Description: Although many stories are well told when sung, some seem to have a greater impact when spoken, with a musical background. This is also a devise used by those who are incapable of singing, such as William Shatner's narration of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". That song unfortunately is one that, for me at least, induces repeated cringes, and I've spared most everyone by not including it here.

William Shatner is not the only actor to have narrated a song. I've chose to include four others here by actors (tracks 4, 5, 12 & 13).

This is one of my shorter mixes, clocking in at just 48m19s.

Description: Something I slapped together about 8 months ago. Just felt that this exceptional jazz musician and vocalist was deserving of a single artist tribute. Correction for the comment on track 11 (it now looks like this song was actually recorded anywhere from 1949-1967; don't know exactly).

Description: This mix mainly looks at the period of 1966-1976 (exploring only five songs before that and one after). R&B music appears to have peaked in 1969-1973, but that may be at least in part due to what periods I've explored so far. There is an odd gap for the year 1972 (I'll have to investigate that year some more). The picture is of the Isley Brothers (the only group that I used more than once on the mix).

Need to point out one error in the track listings: Track 13 should be "Ain't It Funky Now, Pt. 1", lasting 3m09s and it can be found on the album "James Brown Gold" from 2007 (track 22 of the total 40 tracks). My remarks I made for the track are still accurate though.

Also, due to time/space limitations, I wasn't able to include some of my favorite artists such as Al Green, Billy Preston, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Huey Smith, Louis Armstrong or Fats Waller. Also absent are Sam & Dave, Sonny Charles & The Checkmates, Barry White, Sly & The Family Stone, Brass Construction, Bill Withers, Ink Spots, The O'Jays, Barrett Strong, The Sweet Inspirations, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Louis Jordan, The Orioles, William DeVaughn, Bob Marley, Sister Sledge, Bobby Bland and Isaac Hayes (guess there is room to do a volume 2).

Description: Bill Clinton, the Casanova of politicians, left office with a record 68% approval rating. He was the first Democrat since FDR to win reelection, but was only the second president to be impeached. Under his watch, the average yearly income of Americans rose 13% and the national budget actually showed a rare surplus of over one half of a trillion dollars. With all his flaws, Americans came to love him and most people wished he could have run for a third term. Unfortunately for the history books, the Lewinsky scandal will play a prominent roll, but at the same time his sexual exploits were a significant part of who he was, and this mix is in large part dedicated to that aspect of him. I guess it just goes to show that everyone loves a lover.

Description: Not your standard Valentine's Day mix. This would be one inspired by a (or soon to be) Ex-Valentine. So, if you don't have a Valentine this time around, you can always listen to my mix and think back on any prior Valentine's that have come and gone (also a perfect time to pour some whiskey on the rocks).

Description: Well, I'm not sure if all of these songs fit the bill, but it at least starts off in the right style. This mix was put together with the tracks overlapping a bit so the last song (although it fits on a CD) didn't make it onto the track list here (since the MTC site says there are too many songs to fit). That track is New Order's "Blue Monday 1988". Oh, and the MC is none other than the esteemed Hugh Hefner.

Description: This is mostly a traditional mix, with some more swinging or rocking songs thrown in and not too heavy on the holy perspective. Hope you all can enjoy it and have a wonderful holiday season!

Description: I did a mix of the Bee Gees close to four years ago and then also decided to exclude their disco tunes, but I still chose their most familiar songs prior to their disco period. This time, for the most part, I'm choosing there lesser known creations. Then, I left out their first U.S. pop hit "New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Have You Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones)", but include it here as track 3. That is the biggest hit used on this mix (it reached #14 on the pop charts). Track 14 is their 2nd biggest hit here (which reached #16 on the charts). Track 15 also made it into the top 40 (reaching #34 on the charts), but the sixteen other tracks didn't make the top 40 listings. When I was younger, and not too long ago, I would have overlooked these last sixteen songs as less than stellar, but I've since pretty much changed my mind (but then I do have a soft spot for the early Bee Gees).

Description: Hope this song feast is sufficient. It was the best I could do on short notice. Now, DIG IN !!!

Description: This is a mix I've wanted to put together for awhile. Johnny_Luddite suggested I do something like this, though he wanted it to use soul music exclusively and a narrower focus of say 1967-72, but his suggestion helped push me into putting this together. Thanks Johnny!

Description: This is a bit shorter than my first mix inspired by Barack Obama, but for the most part it is in the right spirit I think. I'm hoping that the two mixes can be played while in a good mood election evening.

Description: This mix was inspired by the first song which was playing in my head one recent morning when I awoke.

Description: This is a distillation of a 2 CD mix I made seven years ago for Halloween when it happened to be occurring during a full moon.

Description: Since I'm starting to feel my age these days, like Sinatra sings towards the end of the song used for this mixes title: "I'm in the Autumn of the year," I decided it would be good to review the passing of the years in a mix. This compilation aims at using songs that include a persons age in it, which it does in all respects except for track 3. That track fills a ten year gap between tracks 2 & 4. The picture used is a painting entitled "1982 was a very good year".

Description: The inspiration for this collection of motown for these years is the complete singles compilation book sets of recent vintage. Unfortunately all of the songs are only available from this source as mono tracks, even though most of them used here were originally stereo single releases. I put the mix together from the box sets, but then hunted for stereo versions which comprise 18 of the 24 tracks used here. Most of these songs are not mainstream hits, because I used 32 tracks on prior mixes for these years. One of the exceptions to this are the two #1 hits by the Jackson 5 that I used for tracks 3 & 10. Other fairly big hits are represented here as tracks 1, 4, 6, 11 & 23. The pic is of Gladys Knight and The Pips, who have more tracks (4) than any other artist on this mix.

Description: A smattering of vibes of warmth and light...
And no, I didn't use the Beach Boys Good Vibrations (a favorite of John McCain's who I believe would be far from heavenly for this country). Track 6 is actually about 1/2 as long as the time displayed (I used only Part 1).

Description: Aretha Franklin had her best year in the charts in 1968 and she appropriately is the only artist that has more than one song in the mix (and of course the pic is of her). The Title of the mix is also from lyrics in her song See Saw (track 13).

One song, track 10, hit the charts in the week ending 11/16/68, and two songs, tracks 15 & 26, in the week ending 11/30/68, all peaking in early 1969.

Songs that didn't make it into the mix were: Till and You are My Special Angel by the Vogues, Put Your Head on My Shoulder by the Lettermen, Little Green Apples by O.C. Smith, Help Yourself by Tom Jones, I Love How You Love Me by Bobby Vinton, The Straight Life by Bobby Goldsboro, Indian Reservation by Don Fardon, Over You by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, Bang-Shang-A-Lang by the Archies, Hi-Heel Sneakers by Jose Feliciano, Sweet Blindness by the 5th Dimension, Alfie by Eivets Rednow, and Peace of Mind by Nancy Wilson. To access the mix, just click the link on the first song title.

Description: One of my mixes of lesser known tunes. At least these never made it into the top 40 in the U.S. and thus the title (these did no better than 45 and no worse than 92 on the Pop charts in the year of 1988). Prominently dispayed in this compilation is the group Depeche Mode; all three tracks from their Music for the Masses album (and thus the promo pic of them used here).

Description: Well, after posting my idea of what I thought was a Potpourri mix, and realizing afterwords that I wasn't playing by the established rules of the game, I've finally decided to join the fold and try my hand at the MTC standard variation. Hope this is up to snuff.

Description: Not only am I relatively new to MTC, but this is my very first potpourri mix. Just hope by limiting myself to retro music, I haven't made it any less of a potpourri. Think I was on the right track though. Time will tell...

Description: This is a mix I made a few years back, but time is on my mind all of a sudden since my employer granted me a buy out. I'll have some time to goof off, but eventually I'll have to get serious and use some time to find another job when the economy could be a lot better. After more than 26 years with the same company I felt it was time for me to cash in my chips and look somewhere else for another game. I figuratively set sail on a new voyage in 2-3 months.

Description: This is one in a series. I've done similar mixes in the Keys of G, B & F so far as well. These songs are in order by beats per minute (starting at 84 bpm and ending at 112 bpm). The picture is of the Orlons who had two classic tunes on this mix.

Description: This is a companion to my mix entitled Super Long Songs (my first one posted here at MTC). That mix had only 7 tracks, but this one has a grand total of 44 songs; not as many as sledgbrainerd's "2 Minutes:Taken 2 the Limit" with a total of 59 tracks (but both mixes use songs of less than 2 minutes in length).

Because I used mixing software to have the tracks overlap a bit, I was able to cram the last two songs into 79m43s of space (but the MTC site won't allow me to list them because it prevents the last two since they go beyond 80 minutes by it's reckoning).

Anyway, here are the last tracks:
43. Max Frost & The Troopers - Shape of Things to Come (1:54) (1968 #22) (a 1 hit wonder, but a classic nonetheless) and 44. The Ventures - Hawaii Five-0 (1:52) (1969 #4) (which was one of my favorite TV theme songs when I was only 14 years old).

One item of note: I put the songs in order by beats per minute (going from the slowest to the fastest beat or 82 bpm to 164 bpm).
I used a picture of The Beatles, because there were four songs by them on this mix (the most of any artist), but Elvis Presley came in a close second with three numbers.

Description: This is a mix I put together last January while Obama was pitted against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

Half of these songs were used as background music during Obama's large campaign meetings with his supporters (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11 & 14). The rest are by artists that Obama has said he likes (either in interviews or on his facebook page; Hillary wasn't as open about her musical tastes).

Track 9 has an association with the group Outkast (who Barack has stated that he thinks that they do a lot of interesting work). Some artists/groups not used that he showed an interest in are Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, and the Fugees.

Other songs he's used as background music that I didn't use are Respect by Aretha Franklin, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield and City of Blinding Lights by U2.

Description: I moved from San Francisco to Oakland, California a bit over a year ago. When I did, I had to get rid of quite a few things; mostly books and records. I gave away or sold over 300 LPs and even more books (donated the later to the local library). Anyway, not counting 45s, I have 133 33-1/3 rpm records. This is a selection from that remaining collection...

Description: This is a mix I put together while making a Last.fm playlist. One song, the last one, they listed but you weren't able to even play a sample, while track 5 was a new discovery for me thanks to that site. I tried to make all the songs have a similar melody in order to make them mix as well as possible. Please let me know how I did.

Description: All of these songs peaked in 1941, before the Pearl Harbor attack that propelled us into World War II. This is a mix that I made for my Father two years ago for Father's Day. He was 13 years old in 1941 and I was 13 years away from being conceived.

In this mix, I used four numbers by Glenn Miller's band who were tied with Jimmy Dorsey for the leading group in 1941 (Miller's influence peaking in the years 1939-1942).

This year may have lacked stereo recordings, but it didn't lack talent. I'm hoping that many of you will give this time period a shot and check it out with an open ear (you might be surprised)

Description: So why is it that musical artists who's name happens to be Joe never use the formal Joseph? Guess it just isn't as cool. Not that Joe's are necessarily cool.

There are all kind of Joe's and they are usual pretty regular guys like Joe the Bartender, Joe the Barber, Joe the Cop, Joe at the Diner, or Joe the Mechanic. There is even G.I. Joe, and I was one for a while, spending 3 years in the Army.

But there are even musicians that go by Joe, and some of them are pretty cool, or at least made a big name for themselves (such as Cocker, but then again his birth name was John). But most Joe's aren't made for stardom. Usually the best they can hope for is a number two spot such as Joe Biden on the Democatic ticket for President of the U.S. or for me, for a few years in my life, as second chair trumpet in an amateur band.

I want to thank johnny_luddite for his mix More than Five Guys Called Joe that he said I inspired. His mix of course inspired this alternating track list that I hope everyone finds entertaining.

Description: For this mix, I avoided Motown songs I had used on previous mixes, so about as many songs as are used here were rejected (those being more mainstream than most of the ones selected here, with the exceptions of tracks 1, 6 and maybe 19). As a result most of the songs here presented may not sound very familiar, which is just as well; there was a lot of talented work being cranked out during this year in Detroit. The lead song did the best on the charts (#1 Pop, #2 R&B), so it starts off with a bang.

Description: My latest mix; this one exploring songs that could have been heard on the radio during the last half of 1973. The first half is pretty funky; even with the white group of Stories which had a #1 pop hit with Brother Louie (which made it to #22 on the R&B charts). This last group is the only one that I used more than one track by, so they get top billing (featured in the picture and name of the mix title). This was a fun one to put together; hope you find it fun too!

Description: This is a mix that I made for my friend Chick from the Liquor store a few years ago. His favorite song is track 8 so I built the mix around that one. Track 3 is an exception, being issued in 1962, but it mixes well with the rest.

Description: This is a mix of songs that range in 7m44s to 17m32s in length. I've done a few mixes of long songs, but this one has the longest song average of any of the others.