just over 45 minutes.

			SIDE A		45:13
	10/82		Sirius / Eye In The Sky	Alan Parsons Project	06:30
	7/83		Every Breath You Take	The Police	04:13
	2/87		Livin' On A Prayer	Bon Jovi	04:11
	7/84		When Doves Cry	Prince and the Revolution	05:52
	12/86		(Forever) Live And Die	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	03:38
	9/86		Take My Breath Away	Berlin	04:13
	3/86		These Dreams	Heart	04:15
	6/86		Live To Tell (45 edit)	Madonna	04:37
	6/78		Because The Night	Patti Smith Group	03:22
	2/83		If You Were Here	Thompson Twins	02:56
	12/65		(Wait 'Til You See) My Gidget	Johnny Tillotson	01:26
			SIDE B		45:48
	3/84		Rebel Yell	Billy Idol	04:47
	7/86		Danger Zone	Kenny Loggins	03:36
	5/85		All She Wants To Do Is Dance	Don Henley	04:28
	7/86		Modern Woman	Billy Joel	03:48
	9/78		Summer Nights	cast of GREASE	03:35
	1/66		Barbara Ann	Beach Boys	02:05
	11/81		Mony Mony	Billy Idol	05:01
	3/87		Don't Leave Me This Way	Communards	04:50
	1/86		Face The Face	Pete Townshend	05:51
	3/85		Relax	Frankie Goes To Hollywood	03:53
	5/73		Drift Away	Dobie Gray	03:54

• After the mellow love songs on Side A, Side B of Greatest Hits Vol. I kicks off with Billy Idol's rockin' "Rebel Yell" giving me more more more. Like the Thompson Twins track above, "Rebel Yell" was featured in Sixteen Candles though it is not on the soundtrack EP.
• The second track is another soundtrack cut. We enjoyed the film Top Gun and the Kenny Loggins song "Danger Zone" keeps the tempo up on this tape.
• Don Henley hit the Dance and Soul singles charts with the stealth protest song "All She Wants To Do Is Dance". Featuring members of Toto and vocalists Martha Davis (The Motels) and Patty Smyth (Scandal), the song continues the upbeat mood.
• Often overlooked in his vast catalog is Billy Joel's "Modern Woman", the first single from The Bridge. We've always liked that tune but when it came on we both looked at each other and said "Haven't heard this one in for-ev-er."
• And then "Summer Nights" comes on and we're singing along. She leans over afterward and says "This is such a good tape."
• My wife loves the music of three artists: Herb Alpert, Alan Parsons, and The Beach Boys. When the latter appears with their cover of "Barbara Ann", I go quiet and watch her sing along with the cutest smile on her face. She is so happy. Hope the next song doesn't kill her buzz.
• Billy Idol returns with his studio cover of "Mony Mony" which we both prefer over the later, more popular live version. She has to stop singing but she's bobbing her head, still in her bubble of joy.
• If you're wondering what the newest song on today's mixtape is, it is The Communards and their cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way", the third consecutive cover song on the tape. There is little doubt I made this tape shortly after the two of us were married at the end of March 1987.
• The energy remains high as the bassline announces "Face The Face" by Pete Townshend. I recall this song was used in an episode of Miami Vice and, as soon as I tell my wife that fun fact, she says "I don't know this song". So much for the Greatest Hits thing.
• The opening notes of "Relax" get her head bobbing again and she throws in a few side-to-side head shakes for good measure. She asks if I remember when we saw the band up in Phoenix. I nod. Then she leaned over and kissed me. Suddenly, we're both teenagers again.
• The cool-down track that closes out the tape is "Drift Away". It is appropriate in many ways as we both have just gotten lost in the rock and roll.