The Kaleidophonic Stroboscope

Remember the mix tapes you used to make in the 80s and 90s, before recordable CDs and mp3s? Compiling a mix tape, as Nick Hornby pointed out in “High Fidelity” (and later on, John Cusack, in the film version), is definitely an art form. I wouldn’t say I ever mastered the art of mix-taping, but I would say I’ve created some interesting ones.

I’ve kept some of my tapes and I’ve thought of re-creating them as CD-mixes, but I’ve never got round to doing so.

I thought I would re-construct one of my tapes as a podcast episode, just for something a little different. I’ve kept the order of songs exactly as I added them to the cassette, as well as any spoken-word/comedy bits. There’s none of my jibba-jabba in between tracks in this episode, as I never used to do that on my tapes.

I hope you enjoy it – I may make this an on-going series. I’m aware that there are literally hundreds of excellent psych tunes I’ve left off – but then it wouldn’t be a “mix tape”, it would be 20 mix-tapes. This episode is for a friend of the show, John Cole, whom I was in an on-line course with a couple of years ago at the Maybe Logic Academy. I track-listed this mix and told him I would get him a copy. Here you are, John – sorry for the delay!

The tracklisting for this episode is:

Intro.
Duckman – “…but spacey nonetheless…” – (taken from the “Not-So-Easy Riders” episode – first broadcast in 1993)*
Jefferson Airplane – Wild Tyme (H) (from the “After Bathing At Baxter’s” album – released in 1967)
The Moody Blues – Sun Is Still Shining (extended version) (from the “To Our Children’s Children’s Children” – released in 1969 – deluxe edition rel. in 2006)
The Beach Boys – I Know There’s An Answer (from the “Pet Sounds” album – released in 1966)
The Who – I Can See For Miles/’Charles Atlas’ advert (from the “Who Sell Out” album – released in 1967)
The Beatles – Rain (B-side of 1966 single release)
Country Joe & The Fish – Eastern Jam (from the “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die” album – rel. in 1967)
The Doors – Strange Days (from the album of the same name – released in 1967)
Sly & The Family Stone – Fun (from the “Life” album – released in 1968)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – You Got Me Floatin’ (from the “Axis: Bold As Love” album – rel. in 1968)
Pink Floyd – Let There Be More Light (from the “A Saucerful Of Secrets” album – released in 1968)
Spirit – Ground Hog (from the “Clear” album – released in 1969)
The Soft Machine – Spaced Six (sessions recorded in 1969 – officially released on the “Spaced” CD in 1996)
George Harrison – Guru Vandana (from the “Wonderwall” film soundtrack – released in 1968)
Caravan – Hello Hello (from the “If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You” album – released in 1970)
Simon & Garfunkel – So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (from the “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” album – rel. in 1970)
Kevin Ayers – Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes (from the “Whatevershebringswesing” album – released in 1971)
Funkadelic – I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody’s Got A Thing (from the debut self-titled album – released in 1970)
Gentle Giant – Wreck (from the “Acquiring The Taste” album – rel. in 1971)
Can – Mushroom (from the “Tago Mago” album – released in 1971)
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells – Part 1 (opening section) (from the “Tubular Bells” album – released in 1973)
Brian Eno – Needles In The Camel’s Eye (from the “Here Come The Warm Jets” album – released in 1973)
Cheech & Chong – The Strawberry Revival Festival (excerpt) (from the “Los Cochinos” album – rel. in 1973)
The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Trilogy: Part 1 – The Sunlit Path (live) (from the “Between Nothingness And Eternity” album – released in 1973)
Pink Floyd – Any Colour You Like (from the “Dark Side Of The Moon” album – released in 1973)
Gong – Love Is How Y Make It (from the “Angels Egg” album – released in 1973)

*On the tape – the ‘Duckman’ bit is much longer, but I couldn’t be bothered to hook up the tape deck to the hard drive and record the entire thing. I could only find the much shorter wav clip on the interwebnets. If you get a chance to see that particular episode – the ‘trip’ scene is well worth watching.

Artwork: Hapshash & The Coloured Coat (‘Albion’ magazine cover – 1968) – Lettering added by The Purple Gooroo

Originally posted in October 2009

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Music Mix Podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.