33 years ago, during my sophomore year of high school, I put together the first of what would eventually become a nearly 20 volume collection of mix tapes, containing my favorite songs that I had gathered either from the radio, a cassette tape, or (eventually) CD. Today, we revisit those mix tapes for the fourth time and see how, or if, the soundtrack of my youth still resonates in today’s digital world and how much has changed over the past four years.
Once again, some older songs are mixed in with the hits of the day: Rag Doll and Dude (Looks Like A Lady) from Aerosmith’s 1987 album Permanent Vacation. I had managed to borrow the cassette from my friend Scott and for some reason felt the need to add those two tracks, but only those two tracks, to my Favorites collection at the same time that more current hits from the band’s latest album, Pump, were on the charts. While I’m sure I returned the cassette to Scott at some point, I do currently have possession of it, sitting in a box in my closet alongside all of my other cassettes, including this homemade collection.
Volume 2 picks up in early 1990 and takes us through early summer, book-ended by Roxette hits and featuring another steady stream of hair metal and pop, with a little rap and R&B thrown in for flavor.
Side A
Roxette – Dangerous
iTunes stats: 23 plays, most recently on 5/14/2021
Originally recorded from American Top 40, the fifth and final single from Roxette’s second album added six listens to its play total over these past four years.
Skid Row – Youth Gone Wild
iTunes stats: 25 plays, most recently on 12/6/2022
The first release from Skid Row, which peaked at #99 on the Billboard charts, nearly doubled its numbers of plays over the past four years.
Biz Markie – Just A Friend
iTunes stats: 37 plays, most recently on 10/28/2022
Ranked #81 on VH1s list of Greatest One Hit Wonders, Biz Markie’s smash added a dozen more listens over the past four years, partially in tribute following his 2021 death,
Mötley Crüe – Without You
iTunes stats: 24 plays, most recently on 6/16/2021
Peaking at #8 on the Billboard charts, the ballad, said to be about drummer Tommy Lee’s relationship with Heather Locklear, picked up seven additional spins since 2019.
Aerosmith – What It Takes
iTunes stats: 18 plays, most recently on 6/20/2019
The third single from Aerosmith’s Pump album, which peaked at #9 on the Billboard charts, picked up a mere three plays over the last four years and none since mid-2019.
MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
iTunes stats: 16 plays, most recently on 6/6/2021
The first rap song to be nominated for the Record of the Year Grammy, MC Hammer’s signature tune fizzled over the past four years with only three new listens.
Aerosmith – Rag Doll
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 4/20/2020
Released back in 1988, the final single from Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation album, which peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, added has not been heard since the earliest days of the pandemic.
Side B
Aerosmith – Dude (Looks Like A Lady)
iTunes stats: 33 plays, most recently on 8/25/2021
Inspired by Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil, who Steven Tyler mistook for a woman at a bar in the 1980s, this 1987 hit managed to increase by seven plays since 2015.
Calloway – I Wanna Be Rich
iTunes stats: 18 plays, most recently on 12/11/2021
The sole top 10 hit from Calloway, peaking at #2 on the Billboard charts in 1990, managed to add five new listens to its play total over the past four years.
Do The Bart Simpson
Hoping to glom on to the success of The Simpsons, which was the hot new show in the spring of 1990, the good folks at Z95 (or some other conglomerate that sold it to stations across the US) put together this “song” using clips from the show. Unless I make it myself, I doubt there will ever be an electronic copy of it on the Interwebs.
Bell Biv Devoe – Poison
iTunes stats: 47 plays, most recently on 8/20/2021
Hitting #3 on the Billboard charts, the debut track from this New Edition spinoff group managed to increase its play total by thirteen over the last four years.
Wilson Phillips – Hold On
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 11/27/2021
Wilson Phillips debut single, which has become a kitsch classic and was the #1 single of 1990, was only listened to six times over the past four years.
Madonna – Vogue
iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 12/31/2022
Ranked #197 on Billboard’s all-time chart as of 2018, the #5 single of 1990 added four listens over the past four years.
Roxette – It Must Have Been Love
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 4/23/2022
This entry from the Pretty Woman soundtrack, which garnered the band their third #1 single, added six new plays since 2019.