Mix tape memory

Most people have made or gotten a mix tape/CD before. In my opinion, mix tapes are a true labour of love. You have to sit through countless songs, write down the playlist (usually), take the time to copy songs and then make a cover (because if you really want to make it extra special you need a cover).

I'm a huge fan of the mix tape/ CD. Ive made plenty of mix tapes in the past - lots for me, a few for others- some i am proud of and some I am not. In the last 2 years i have made two mix CD's and I am glad to report The Boyf likes them both.

My most amusing mix tape memory is from when I was about 20. I was living in London at the time and had just had a rather heart ripping break up. I felt nothing would fix me except a trip away, so i took a 3 hour bus ride out to my awesome friend, Blondie, in the English country side.
Blondie had also come out of a bad break up and I think we both needed some serious girl time. So...we drank, we watched copious amounts of "Buffy the vampire slayer" , We went to pubs, we drank, we chased sheep (long story), we drank some more, we drunk dialled (bad idea) and finally......we decided to make mix tapes for our evil ex's (really bad idea).

It was by far the funniest mix tape making ever. We played songs, we laughed (hysterically), we shared stories about our evil ex's, we drank (alot), we cried, we sang (loudly and out of tune), we ate junk food, we copied songs....
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Eventually i finished my mix tape. It was the most soppy, sad, slightly embarressing, chick mix tape ever. I was convinced i had put my heart and soul into the making of it. I made a broken heart tape cover, and wrote something very profound on it (or so i thought at the time).
When it came time to actually give away the mix tape, i did so in the hopes that all i felt that day would come through in the songs. Looking back, I think the only person the mix tape could have made sense to was me. Oh well, at least making it made me feel a whole lot better :)

Sadly mix tapes (or CD's) are a dying art. Most people dont really bother with time consuming mix tapes anymore. Personally, I think a mix tape or CD is still an absolutely awesome gift to make for a loved one. Plus, sometimes songs say things much better than some people can.
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High fidelity is a great movie (based on the book, of the same name, by Nick Hornby) It also contains some good advice on mix tape making. Heres a brilliant mix tape quote from the film:

Rob (John Cusack):"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway... I've started to make a tape... in my head... for Laura. Full of stuff she likes. Full of stuff that make her happy. For the first time I can sort of see how that is done."

* Click HERE to get some more advice on how to make the perfect mix tape.
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Question: Do you have a really good mix tape memory? Do you still make mix tapes/CD's?

(Please note: Today I decided to share one of my very old, favourite blog posts with you. It has been edited. Some of you may have read the original post before. -Brazen x)

23 comments

  1. What an interesting post! I also made some of my own mix cd's once, and they were the best, but they've gotten lost and I miss them. All my favourite songs.

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  2. i love how you always have amazing ideas for occupying time and working through things. even if the end result isn't exactly what you intend it to be (the mix tape not making sense to another)- it was the process and the impact on YOURSELF that mattered most. maybe it is so helpful mostly due to my current state of mind.

    i feel like the post was a great post to show us and in a way i feel like you knew i needed it.

    hope you feel better. :]

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  3. hahaaa - love it
    - myself and my wife made a mix cd for our wedding night - a selection of 'our' songs for the DJ to play thu the evening - the DJ like it so much that he failed to return it...! - the bastard!- and now that awesome selection we put together is lost... pity!

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  4. I used to tape songs from the top 40 on saturdays and sundays :P Then i started doing the whole mix cd's but now i just listen to everything on my ipod, much easier than carrying a walkman or discman and tapes and cd's around. I think we have all made break up tapes though! Gotta love them :P

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  5. Oh I still make them all the time. When I send snail mails to friends. Or for my car. :)

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  6. OmG! You just made my day!

    Mix Tapes are AWESOME! I remember taping the 5fm Top 40 on Sunday afternoon. Pausing the tape during the crap songs, having to change sides!

    I even had a tapebox!

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  7. I still make mix cds but they're always for my car. I don't take REAL cds in my car in case they get stolen or damaged, so I always make compilations. Plus you can fit so much more on! It's interesting what songs work as driving songs or not.

    Back in the day when I had a tape deck in my VW Beetle I made a mix tape with really sad songs on one side and really happy bouncy songs on the other. I was getting over my first real breakup and sometimes I needed to cry about it and sometimes I needed to perk myself up out of it!

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  8. Ha ha, I love how all the saffers remember taping the top 40, so did I!
    My husband actually made me a mix CD the first week we were together. I listened to it all through the months while he was in America and after we were engaged and he was still away. Then the first song ended up on our wedding video! (The producers chose the music, pure beautiful coincidence.) Snow Patrol's You're all I have. The most meaningful song in my life!

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  9. I also taped the top 40! Saturday AND sunday! And the night zoo modern rock charts on thursday nights.

    It's weird tht you posted ths now, because I found a drawer full of my old mix-tapes a few days ago and I've been playing them in m car. I must admit, my taste in music has evolved somewhat, but it was awesome to remember some of the old songs I'd forgotten about!

    The closest I've come to making one reently was when my friend got an mp3/cd-player in her car and I made her some mp3 cds of songs i thugh she'd like. Nothin like the agony of trying to make sure you could get the turnover point of the tape in the right spot, or not lose the ned of the song on the radio to the stupid DJ or anything, but i like to think it was special in its own way.

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  10. "Sometimes when someone has a crush on you, they'll make you a mixed tape to give you a clue"

    My now husband proved this right (who can guess the source?) because he made me a mixed CD for our first (unofficial) date.

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  11. I so miss mix tapes. :(

    Another movie, Elizabethtown, is a classic example of someone taking the painstaking effort to make THE. PERFECT. mix tape.

    Thanks for the memory. ;)

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  12. ah the mixed tape!! I never made one for anyone in particular, but my sister and i put loads together when we were little. I remember her boyfriend once giving her one and I was soooo jealous. I was thirteen then, but I'm still a bit jealous even now!
    dave put together a playlist on my ipod of things he thought i'd like. Sweet, but I think it's sad that the actual literal mix tape is sying out.
    I loved taping the hot 9 at 9.

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  13. I loved mixed tapes... used to tape songs off the radio :-)

    Oh and I"M BACK... couldn't NOT blog...missed it too much!!
    xx

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  14. I had the best set of mix tapes in high school and college. I was really bummed when my new car did not have a tape player, and too lazy to make it all over again in CD form (plus, by then Napster was in the news, so it was a little iffy to take the chance).

    Sigh, I really miss those tunes.

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  15. got i love the whole mix tape thing from high fidelity.. a truly great film.

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  16. Which South African hasn't taped off the Top 40 at some point?! I discovered a whole bunch of mix cds when I moved recently and discovered some somgs I had forgotten about but still love. I don't make cds much anymore, but I'll make mix playlists depending on my mood.

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  17. What a cool post. I used to make these off the radio.But no more. Now I just string together playlists. My bf is really old fashioned, maybe he would appreciate a mixtape.

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  18. Believe it or not, but i just made a mix CD this weekend for my bestest best friend on her birthday:) I had sooo much fun, and she loved it!

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  19. What a fabulous memory to bring up! My now hubs used to make mixed CDs for me all the time. I LOVED them.
    Oh, and I loved the ones my girlfriends and I used to make...especially if they were for a ROAD TRIP!

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  20. I make 'em, but I end up liking them so much, I keep them for myself.

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  21. hey lady. MIX TAPES ROCK!!! Wow - nobody could kill a mix tape like i could. You are right - they are a dying breed. It's a tragedy!!!

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  22. After having about 4 CD players stolen out of my car, I know have a tape player...so mixed tapes are my sanity. Up until about a year ago I used to sit down with a bottle of wine and spend an evening making a tape. Sadly, now I usually make the mix on iTunes, burn to Cd and then tape...I need to do the retro version again...so much fun!

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  23. This is dead artform since it has been replaced by the playlist / shuffle function on most MP3 players. It does take me back to the time when I used to do them manually by recording songs from a vinyl LP onto a cassette tape so I could play them in the car. That should give some hint to how old I am.

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