A Challenge Inspired me to Make a Mixtape

When I first read the prompt for the challenge ‘The Summer That Wasn’t’, I immediately thought of music. Summer and music go together so well, I think, because it seems so much more vibrant at that time of year. Festivals play a part in forging that link, but I think it is more to do with open windows, everywhere you go you hear snatches of tunes from each house you walk past, every car that drives by with the windows down. This often diverse soundscape is echoed in mixtapes, where disparate sounds and styles are pulled together to somehow make sense as a whole.

Mixtapes were an integral part of my teenage years; a form of currency to share the favourite new tracks or treasures we had unearthed from family record, cassette and CD collections. They were a way of making sense of the world, a language to convey the things we lacked the vocabulary for. This secret language bound friends together, gave us a shorthand to express ourselves to each other. It was always a special moment when someone gave you a mix they had made, the anticipation when you hit play for the first time, excited but unsure what you would hear.

Endless hours were spent poring over track lists of records and CDs, hunting for the elusive mix of songs that I could point to and say ‘THIS is me. THIS is how I feel’. Not to mention all the time spent each week listening to the top 40 countdown, finger hovering over the play and record buttons to catch this week’s latest hot track, cursing the DJ if they spoke over the intro and ruined it! Inevitably, there was a great deal of repetition from one mix to the next, the recurring tracks becoming sort of signature to identify who had created the tape, or a secret nod to whoever regularly used that track or featured a specific artist. I still make playlists on Spotify etc, but it doesn’t give me the same thrill. The availability of so many artists available at the click of a button is, on the surface freeing, but I find it paralysing, not to mention the plethora of cover versions and remixes you sometimes have to trawl through to find the exact track you want. With mixtapes we were constrained by the format – either 60 or 90 minutes of playtime – which had to be carefully split between the two sides of the tape. Modern playlists can be re-arranged or played on shuffle at the click of a button, whereas mixtapes had to be carefully thought through and planned out: once you committed to a play order it was pretty much fixed, unless you wanted to go through the whole recording process again. Great mixtapes told a story; they had an arc you could follow, with changes in pace and tone, so the order mattered. Shuffle buttons destroy all this.

And that brings me neatly to the stories I am working on for ‘The Summer That Wasn’t’. As I started to workshop some ideas, snatches of songs kept intruding, and I realised that music should be at the heart of these stories (I only set out to write one, but I am currently working on three, as the characters keep wanting to put their own sides of the story forward, and the only way to keep the narrative coherent was to give them their own space!), and I set about creating a virtual mixtape as a soundtrack. The main story is Songs of Summer Shadows, but will possibly be the last to be completed, so if you are interested please keep an eye out in the comments or subscribe for notifications when they are published. Whilst the stories all take place in a single summer, the tracks are a mix of memorable tunes that were the soundtrack of my life over several years. Some were chosen as they evoke such clear memories of being in that strange in-between state of being legally considered an adult whilst still being a teenager, and the freedom and responsibility that is suddenly thrust upon you at that age. Others were chosen specifically for their lyrics – sometimes the whole song, others a single line - to echo the story arc of Songs of Summer Shadows, and to give the ‘tape’ its own narrative structure. I haven’t checked the timings to see how it would fit on a cassette tape, but if anyone fancies giving it a go please let me know the results!

1. Just a Girl No Doubt
2. Brimful of Asha Corner Shop
3. When I Come Around Green Day
4. Something Changed Pulp
5. The Day We Caught the Train Ocean Colour Scene
6. Teenage Dirtbag Wheatus
7. Firestarter Prodigy
8. Free Ultra Nate
9. You’re Gorgeous Baby Bird
10. Buck Rodgers Feeder
11. Smile The Supernaturals
12. The Key: The Secret Urban Cookie Collective
13. You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette
14. Mulder and Scully Catatonia
15. Jump Around House of Pain
16. Me & You vs The World Space
17. Everybody Knows (Except You) The Divine Comedy
18. She’s a Star James
19. Local Boy in the Photograph Stereophonics
20. Get What You Give New Radicals