Unzipping My Case Logic Cassette Carrying Case: Part One

Last week while I was reminiscing about the Michael Jackson music I listened to growing up, I was reminded of how I used to create “playlists” of sorts by recording songs off the radio. Did anyone else do this? It required a lot of patience. I had a lavender jam box (with a neon orange “record” button and a purple strap for carrying it around), and I would sit next to it listening to the radio, with the “record” and “pause” buttons both pressed down. As one song wrapped up, I would place my finger on the pause button, and if the next song was one that I liked, I would quickly unpause the stereo to add the song to my cassette tape of favorite songs. Usually, I was waiting for a specific song to come on. This must be why I am so good at “Name That Tune.” I developed an ability to recognize a song by its opening chord!

In this age of mp3s and iTunes, it is much easier to obtain copies of your favorite music, and to arrange it just the way you want it. You can have a playlist of workout tunes, songs from movies, songs about peaches… You can be as generic or creative as you want. We didn’t have that option in the ’80s and ’90s. The closest we came to flexibility was having the option to record over previously dubbed songs when you got tired of those. And whereas today you can have thousands of songs at your fingertips, as a child and teen I was lucky if I had 150 (that’s probably how many songs I could carry around with me in my 15-cassette Case Logic case.) I think this limited access to songs in the pre-mp3 era makes me value the music I was listening to back then more, even if the songs haven’t aged well.

In the spirit of reflecting on my radio dubbing glory days, I now present to you the contents of my Case Logic cassette carrying case. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find my oldest tapes, which date back to about 1987. Hopefully I’ll dig them up for a later installment. For now, here’s “Part One”: what I was listening to and recording between 1988 and 1992. (I am so glad that I meticulously wrote down every song title and artist on each tape.) It is interesting to see how my musical tastes changed, as well as how popular music changed, over that period.

Cassette #1: 1988-1991 – There must have been some recording over old songs for this tape to span so much time. Looking back, standouts on this tape include “Praying for Time,” “Eternal Flame,” and “More Than Words.” But I also love me some Roxette (remember “Fading Like a Flower”?) and Milli Vanilli (“Girl you know it’s true! G-G-G-G girllll…”).

• Side One
  • “Every Heartbeat” – Amy Grant
  • “Dangerous” – Roxette
  • “Pure Energy” – Information Society
  • “Can’t Touch This” – MC Hammer
  • “Different Light” – Doug Stone
  • “One Moment in Time” – Whitney Houston
  • “Blame It on the Rain” – Milli Vanilli
  • “Back on My Feet” – Michael Bolton
  • “Praying for Time” – George Michael
• Side Two
  • “Eternal Flame” – The Bangles
  • “More Than Words” – Extreme
  • “Voices That Care” – Multiple artists (recorded for troops during Operation Desert Storm)
  • “Release Me” – Wilson Phillips
  • “Unbelievable” – EMF
  • “Miracle” – Whitney Houston
  • “Escapade” – Janet Jackson
  • “Freedom” – George Michael

Cassette Tape #2 (1989): – Wow, how the times have changed. Paula Abdul’s music career is a distant memory, Donnie Osmond is now an emcee for pageants and such, Michael Damian isn’t on The Young and the Restless anymore (but apparently he rereleased “Rock On” on an album this year), and Milli Vanilli has long since been exposed as musical frauds (such a shame – I really liked their songs). Who knew that New Kids on the Block would be the ones still making music 20 years later? Bon Jovi’s music has stood the test of time well, but I much prefer his late ’80s, early ’90s work to his albums of the past decade.

• Side One
  • Aerosmith (that’s how I labeled it, so not sure what song it is! Maybe “Love in an Elevator.”)
  • “Right Here Waiting” – Richard Marx
  • “Forever Your Girl” – Paula Abdul
  • “What I Am (I’m Not Aware)” – Edie Brickell
  • “Walk of Life” – Dire Straits (I had it incorrectly labeled as Bruce Springsteen!)
  • “Lay Your Hands” – Bon Jovi
  • “Batdance” – Prince
• Side Two
  • “One More Try” – Timmy T
  • “Soldier of Love” – Donnie Osmond (it seems weird that Donnie Osmond sang this song!)
  • “Hangin’ Tough” – New Kids on the Block
  • “Gonna Miss You” – Milli Vanilli
  • “Rock On” – Michael Damian
  • “Seeds of Love” – Tears for Fears
  • “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time” – New Kids on the Block
  • “We Didn’t Start the Fire” – Billy Joel

Cassette #3 (1992) – This tape represents my musical tastes in 8th and 9th grade. You’ll notice that I had developed an interest country music. In my opinion, this time period was country music at its peak, before it went downhill into the pop-crossover arena. I still belt out some Lorrie Morgan tunes from time to time (especially “Something in Red”), “I Still Believe in You” was my favorite song of ’92, and Wynonna had some good tunes (initially) after leaving The Judds. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are, of course, still enjoying success, but “Under the Bridge” is one of my favorite songs, and definitely my favorite of theirs.

• Side One
  • “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” – George Michael and Elton John (“Ladies and gentlemen… Mr. Elton John!!!” – I love that part.)
  • “Like Two Sparrows” – Tanya Tucker
  • “Call Me Lonesome” – Radney Foster
  • “Shake the Sugar Tree” – Pam Tillis
  • “If There Hadn’t Been You” – Billy Dean
  • “Watch Me” – Lorrie Morgan
  • “Under the Bridge” – Red Hot Chili Peppers (how’s that for a transition? Lori Morgan to the Chili Peppers.)
  • “Never Knew Lonely” – Vince Gill
  • “In This Life” – Colin Raye
  • “If You Ask Me To” – Celine Dion
  • “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” – John Parr
• Side Two
  • “Take This Heart” – Richard Marx
  • “The River” – Garth Brooks
  • “One” – Elton John
  • “Jam” – Michael Jackson
  • “Jesus He Knows Me” – Phil Collins
  • “I Saw the Light” – Wynonna
  • “Tell Ourselves” – Clint Black
  • “Another Day” – Jon Secada
  • “End of the Road” – Boyz II Men
  • “I Still Believe in You” – Vince Gill
  • “Saddle Up Your Horses – Steven Curtis Chapman

That’s all for Part One. There’s only so much transcribing that I can handle at a time. Next week, I’ll reveal what I was recording during my high school years (’93-’96). You’ll see names like Ugly Kid Joe, Mr. Big, and Crash Test Dummies. Good times! Did you see any of your favorites on these cassette tape playlists? What else were you listening to? If you still have your own collection of radio-recorded songs, I’d love to know what some of them are.