The mixtape, a staple of the Gen X love arsenal in that when pledging your undying teenage devotion to the object of your affection, you would record all of the quintessential romantic ballads onto one tape. You’d then sheepishly present this tape to the person you adored. The labeling of said tape was just as important as the songs it contained. Clever mixtape titles along the alliterative lines of “Songs for Sarah,” “Barb’s Ballads,” or the more direct and simply put: “Mixtape for My Love.”
Some of the standard mixtape go-tos…You have the 80s hair band ballads of course. What mixtape would be complete without Bon Jovi’s iconic I’ll Be There for You or Motley’s Crue’s Without You. Then there is the lighter musical fare, Lionel Ritchie’s Hello and pretty much anything by REO Speedwagon or Air Supply.
The Mechanics of the Mixtape
Believe it or not actually creating this mixtape was a fairly in-depth process. Prior to the development of the dual cassette boombox...
