"King Of Pain" by The Police reminds me so much a long bus ride I took for our 8th grade class ski trip. The album had already been a big hit the previous summer with "Every Breath You Take" but now, after buying all their albums on cassette since I got Ghost In the Machine as a 5th grader, I had found my favorite song by them. I remember listening to this on my Walkman and opening the perforated lyric booklet, wondering how this song struck a powerful melancholy chord in me. I still think it's the crowning achievement of Mr. Sting.
There are a couple other songs on this mix from five years ago that are just as evocative for me.
"What A Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers reminds me of tense car rides as my parents were just beginning to navigate joint custody of their children. They eventually failed spectacularly at this.
"Doll Parts" by Hole also evokes memories of car rides when it was on the radio, when my girlfriend would sing along with it in a mixture of pathos and sarcasm.
Finally, Marlene Dietrich's "I've Been In Love Before". I was not around when this song was released, perhaps in the Model T era. But it also evokes a memory of a couple years ago, during a drive to a summer getaway from the city, when a new girlfriend heard this for the first time and made me replay it several times.
This mix repeats one song: the album and demo version of "Table Top Joe" by Tom Waits.
"Spandau Filet" by The Evolution Control Committee is a weird remix of Spandau Bellet's "True", in which someone initially seems to be stopping the beginning of the song on a tape recorder, then rewinding it, then starting it again. Before it skips and becomes chaotic. At least that's the way I hear it. It seems to say something about romantic obsession.
The rest: Madonna's tender "Borderline", Parliament's funky "Flashlight", James Brown's determined "Papa Don't Take No Mess", John Holt's reggae cover of Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", Stevie Wonder's Bob Marley tribute "Master Blaster (Jammin')", Biz Markie's upbeat "Spring Again", a cover of Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" by The Violent Femmes, a cover of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With" by The Isley Brothers, the psychedelic "Sky Pilot" by The Animals and the sweet "Dry Your Eyes" by Brenda And The Tabulations.
