A Mixed Tape Love Affair

All it takes is a lazy Saturday afternoon and a little nostalgia to uncover the box full of memories we all have stuffed underneath our bed.

When I decided to re-explore my box of memories this afternoon, I half expected to find old prom pics with a Tahitian sunrise in the background and a dried up rose corsage. But what I found was much more telling.

I found a mixed tape.

And not just one, but a collection of tapes with some of the cheesiest singers to ever grace the airwaves and some of the greats. Still, all of the names scribbled in black magic marker on the plastic case spines, turned me into the crazed, music lover I am today.

As I wiped the sheen of dust off each case, the names I'd penned so many years ago became clear again. Mariah Carey, The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, NKOTB, Selena, Los Palominos, Guns and Roses, BBD, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, KRS One, Prince, and the late great Michael Jackson.

I remember standing next to a small radio in my room and singing along to songs from those artists and many more. It was a simpler time in music. Growing up in the 80's, there were no Diddy enhanced cover songs; no top 100 downloaded iTunes, and no albums pirated off the Internet.

All it took to get access to your favorite music -besides buying it of course- were you, a radio and a blank tape. Sure having to wait the whole day just to record your favorite song was a little time consuming. And holding down the play/record buttons at just the right moment did produce some "interesting" blurring of genres; (try mixing Mariah and Poison.) but there was a certain innocence that went along with it.

So as I placed my dusty tapes back in the box and brushed my fingers along side the handwritten titles; I came to realize that the time it took to make them gave me a unique musical identity.

I think that's what music does for all of us. It immortalizes moments in time to look back on and make us who we are. The rocker with a little bit of Mozart mixed in. The pop diva with a love for 80's hair metal or the blues artist with a touch of the Beastie Boys.

Which mixed tape are you?