8-Track Session Vol 6

8-Track Sessions Vol 6

Let's take it back to the late 70's / early 80's, sneaking into the drive-in in the trunk, roller-skates, and 8-tracks in the dash.

For you, your parents, or whomever appreciates classic rock.

Volume six in my labor of love, the 8-Track Sessions series. While not my most popular series of mixes, I do love making these the most, and listening to them. Where else can you find lost hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's neatly blended into one package/

This mix started simply enough: I love the song Lido Shuffle by Boz Scaggs, and wanted to get it into a mix. From there it was just a matter of finding songs in the similar BPM and feel, and organizing them properly. 

I had been playing Orleans' Still the One at a lot of weddings lately, so I knew I wanted that in there. Nothing says 8-tracks like Journey and Kiss, so they had to be included, and I started building the mix. Rush - Spirit of Radio was supposed to be the opening song for Vol 5, but I scrapped that idea, and it had been sitting in the back of my mind for a while. Steve Miller's Swingtown is a favorite, and kinda toes the line betwen the smoother sounds of Boz Scaggs and the harder edge of AC/DC etc.  A good way to soften the mix up a bit, and get all the songs I wanted in there without the transitions sounding harsh. 

I really wanted to have some 70s cheese in there as well, to really give it that 8-track feel. The Bay City Rollers came to mind, and Shaun Cassidy (I used to watch the Hardy Boys as a kid). My best friend's parents played the Rolling Stones constantly when I was young, so I knew they had to be included. Wasn't sure if I could get Brown Sugar or Street Fighting Man in, so Get Off Of My Cloud was an easy choice. 

A little CCR is always needed. John Fogerty's voice is just so powerful to me. I love Elton John's Saturday Night (although I can't see him drinking beer or fighting very much) and Huey Lewis & The News had to be in there. I wanted to keep it to Huey's first album thought, because 8-tracks were mostly dead by the time Sports came out in 1983. 

Rod Stewart and The Police kinda came about by accident, and I'm not 100% satisfied by that part. The blend from Bruce Springsteen to Synchronicity II didn't really work, and I kind forced it. I didn't want to take Born to Run out, but it's a very noisy record, and hard to smoothly transition out of. I love that Police record, though, so I stuck with it. Oh well. 

Rick Springfield is a great early 80s cheese-rocker. He had to be in there. No question. 

I wanted to get in The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated and it flowed pretty well out of Led Zepplin's Rock And Roll. Not exactly "blends" but the transitions make sense. 

I have always loved The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and wanted to get it in, but it's such a weird record, constantly changing, I had to kinda use it as a tempo-shifting record, so I could get back to Fleetwood Mac and Orleans. I think I pulled it off. 

Once I had the lineup, I recorded the mix live, in one shot. That's the challenge for me, to make a clean, interesting mix of songs that are often very difficult to mix with. Live drummers vs DJs = not the business!

In keeping with the 8-Track Sessions theme, intros and exit "clips" from various 8-track videos I found on YouTube were used. 

So enjoy this mix, and feel free to share it around.