The Mixed Tape

Maybe, by the title above, you have no idea what I am jabbering about to even begin. In the generation before you, one of the best gifts to give someone was a mixed tape. It wasn't expensive, just the cost of the cassette and your time putting it together. What defines a mixed tape, you may ask? A gift to a friend would be your favorite songs from the radio or songs here and there from your tapes or c.d.'s. A gift to your beau would be songs of love, of course (never gave or got one of those). It was fun to see what someone threw together for you, all the while thinking about how much fun the person would have listening to it in their car or at home. I remember when I got my first c.d. player and it had two tape decks, on one I could just listen to a tape and on the other I could record. I remember even in middle school, when we were working on our final tests in our science class, our teacher asked us to make a mixed tape to bring in for our last days in science. I was so curious to see the different genres of music that people listened to and how they mixed up their tape. How those songs all mixed up together showed a little side of them that maybe a few people knew about. All this to say brings me to a fun find today. 

My kiddos and I were at my parents today and my mom went through a bunch of old tapes to give to my kids to listen to in the car. You know those old favorites: Wee Sing Silly Songs, Wee Sing Bible Songs, and many others. One tape that she found just had my name on it, most likely so it wouldn't get mixed up with all the other tapes, and I would know it was mine. We popped it in and laughed out loud! Many of the songs were from our area Oldies station--which were so fun to listen to and my kids immediately started dancing to them. As the tape went on, we heard some awesome country songs as well, by Allison Krauss, Toby Keith, Tracy Byrd, yea, the old country (though on the tape the radio station was called Young Country 96)! I listened to that one almost all the way home. What cracked me up the most is that I did not stop recording in between songs, so I know the weather for that day, 86 degrees, the local traffic report (there was a wreck by the Beach Waterpark) and upcoming ticket giveaways for concerts (John Michael Montgomery)! It was like a step back in time in my drive home. I enjoyed hearing those old songs. One of my favorite country songs, was the One Boy, One Girl. I am not sure who sang that. That one was on there at least twice. 

The mixed tape is sort of a lost art, now that tapes are pretty much out of existence. Since my car is a 2002 it still has a tape deck, which is literally the only place we can listen to cassettes anyway. I remember making mixed tapes for friends and for myself, especially for running or working out. 

What were some of your favorites on your mixed tape?