mixtape Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

30 years!!!!!

sfilzen — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 16:59:32 +0000

Today, July 4th, marks our 30th year as a couple 🤩 While we met in July of ’87 and were really good friends for a few years (after the initial meeting reaction = me about him: “What an asshole” him about me: “What a princess” 😂), it wasn’t until July 4th 1993 that we started dating. Joe had invited me to visit him in Milwaukee – I was living in Madison at the time – for the 4th, so I hopped on either the Greyhound or Badger Bus to hang out for a couple of days. The evening of July 3rd we headed to the area of Milwaukee just south of downtown and east of the High Rise bridge to watch fireworks from the roof of a semi-abandoned building (now long-gone and/or converted into condos). That same evening Joe recorded this mixtape from a pirate radio station broadcasting at the time: “Songs of the Speakeasy.” We’ve now been married for 24 years and I now need reading glasses and really good lighting to decipher the song and artist list on the mixtape but it’s still a great mid-summer, chill in the backyard mix.

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Mixtape Week: “K-Billy sounds of the Super 70’s (A Decade Worth of Erratic Rock-n-Roll for Joe)”

sfilzen — Fri, 05 May 2017 20:33:22 +0000

The fifth and final installment of Mixtape Week comes from me! Titled “K-Billy sounds of the Super 70’s (A Decade Worth of Erratic Rock-n-Roll for Joe),” I made this comp for Joe in the late summer of ’93, either just before or after moving to Milwaukee from Madison. I was OBSESSED with Reservoir Dogs and in a serious 70’s music phase…and Joe was, well, not. To mess with him, I included not only the entire soundtrack to Reservoir Dogs but also my two favorite Parliament/Funkadelic songs, Stevie Wonder, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. On Side B I softened up a bit for awhile and included a bunch of 70’s stuff he WOULD like: Germs tracks [earlier in the summer of ‘93 I finally found What We Do Is Secret and I recorded that EP for this mix], the Clash and David Bowie before throwing in just a couple more decidedly not in his top ten: Thelma Houston and the Allman Brothers. This tape was the first of many I made over the years that has received a comment from Joe about my odd musical pairings but I maintain all my comps have a prevailing theme: Songs I Like.

Side A

The George Baker Selection – “Little Green Bag”

Blue Swede – “Hooked on a Feeling”

Joe Tex – “I Gotcha”

Bedlam – “Magic Carpet Ride”

Sandy Rogers – “Fool for Love”

Stealers Wheels – “Stuck in the Middle with You”

Bedlam – “Harvest Moon”

Harry Nilsson- “Coconut”

Funkadelic – “Can You Get To That”

Parliament – “Flashlight”

Rolling Stones – “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”

Pink Floyd – “Seamus”

Stevie Wonder – “Signed, Sealed & Delivered (I’m Yours)”

Side B

The Germs – “Round and Round”

“Lexicon Devil”

“Circle One”

“Caught In My Eye”

“No God”

“The Other Newest One”

“My Tunnel”

The Clash – “London Calling”

Blondie – “Heart of Glass”

Velvet Underground – “Sweet Jane”

David Bowie – “Ziggy Stardust”

Rolling Stones – “Beast of Burden”

Thelma Houston – “Don’t Leave Me This Way”

David Bowie – “Heroes”

Allman Brothers – “Ramblin’ Man”

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Mixtape Week: the “Carrie Tape”

sfilzen — Fri, 05 May 2017 00:56:00 +0000

The fourth installment for Mixtape Week comes from my friend Carrie, titled “For Sarah-Bean (VIII)” (there is a VII in my collection but no I-VI), my best guess is that she compiled it sometime in the early 90’s based on the prevalence of Robert Earl Keen songs and overall country-tinged flavor of the mix; Carrie lived in Austin around that time so Texas must have seeped into the tape deck. With the exception of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” and Bob Dylan’s “Gospel Plow,” it’s also a real heartbreaker of a tape. Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” is musically upbeat but lyrically dark: years of bad luck with broken mirrors, etc. The comp has TWO songs by Suzanne Vega, a track by the reliably depressing Simon and Garfunkel and ones from Billy Bragg and John Denver. Like Jim’s tape, she also didn’t provide the artists so there are a few I don’t know. I’ll put in brief descriptions so if anyone can help fill in the gaps, please do.

Side A

Melissa Etheridge – “Brave and Crazy”

Stevie Wonder – “Superstitious”

Pat Benetar – “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”

Prince – “Raspberry Beret”

Bonnie Raitt – “Love Letter”

???? – “Right Now”

John Cougar (Mellencamp) – “Hurts So Good”

Suzanne Vega – “Queen and Soldier”

John Prine – “Sam Stone”

Robert Earl Keen – “Mariano”

Simon and Garfunkel – “59^th Street Bridge Song”

Suzanne Vega – “Luka”

Elvis Costello – “Different Finger”

Side B

????? – “Walk Down the Street” – kinda country

Indigo Girls – “Watershed”

????? – “I’m Fine” – sort of sounds like Joni Mitchell

Robert Earl Keen – “Love’s a Word I Never Throw Around”

????? – “Always Your Face” – a sappy 70s/80s ballad

John Denver – “Rhymes and Reasons”

Robert Earl Keen – “Leavin’ Tennessee”

Bob Dylan – “Gospel Plow”

Robert Earl Keen – “Five Pound Bass”

Billy Bragg – “Lovers Town Revisited”

????? – “I am the Storm” – also kinda country

Bonnie Raitt – “Have a Heart”

Fleetwood Mac – “I Don’t Want to Know”

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Mixtape Week: the “Dale Tape”

sfilzen — Wed, 03 May 2017 13:59:13 +0000

The third installment for Mixtape Week is the “Dale Tape,” made by Dale in the Fall of ’87. This is less of a mixtape and more of a “Hey, I really want to have these songs, you have a shitload of music, can you throw them on a tape for me?” compilation. I was down from Appleton visiting Milwaukee for the weekend, I think to see my friend Heather. Dale was living the dorms at UW-Milwaukee so I popped by for a bit and I’m pretty sure that Joe (then just a friend, now my Vault-partner and husband) stopped by at some point as well. The tape has a solid, if short, list of songs featuring The Clash, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Icicle Works, Jesus and Mary Chain, Modern English, Killing Joke, Love and Rockets, Wire, The Cult and PiL (the last two are written on the backside of the note). Later that day we drove from UWM on the east side of Milwaukee all the way out to the west side, maybe Wauwatosa, on Capitol Drive. Dale had a very fancy, very loud car stereo and blared this tape the entire way.

The Clash – “Radio Clash”

Cocteau Twins – “Love’s Easy Tears”

Depeche Mode – “Strange Love”

Icicle Works – “Whisper to a Scream”

Jesus and Mary Chain – “Who Do You Love”

Modern English – “Melt With You”

Depeche Mode – “Set Me Free”

Killing Joke – “Eighties”

Love and Rockets – “Ball of Confusion”

Wire – “Ahead”

The Cult – “Love”

PiL – “Bad Life”

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Mixtape Week: the “Jim Tape” or “Gabba Gabba Hey”

sfilzen — Tue, 02 May 2017 17:31:43 +0000

The secondentry for Mixtape Week wins the Oddest Mixtape of All-Time Award. Our friendJim made this for me, probably during the summer of ’88. Titled “Gabba Gabba Hey,” it only has one Ramones song on it and, strangely, not the one with line “Gabba Gabba Hey (“Pinhead”). It mixes Peter Frampton (believe it or not, I think this tape was the first time I ever listened to Frampton!), Beastie Boys, Toto, Dag Nasty, Sinead O’Connor,
Soul Asylum, Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols. Best/oddest moment = Sam Kinison segueing to Alphaville. (Jim didn’t write down the artists but no matter, it was pretty easy to figure out/remember with a listen-through so I’ve filled in the gaps below.)

Side A

Peter Frampton – “Show Me the Way”

Sam Kinison – “Wild Thing”

Alphaville – “Forever Young”

The Cult – “Wild Flower”

Beastie Boys – “The New Style”

Sinead O’Connor – “Jerusalem”

Peter Frampton – “Baby I Love Your Way”

Book of Love – “Boy”

Soul Asylum – “Cartoon”

Soul Asylum – “Beggars and Choosers”

Information Society – “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)”

Sex Pistols – “Submission”

Side B

U2 – “Desire”

The Smithereens – “House We Used to Live In”

David Bowie – “Cat People”

Modern English – “Someone’s Calling”

Sinead O’Conner – “Jackie”

Pink Floyd – “Comfortably Numb”

Toto – “Africa”

Bob Marley – “Jammin’”

The Ramones – “I Wanna Be Well”

Bauhaus – “The Passion of Lovers”

D.I. – “Don’t Do It”

Dag Nasty – “Under Your Influence”

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Mixtape Week: the “Susie Tape” or “Harlan + Gunter’s Great Comp. Tape: a Collection of Their Favorites for Sarah”

sfilzen — Mon, 01 May 2017 14:46:56 +0000

This week I’m taking a break from our vinyl collection and digging out some old mixtapes, ones I made and ones given to me. Today’s pull was from my friend Susie, who kindly dated this Memorex tape: 10/31/89. We were freshmen UW-Madison and generally spent our time playing pool at Memorial Union and going to the Industrial/New Wave/Punk Dance night at Union South. (I remember some guy that we knew from either Appleton or Green Bay would come down to DJ. It was usually just me, Susie, our friend Marci and maybe a couple of other people there. Kinda sad attendance but still a good time. I think the dances didn’t last much past that Fall.) Titled Harlan + Gunter’s Great Comp. Tape: a Collection of Their Favorites for Sarah, this tape reflects that time perfectly (I can’t recall the significance of Harlan and Gunter, but it looks like Harlan was a fish and Gunter was a spider):

Side A

“Stigmata” – Ministry

“Headhunter” – Front 242

“Revenge” – Ministry

“Don’t Crash” – Front 242

“Nemesis” – Shriekback

“This is Not a Love Song” – PiL

“Police and Thieves” – The Clash

“Burning Skies” – Tones on Tail

“Heroes” – David Bowie

“Let’s Have a War” – Fear

Side B

“Faded Flowers” – Shriekback

“Haunted” – Love and Rockets

“Boys” – Bauhaus

“The Last Beat of My Heart” –Siouxsie and the Banshees

“Happy Boy” – The Bolshoi

“Stay Free” – The Clash

“My My Kinda Girl” – Ramones

“The Devil’s Coachman”- Robyn Hitchcock

“Change” – Fishbone

“Throw Your Arms Around Me” – Hunters and Collectors

“Birth of the True” – Aztec Camera

The tape is just as awesome and eclectic as Susie is.

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The Crusties “Don’t You Think”

sfilzen — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:21:02 +0000

The Crusties “Don’t You Think” 1995. Split 7″ EP on Rhetoric Records and Beer City records. Last night Joe put in an old mixtape we made from 45′s back in the mid-90s titled “(I Don’t Care What You Say) 7″ Should Be Enough for Anyone” and included on it is this EP from Milwaukee’s own The Crusties.

Irreverent punk, blazingly fast and tense bombardments of sounds (and, occasionally, trumpet), the UK’s online zine Mass Movement reviewer described them as a“mid-eighties Milwaukee band [who] straddled the middle ground between Toxic Reasons and D.I. and blasted out melodic skate-core that was infused with a mild dose of cowpunk.” My favorite track on this 6 song EP is “Final Regret” which is a great example of hardcore 80′s punk, the era when The Crusties would play shows with bands like Circle Jerks and Die Kreuzen. Here’s a video of “Final Regret” live in Madison in ‘87 – totally insanity – and another performance from 2012 in Milwaukee.

The cover is by artist Eric Munzinger who now goes by Eric Von Munz. Von Munz is responsible for about a zillion show flyers, posters and recording art around Milwaukee (and beyond – most famously for The White Stripes) from the mid-90s to the present.

Here is a copy of a flyer posted on The Crusties Facebook page, with the caption “This show ended with the Madison police department asking us to go back to Milwaukee as soon as possible. We did.”

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Wanda Jackson “Rockin’ With Wanda!”

sfilzen — Fri, 27 May 2016 15:41:14 +0000

Wanda Jackson “Rockin’ With Wanda!” 1960. A compilation of a “dozen rockin’ swingin’ surprises” from the sweetest hellraising rockabilly voice ever. I love every single song on this album, especially because the first time I heard this album was listening to the mixtape pictured below from my now-husband who made it on this date 23 years ago. He lived in Milwaukee, I lived in Madison and we were just friends at the time. He mailed the tape to me just before I left on a post-college graduation trip to California – I showed it to a guy-friend of mine and his comment was “this dude is totally into you.”

I still get little jolts of delight as I spin this, especially “Rock Your Baby,” “Fujiyama Mama” (which hit #1 on the Japanese charts in 1958), “Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad,” “Baby Loves Him” (complete with references to blue suede shoes and pink Cadillacs) and “Mean Mean Man.” We saw Wanda Jackson play at the small Cactus Club here in our Milwaukee neighborhood a few years ago and Wanda’s voice sounded as clear and sweet as it was 50 years ago.

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