Mixed tapes. I listened to them until they popped, hissed and broke. Endless loops of Falco, the Descendents, Dag Nasty and Bob Dylan helped me escape the small town blues.
My teenage fascination with music included a colored vinyl collection, Fugazi concerts and the rite of passage for all teen punks, the founding of a fanzine–satirically named Sexy.
By issue #2, our fanzine made it to the big time. Sexy became a huge hit among older male pedophiles punk rockers. I had a steady source of new mixed tapes and other less desirable items arriving by mail on a weekly basis.
Nowadays I hear my favorite teenage bands on the muzak tracks of Urban Outfitters. That, and the fact that NPR just ran a story on the mixed tape’s comeback, probably suggests that I’m already crusty old for the Urban Outfitter generation who revisits my music with “nostalgia.” Adding insult to injury, my music library hit a dry spell a while back, with no new mixed tapes in sight–
until I was
lucky enough to be invited to Ladies Music Club, a group founded by Miami women working in the music industry. Journalists, promoters, DJs, agents, professors, record store owners and the like, they take time once a month to share their favorite music. Ladies Music Club began inviting amateur music lovers (that’s me!) into their midst a year or two ago.
The format’s pretty simple. We meet once a month. Each lady plays her song of choice. We listen to the tracks and most interestingly–to each other. The music provides a soundtrack to our living: new projects, jobs, recipes, local gossip, a few drinks.
Every month I head home with a new “mixed tape” as diverse as Miami, knowing I’ll never find the same mix anywhere else. The play list from our last meeting, one of my last meetings, struck as one that I will remember for a long time. Each song has a history or a story–but I’ll leave you with the music only. You can stream the songs from our last session by clicking on the playlist below.
p.s. I will miss the ladies who listen when I move. Hopefully there will be a Dames die luisteren in my future–and a homegrown version in yours as well.
