The Art of the Mix Tape

Long before I-Pod playlists and CD burners, the mix tape was the way to musically express yourself in the late '80's/early '90's. Any new stereo system had to come with high speed dubbing. The mix tape came in many varieties: the sappy love song mix for the girlfriend on Valentine'sDay, the workout inspiration tape, the makeout mix, and the driving in the car soundtrack.

One of my favorites is the pre-game warm up variety. The Russianator and I share the pleasure of playing on one of the worst high-school basketball teams in history. And of course, as crappy as our team was, our pre-game mix tape was equally crappy. I mean, nothing gets you fired up like some Young MC telling you to "Bust a Move." The obligatory AC/DC track also made an appearance, but the real star of this beauty was brought to us by Canadian superstar Aldo Nova.

I stumbled upon the video to our featured warm up track "Fantasy" and I'm speechless. A grown man in leopard print, combined with special effects that aren't very "special" adds up to pure gold. Ladies and gentlemen, join the Russianator and myself as we bust out of the locker room, through the paper and streamers and begin our three-man weave to the sounds of "Fantasy."



Readers (both of you) ....please share your crappy mixtape memories, we'd love to hear about it.