Tape of the week: my Police cassette. It holds two whole albums, Outlandos d’Amour from 1978 and Reggatta de Blanc from 1979.
Every Friday, The Mixtape brings you five songs picked by people, from the sixties to this year. Watch this week’s video below, hear all five on our playlist, or put on Acid Flashback Radio and let us do the picking.
This week’s mixtape
ASide A
1. Classic rock
Brighton Rock
Queen, Sheer Heart Attack, 1974
I first heard “Killer Queen” on the radio in 1974, bought Sheer Heart Attack, dropped the needle, and “Brighton Rock” came roaring out of the speakers. Brian May wrote it in 1973 with Queen II in mind, but it did not fit there, so it waited for the next record. The guitar solo came first and the song grew up around it.
This week’s video
2. New Wave
Can’t Stand Losing You
The Police, Outlandos d’Amour, 1978
This one is on the tape. Sting wrote it in his basement flat in Bayswater. The single stalled at first, then a June 1979 reissue climbed to No. 2 in the UK, held off only by “I Don’t Like Mondays.” Stewart Copeland has said the instrumental “Reggatta de Blanc” began as a stage jam in the middle of this song, so it ties the two albums on this tape together.
3. Psychedelic
Friday Night, August 14th
Funkadelic, Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow, 1970
Eric Leventhal, DJ Kaigem, opens Psychedelic Psaturday this week with this one. It is on the band’s second album, from July 1970, with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent, who later became Dawn, singing on it. Eddie Hazel’s guitar leans into Hendrix territory. Early Funkadelic was deep psychedelic music, long before the funk standards.
BSide B
4. New psych
Up To You
JJUUJJUU, single, 2024
JJUUJJUU is the project of Phil Pirrone, a session musician and Desert Daze festival cofounder. The sound is hypnotic and fuzzy, in the neighborhood of the Black Angels and Fuzz. DJ Kaigem plays JJUUJJUU on Psychedelic Psaturday this Saturday at 1 PM Eastern.
5. Live
South City Midnight Lady
The Doobie Brothers, Farewell Tour, 1983
Patrick Simmons wrote it and sings it. This live version comes from the band’s 1982 Farewell Tour and was released on the album Farewell Tour in 1983. You can hear it in hour one of Acid Flashback Friday this Friday at noon Eastern.
A later live version, from the Doobie Brothers’ 1996 benefit concert for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Hear all five
Every song from this issue is on The Mixtape, Vol. 1, our own playlist. Five new songs every Friday, fifty in all, then Vol. 2 starts fresh.
AThis weekend on Acid Flashback Radio
Friday at noon Eastern, Acid Flashback Friday with DJ Uncle Steve features the Rolling Stones’ “Little Red Rooster.” Saturday at 1 PM Eastern, Psychedelic Psaturday with DJ Kaigem opens with Funkadelic. Sunday brings Time Warp with Bart Shore at 3 PM Eastern. See the full weekend schedule.
BToday in Rock History
On November 13, 1964, the Rolling Stones’ “Little Red Rooster” came out in the UK. Willie Dixon wrote it and Howlin’ Wolf and Sam Cooke recorded it first, and the Stones’ version became the first blues record to top the UK singles chart.
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Rock on,
DJ Uncle Steve
