Between 1989, my sophomore year of high school, and 1995, my fourth year of college, I put together 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. Three years ago, we looked back at all 20 volumes and which of my “favorite” songs I still listened to. Today, we revisit those mix tapes and see how things have changed in the last 3 years.
Volume 3 picks up in mid-summer 1990 and takes us through late 1990 and into my junior year of high school. Featuring another steady stream of hair metal, with small selections of pop, rap, R&B, and dance thrown in for good measure, volume 3 also overlaps with the start of my relationship with my first “real” girlfriend.
Side A
2 Live Crew – Banned In The USA
The protest anthem from 2 Live Crew, one of the few songs that I taped off of B96, increased slightly over the past 3 years.
2012 iTunes stats: 6 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 8 plays, most recently on 10/23/2014
Poison – Unskinny Bop
The first single from Flesh & Blood managed to double it’s plays since last time we did this check.
2012 iTunes stats: 4 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 8 plays, most recently on 6/21/2014
Poison – Nothin’ But A Good Time
Arguably Poison’s second biggest hit, despite my not having listened to it, at least the studio version, in nearly 4 years.
2012 iTunes stats: 6 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 5/14/2011
MC Hammer – Have You Seen Her
The strange rap ballad doubled up its number of plays over the past 3 years.
2012 iTunes stats: 2 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 8/13/2014
Cheap Trick – Can’t Stop Fallin’ Into Love
Cheap Trick’s hit, which turned into “our song” with my first girlfriend, had a healthy increase over the last few years.
2012 iTunes stats: 10 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 4/2/2015
Nelson – Love and Affection
Matthew and Gunnar’s big hit increased exponentially since 2012.
2012 iTunes stats: 1 play
2015 iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 6/21/2014
Warrant – Cherry Pie
Thanks to prodding from The Adam Carolla Show, Warrant’s strip club anthem increased by 9 listens over the past 3 years.
2012 iTunes stats: 8 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 9/18/2014
Johnny Gill – Rub You The Right Way
A slight increase for the solo debut from the New Edition alumnus.
2012 iTunes stats: 7 plays
2015 iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 4/24/2014
Side B
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The Cubs kicked off the 2015 baseball season by hosting the Cardinals Sunday night, giving the world their first look at the first stage of Wrigley Field renovations. Despite the best laid plans of Crane Kenney and the Cubs business team, the stadium was, sadly, not ready for prime time.
As expected, the renovations that were planned to be completed over this past offseason were not completed on time. The Cubs had peviously announced that the bleachers would not be ready for the beginning of the season. To mask their emptiness, they were covered with tarps featuring images of the late Ernie Banks.
The new video board planned for right field has not been installed yet, but the big Budweiser sign certainly was in place. There were small changes to the centerfield scoreboard: removing the ribbon board underneath the board and replacing it with the new between-inning timer. In left field, the new monster video board was in place, having been installed within days of Sunday’s ballgame. Continue reading →
