Back To The Lab: Dr. Wisz's Old School Hip Hop Mix

Check out the Cassette j-card blog @ leftovermixes.com

Date: November 2001, Boy! This is a good tape, it was a live-to-tape (no going back and fixin' it) old school hip hop mix duped back in 2001. I made this master tape and then made copies for a lot of friends, so there may be a few of these floating around. Dubbed 'The Roots Of Deja Blu' this was going to be the first in series, looking back and some of the music that got Scotty and I into DJ'ing around the formative years of deja blu- our DJ team.

The graphics are very sophisticated as compared to a lot of hand-made j-cards that have been posted previously. All computer art & printed black with knock-outs on purple paper. The turntable photos were taking by a photographer friend of mine and the font was dot-matrixy (on purpose). Good stuff. This is one that should really be transferred to CD.

Moon Boots

This is a song about the innocent that died at the hands of a desperate man.
All Day Long- New Order

So I rediscovered the joy of the mix tape (though it is really a CD burned on my Sony CD burner).

I love to pull a bunch of records off the shelf and put them together in a haphazard mish mash- which hopefully sounds good in the end. I have been trying to stick to records only- for now- and I have come up with 2 pretty good ones. After I am done, I try not to judge the mix too much, after all, it is a live to burn mix with hiccups and all. And some of the records are scratched and some skip and, since my turntables are old, sometimes the pitch veers wildly out of control (Oscillate Wildly, as us Smiths fans might say...).

Then when it is all done and I start to make copies for my friends (For Promotional Use Only), I always make a really cool, graphic designed cover. That is a lot of fun, I try to make them amusing or visually stimulating, run them off on the laser printer, cut them, insert them and BAM! you have the new mix tape-- on CD.

The first one was a FUNK one that had some Rick James, James Brown and Sharon Jones on it (man, I luv her), The second, from the other night, was an eighties NEW WAVE and, what at the time was called, ALTERNATIVE MUSIC. This has some great Style Council, Smiths, Orange Juice, Alphaville and more. I don't care if you like all the tunes (j. sort of gave me a look when I told her 'Rio" by Duran (2x) was on it), there is something for everyone on it- I like it myself.

BONUS BEATS- Sabres home opener tonight! Hockey is back! Rivet is the captain! Goals will be scored!!