"20 Year Reunion: 1986"

June 2006
for: razzy

1. Open Your Heart - Madonna
2. Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads
3. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4. Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths
5. Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
6. Kiss - Prince & the Revolution
7. Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money with Ronnie Spector
8. Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs
9. Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer
10. Left of Center - Suzanne Vega
11. Walk This Way - Run-D.M.C.
12. She's an Angel - They Might Be Giants
13. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
14. A Question Of Time - Depeche Mode
15. When I Think Of You - Janet Jackson
16. Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) - Pet Shop Boys
17. Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy
18. Bring On The Dancing Horses - Echo & The Bunnymen
19. Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
20. Fall On Me - R.E.M.

Comments on the mix: This mix had the longest gestation period of any I've done for the Club. I think it was in January of that year that I got the idea. I must admit I was inspired by the fact that I own a "Best of 1986" CD, which I bought years ago for "Life in a Northern Town," my favorite one-hit-wonder of all time. That CD provided five tracks here. The "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack gave me four more. Then I had to scrounge up the rest. Looking back on 1986 (which I decided was a great year for music) from 2006 seemed a strong concept, so I was determined to follow this through. It turned out I had enough '80s stuff to balance the whole thing out, and only had to buy "Sledgehammer" from the iTunes store. So I ended up with 20 tracks — perfect! I liked the variety, it reflects my own musical history in 1986 where I was making the shift from mainstream pop (represented by Madonna, who I still really like) to Alternative rock (represented by R.E.M.). It's still pretty cheese-heavy, so I waited a few rounds before I thought I had a mixee who would really appreciate it. Ultimately, this is one of my favorite mixes, and I think I sent it out as a bonus for every remaining round that year.

Comments on the cover: The cover here also took extra time, because I scanned all these pictures from an old yearbook. I picked the people with the worst '80s hair (sorry guys!). I need to point out that despite the way this album was titled and packaged, I was only in junior high in 1986. Still, 20 years... Damn!