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 3 years.
Bon Jovi should have been my first concert. Their fourth studio album, New Jersey, was released in September of 1988 with a supporting tour starting soon after. My sister, a big Bon Jovi fan, had convinced my mom to get us tickets, either to the March 24, 1989, show at the Rosemont Horizon or later that summer, August 4, at Alpine Valley. I remember watching my mom make the phone call to get to tickets and then… nothing.
No tickets ever came in the mail and the show went on without us. Now, it is entirely possible that this was an early introduction of the ineptitude of Ticketmaster, but knowing what I know now, more likely it was a sham. A fake phone call or a real phone call made but a credit card that had no chance of the transaction going through. We were not in the position to just shrug if something we ordered and paid for just didn’t show up and, to my recollection, there was no fuss made about the missing tickets.
Four years later, Bon Jovi, who placed three tracks on this first volume of hits that I started in 1989 during my sophomore year of high school, became both my second and third concerts. This turned into one of the more disjointed volumes in the collection, with the hits of the day combined with older tracks, a morning zoo radio bit, and an album track thrown in for good measure.
Side A
Warrant – Heaven
iTunes stats: 16 plays, most recently on 11/27/2021
The biggest hit from Warrant, which I most likely originally recorded from Z95, peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts. It has added a mere three plays over the last three years, the most recent coming more than a year ago.
Young MC – Bust A Move
iTunes stats: 33 plays, most recently on 9/1/2022
One of the first tunes I bought on cassingle, this one hit wonder, which featured Flea on bass, won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1990. It had another impressive increase, gaining seven plays since 2019.
New Kids Got Run Over By A Reindeer
Thanks to YouTube, I am finally able to confirm that this parody song that I originally heard on the Welch & Woody morning show on Z95 actually existed. I have yet to add it to my collection.
Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name
iTunes stats: 16 plays, most recently on 2/15/2022
Originally written by Desmond Child for Bonnie Tyler, the song was rewritten and became the first single from Bon Jovi’s third album in 1986. After a big jump between 2015 and 2019, it has been heard only twice in the three years since.
B-52s – Love Shack
iTunes stats: 18 plays, most recently on 10/5/2022
I’m still hoping to acquire the album version of the song on MP3, which I had originally taped off the radio. In spite of that, I’ve managed to add five listens over the last three years.
Paula Abdul – The Way That You Love Me
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 5/18/2021
After stalling out on the Billboard charts on its original release in 1988, the song, along with a video by future Academy Award nominee David Fincher, was re-released the following year, making it up to #3. Despite having not heard the song for the past year and a half, it nearly doubled its plays in these past three years.
Richard Marx – Right Here Waiting
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 3/16/2022
The #1 hit, the third consecutive for Marx, was the second single from his second album. After a big showing between 2015 and 2019, it has slowed down, with only four new plays in the three years since.
