Side 1 of a cassette compilation recorded by my friend Stuart in late August 1991.
This was the closing paragraph when I posted Side 2 in January 2022:
Junk
Collage (do you see what I did there?) by me, ripped from various
magazines and adverts. I can easily spot Buddy Holly and Christian
Slater in there. I think the main picture was a toilet wall backdrop to a
photo of a music artist, but I've forgotten who.
Some
of the typeface has worn away, but you get a sneak preview of what will
eventually pop up when I post Side 1. The reason I didn't go with that
one today is that the tape opens with an expletive-ridden intro, but one
which segues perfectly into a Neil Young & Crazy Horse track. I'm
debating whether it stays, goes or is edited in some way before posting.
Watch this space...it might be a while.
A glance below and a few seconds into today's selection and you'll see and hear that I decided to keep Dumpy's Rusty Nuts in. It's now so ingrained after three decades of listening to this mixtape that it's almost impossible for me to hear Over & Over by Neil Young & Crazy Horse without it.
Many years later, I repaid the 'favour' by including the Dumpy's Rusty Nuts intro on a birthday CD that I compiled for Stuart. One for a future post.
I'd returned to Bristol after a year travelling, so this cassette served as a kind of 'this is what you missed whilst you were away' round up of music in 1991. In addition to a tremendous comeback albums from Julian Cope and Throwing Muses, Teenage Fanclub released the Star Sign EP, a precursor to the mighty Bandwagonesque album later that year.
The Fat Lady Sings made two appearances on this compilation, having blown Stuart away when we saw them supporting The Psychedelic Furs in 1990. They didn't - and have never - quite had the same impact on me but I like the B-side featured here, a good example of the quality and quantity of their music at the time.
Stuart had also been delving into some rock classics, this tape probably being my first introduction to Horses by Patti Smith and Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones. I'd taken the Neil Young & Crazy Horse and Mazzy Star albums with me on my travels, so these were already classics, in my opinion.
It's another much-loved and much-played cassette, containing songs that have stayed with me over the last thirty-odd years and sound every bit as good now as they did then.
1) Intro / Over & Over (Album Version): Dumpy's Rusty Nuts vs. Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1990)
2) Fall On Me (Album Version): R.E.M. (1986)
3) Free Money: Patti Smith (1975)
4) To Reach Me: The Go-Betweens (1986)
5) Be My Angel: Mazzy Star (1990)
6) Happy: The Rolling Stones (1972)
7) Safesurfer (Album Version): Julian Cope (1991)
8) Momento Mori: The Fat Lady Sings (1991)
9) Counting Backwards: Throwing Muses (1991)
10) Like A Virgin (Cover of Madonna): Teenage Fanclub (1991)
1972: Exile On Main Street: 6
1975: Horses: 3
1986: Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express: 4
1986: Life's Rich Pageant: 2
1990: bootleg live cassette / Ragged Glory: 1
1990: She Hangs Brightly: 5
1991: Arclight EP: 8
1991: Counting Backwards EP: 9
1991: Peggy Suicide: 7
1991: Star Sign EP: 10
