What's your legacy? Miami -Dade residents produce
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plasticfree305. Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape,
a podcast that takes the classic mixtape approach
to building a modern playlist. I'm your host,
Brian Colburn. Joining me for tonight's collaboration
is Michael Citro, host of Michael's Record Collection.
Michael, thank you so much for joining me tonight.
Thanks for having me, Brian. It's always great
to talk music with you. Likewise, I'm looking
forward to this. So, Michael, I like to start
every episode with the same question. What does
the word mixtape mean to you? It means the entirety
of my junior high and high school life, basically,
and a lot of my college life, too. I don't know
how many mixtapes I've made in my life, but I
can tell you that probably I kept the TDK and
Maxell companies afloat for a good portion of
the 80s and into the 90s. I still have, I think,
some unopened TDK 90 -minute tapes in the closet
over here. It's I would make one for every mood.
I would make one for bands that I liked. I would
make all kinds of things. I would obviously you
make them for girls because, you know, that's
that's the I think the whole reason they were
invented. I believe that the last one I made
was probably in the early 2000s and it was a
Led Zeppelin acoustic songs mixtape. I just took
all the ones with the acoustic. and I made one
mixtape of Led Zeppelin songs that were acoustic.
And that's the last one that I remember making.
I may have made another one, but that's the last
one I remember doing. Well, tonight you're going
to be making one all over again. Although at
the end of the day, we're not recording these
songs in real time, but we're going to take that
approach to making a mixtape and we're going
to do it collaboratively together. Tonight, Michael
and I will be curating a mixtape featuring the
songs of 1983. which, and I can't believe I'm
saying this, turns 40 years old this year. For
clarification, we're choosing songs from albums
that were released in 1983. So if a single was
huge in 1983, but it came from an album released
in 1982, it doesn't count, which unfortunately
kills the most obvious choice right from the
jump. which is Michael Jackson's Thriller. It
was easily 1983's biggest album, but it was released
on November 29th, 1982. So boo, I know, I know.
For me, 1983 really felt like one of the defining
years of my musical youth. There are so many
great songs that truly shaped where I stand musically
today. ridiculously hard to whittle down my bank
of songs and i'm sitting here right now with
25 and i know after the 10 that i picked makes
the mix i'm gonna be feeling sick over the 15
that didn't but michael i'm kind of curious how
easy was it for you to whittle down your bank
of songs tonight and how much guilt do you already
feel for the songs that may not make it Well,
I'm kind of laughing at you narrowing it down
to 25 and talking about the 15 you're going to
leave off. Because when you asked me to do this,
I started with my 1983 playlist on Spotify, which
has almost 400 songs in it. And I was pretty
surprised I got down to 100 songs in my bank
by recording day. So 1983, when you talk about
this year, Brian, that's the end of my junior
year of high school. And the beginning of my
senior year in high school, that is the music
that lives with you for your life. That is the
music that is ingrained in your DNA. You never
forget it. You hear two notes of something and
you know instantly the name of the song, the
artist, the album it came from, maybe the record
company, maybe the video and where you first
heard it. That's the kind of attachment you have
to the songs that you sort of latched on to later
in your high school career. Awesome. Well, with
that being said, let's get down to business.
Tonight, as I mentioned earlier, Michael and
I will be curating a Songs of 1983 mixtape, and
we'll use the old cassette deck approach, meaning
our mixtape will be broken up into two sides,
Side A and Side B. Michael, as my special guest,
will begin Side A with his first song choice,
and then I'll add a song that I feel best follows
up his choice. We'll then flip -flop choosing
songs until we've mapped out the 10 songs for
Side A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial
flip and we'll map out side B. Only this time,
I'll kick the side off with Michael following
up. Our overall goal for this episode is to craft
the best Songs of 1983 mixtape possible using
only 20 songs. And at the end of the show, you
can take our conversation to the next level by
visiting the Songs of 1983 page at myweeklymixtape
.com and give our final mixtape a listen via
the embedded playlist. Finally, if you like what
you're hearing on the show, please consider becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. Michael, before I turn it over
to you to reveal your track one, some of the
fellow mixtapers who follow me at myweeklymixtape
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok have
chimed in with their ideal opening track for
a Songs of 1983 mixtape, and I wanted to share
a few of them now so we have some... Musical
food for thought. Hell, maybe some of these are
going to be the songs we're going to be talking
about shortly. Patreon mixtaper David Lee Smith
chimed in with Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood.
Follow the Trowler chimed in with Joe Jackson's
Steppin' Out. Jason Whistle of the It's Not That
Bad podcast chimed in with Big Country's In a
Big Country. Jamie Lynn Howe chimed in with Bonnie
Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Eric Chael
chimed in with Peter Shilling's Major Tom Coming
Home. Hector Contreras chimed in with Brian Adams'
The Only One. Coley Green chimed in with Dexy's
Midnight Runners' Come On Eileen. Rob Jones chimed
in with Billy Bragg's In New England. Oh My God,
I Love That Song chimed in with Daryl Hall and
John Oates' Maneater. The Story Song Podcast
chimed in with Anything From Madonna's self -titled
album. Tony Watson chimed in with Yes's Owner
of a Lonely Heart. Bobby from the F 'n Cultured
podcast chimed in with Elton John's I'm Still
Standing. Michael Breen chimed in with U2's Sunday
Bloody Sunday. And Jackson Walsh chimed in with
Irene Cara's Flashdance, What a Feeling. Now
right there alone, Michael, that is a fantastic
1983 mixtape in and of itself. But with those
picks now floating in the atmosphere, I'm officially
pressing the record button on our mixtape. And
the floor is yours. Why don't you dive into the
song you chose to kick things off tonight? All
right. Well, I'm glad that the song I chose to
kick off Side A is not one of the many that you
just listed. I was worried someone was going
to steal my thunder. The 1980s were such an amazing
time for music. The early 80s when MTV was in
fashion and you might have a metal song followed
by a reggae song, followed by a punk song, followed
by, who knows, a poppy song. There was a little
bit of everything going on. So I thought, it's
a mixtape, so you want to start off with something
high energy. You want to start off with something
that's going to really get you going. But it's
the 80s, so I want a little bit of everything.
So I'm not just going hard rock or metal here.
I need to have a little bit of pop in it. I need
to have a little bit of maybe attitude. I know
you like your punk, so maybe a little bit of
punk flavor to it. A little sneer. And nothing
says all of that to me. as much as Billy Idol's
Rebel Yell. Yes. You got the guitar hero, Steve
Stevens. You got the poppiness in it. You got
the trademark Billy Idol sneer. It's got a little
bit of everything. I think it's the perfect song
to kick off a 1983 mixtape. Well, you scooped
me on that one, which is great because it makes
my list a little easier because that is the exact
song I had. I love talking about cover songs.
That song's been covered a lot. Drowning Pool
did it about 10 years ago. And more recently,
Queensryche did a cover of the song on their
latest album, which is actually really interesting.
Oh, I'd like to hear that. It's very faithful
to the original, but still has a Queensryche
vibe to it. But going back to the original, that
song is timeless. It's 40 years old this year.
And if you start that up, I don't care what age
you are. Your head's moving. You're getting into
it. The song. Absolutely rocks. And it's one
of those songs that, thankfully, 40 years from
now will still be looked at with the same feeling
as I hope we have for that song today. It's got
everything. The guys will get into it. The headbangers
like it. The pop fans like it. Everybody sings
along with it. It is just anthemic. And like
I said, I couldn't think. I thought long and
hard about the first track because it's what...
kind of starts the whole thing and sets the mood.
And you have to have a great first track on any
mixtape. And I thought that was the right one
to do. Anybody that needs to know the rules of
a mixtape just needs to go and watch High Fidelity.
Exactly. Well, I want to follow that up now.
And I'm going to follow it up with a song that's
not as high energy, but is a fist pumper. Because
after you got that rocking open, you want to
have a song where everybody is in unison, pumping
their fists in the air and screaming at the top
of their lungs. And in 1983, we've got a lot
of songs that would fall under that category.
But I am going to go with the title track from
Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil. I want this
thing to be picked up in intensity. I want this
to be picked up in the rock vein. And that song
screams 1983. It's the glam look of Motley Crue.
it was a different motley crew than you heard
on too fast for love which was a little bit more
punk -esque a little bit more raw a little bit
more 70s glam shout out the devil solidified
motley crew as the band that everybody knows
is motley crew it is their real And I want to
give a shout out to Eric, Time to Get Ill, and
The Shane and I Show, who both chimed in with
this one. I can't think of a better song to follow
up Rebel Yell with than Motley Crue's Shout at
the Devil. It's a great one. We're keeping the
fist pumping going. Our fist was raised in the
air already. It's going to continue to be raised
in the air. I can't tell you how many adults
I had to explain the fact that they're not satanic.
They're shouting at the devil. They're actually
shouting at him. So it's not a satanic thing.
You know, these are the kinds of things you have
to do in the Midwest sometimes. But yeah, but
what about 10 years earlier when Van Halen was
running with? I guess that must have been even
worse. It probably was. I think they just never
took David Lee Roth as seriously for some reason.
It's a shame. Maybe it was the fact that Motley
Crue had some of the imagery. Van Halen didn't
have any of that type of imagery. They were,
you know, they're laid back. california look
they didn't really have the pentagram and the
the black clothes and stuff as much yeah and
when you think about like the too fast for love
era it wasn't as solidified it was a little more
glam looking a little bit more of the 70s style
which i keep saying punk but to me too fast for
love is the punkiest motley crew album there
is but shout at the devil really leaned into
the hard rock scope of things and i think that's
really where mick mars put his stamp on the band
sound Yeah, I agree with that. I think that's
accurate. Too Fast for Love and Shout at the
Devil, obviously you're going to tell it's the
same band, but it's definitely a new direction
and they're starting to find their legs a little
bit more. Yeah, yeah. So now this tape is starting
to find its legs and I'm throwing it back to
you to follow that one up. All right. Well, after
a couple of rockers, I think we've got to pull
it back a little bit. So I'm going to go mid
-tempo for the third track. but I still want
it to rock a little bit. I don't want it to have
like you just fall off the table and have this
big shift. So I'm going to go with a little bit
of a mid -tempo rocker and I'm going to go with
the title track from Bryan Adams, Cuts Like a
Knife. All right. Fantastic song. I managed to
go see Bryan actually the same day as Live Aid,
which was awesome. He had played in Philadelphia
and then he flew into Ohio and I saw him at this
outdoor. It was really a cool thing because I
got to see him on TV and then I got to see him
in person. And Brian's music, especially that
album, just was fantastic. The songwriting was
great. The playing was great. You had these raspy
vocals. And I think every single track on that
album is just killer. It's one of those patented
all killer, no filler albums. And I like the
way that this kind of takes the mixtape down
a little bit from where it was. but not completely
falling off the table and doing just a heartfelt
light rock ballad. I agree. That's a great follow
-up. Cuts Like a Knife, by the way, if you haven't
seen the meme that goes around using the Cuts
Like a Knife CD on a pizza, you should definitely
look that one up. I know it's stupid, but every
time someone says it to me, I chuckle because
it really is like dad joke personified, and I
love it. As a whole, that's actually a fantastic
pick. I know Hector Contreras had chimed in earlier
at the top of the episode I had mentioned with
The Only One, but I think with where we're going,
Cuts Like a Knife follows up Motley Crue nicely
because I could actually hear those two songs
being played on one of the New York radio stations
back to back, and it wouldn't seem like too much
of a far stretch. The Only One was actually on
my bank of songs, and I just felt like... And
actually, I like that song better than Cuts Like
a Knife. I just feel like when you're making
a mixtape like this, at some point you got to
change the energy slightly and take it in a little
bit different direction. Otherwise, you're just
kind of, you know, you're always peaked at the
same time. It's like those brick walled recordings
where everything is like maxed out on the noise
level and you never get that break. And there
could be a little fatigue set in. So I like to
give you a little break, pull it back just a
little bit. Yeah, a little bit of dynamics in
the mix. I like where you're going. Well, following
up Brian Adams, I think I could stay in that
vein and still keep this going with that rock
feel, even though this is a little more poppy,
especially compared to Billy Idol and Motley
Crue. But coming out of Brian Adams, I could
go with a cover song, which I love because I
love my cover songs. And I'll tell you right
now, when I mentioned the song name. Music nerds
will immediately know that it is a cover, but
for the average Joe music listener, they might
not even know that one year earlier, a band called
the bus boys on their American worker album released
this song and it didn't really go anywhere. But
a year later, Huey Lewis in the news turned it
into a massive hit for the album sports. And
that song is heart and soul. One of the more
rocking tunes on sports. It's got enough guitar
heft that I feel like coming out of cuts like
a knife. It still keeps telling that story. And
when you think about the sound of sports as an
album, it has a lot of the horn sections. It
has a lot of that big Huey Lewis sound and heart
and soul is just a straight ahead rocking chorus.
which I think speaks to where we're headed with
this tape so far more than the heart of rock
and roll, which would have been a great, like,
let's say side to opener, which I had kind of
sitting in my bank there, but coming out of Brian
Adams, Huey Lewis in the news, heart and soul.
I like it. I had some Huey Lewis in the bank
and that was. That was, I think, one of my last
cuts. I still had a Huey Lewis song in the bank,
but that was one of my last cuts that I just
did this afternoon at the office. So, yeah, I
like the way it's flowing now. You get the cuts
like a knife. Heart and soul, you're right. A
little more poppy. Going to introduce some horns
here. And it's going to make for a nice flow
because then I know exactly where I need to take
this mixtape from here. All right, well, let's
hear it. All right, so staying with a song that's...
A bit rocky, but getting maybe a little more
leaning into the pop. I think that a good one
to go here is Rick Springfield's Human Touch.
It introduced a little bit more keyboard into
the rock. And there's a lot of ways you can go
from this point on. You can go back to the guitars.
You can go more synth. And this is one of my
favorite Rick Springfield songs. I think at the
time they thought it was going to be really...
especially if you go back and watch the video
and it's really, really a cheesy video. But at
the time we were all like, yeah, that's what
it's going to be like in the future. And now
we're in the future and it's nothing like this.
Wow. Rick Springfield. That's tough. Cause I'm
scrolling through my list and trying to find
something that comes out of that. Huh? You know
what? I think I'm going to lean a little bit
more into the synth a little bit here, but. the
song has a drive that screams rock and yeah i
think i'm gonna go with it i'm gonna go off of
speaking in tongues i'm gonna go with talking
heads burning down the house okay it's got a
rock drive to it even though it's a little bit
more synthy a little bit more new wave But that
song has that thump that takes you through it
that still maintains that edge that I feel like
this tape has so far. And I want to give a shout
out to McMarmots who chimed in with this one.
And plus, it just gives me a good excuse to bring
up Revenge of the Nerds when they're doing fireballs
in the house and the guy turns around and blows
out the lighter and then this song is playing.
This song's fantastic. It's probably my favorite
Talking Heads song. Somehow to go from Billy
Idol and Motley Crue to Talking Heads and have
it still make sense right now is pretty damn
cool. So I am going with Talking Heads, Burning
Down the House. Okay, I like it. And that scene
in the movie was funny. It was a little bit on
the nose to have that song playing. Yeah, good
stuff. I think this is a great first. aside to
this so far and we have kept it from going off
the rails, but maybe it's going to start going
off the rails. I don't know. Cause I'm going
to, I'm going to leave a little bit more into
the synth because it was 1983 after all. And
I think a good song to pivot to here is real
life. Send me an angel. Wow. I think this is
a song that doesn't get enough play. I like to
go deeper cuts, even though this was a hit song
and a single. I think it's not one that would
immediately leap into people's minds. So as a
guy who appreciates deeper cuts, I kind of have
to have at least one or two songs, even on a
mixtape full of very famous and very... highly
rotated songs throughout the lifetime of these
songs. I like to have something that maybe hasn't
gotten as much airplay. So I think when you get
into talking heads and you get burning down the
house, you get that. And I think that that will
pivot nicely into real life. Send me an angel.
And I, I just adore that Heartland album from
real life. I think that it's a shame that it
didn't do better in this country. Yeah, that's
a fantastic pick, but man, I'm looking at my
songs and trying to come out of that is. That's
tough. But you know what? The one thing this
side is missing, we need the female voice to
be heard on this mix as well. And I think coming
out of real life, I think you have to go with
the Eurythmics. And I'm going to go with the
title track, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, with
a shout out to my friend Coley Green. I feel
like coming out of real life, this is the song
to do it. It still has that energy. It still
has that. rock vibe, even though it's poppier.
Eurythmics rocked, man. They really did. They
had a rock edge to their sound. And Annie Lennox's
voice is perfection. And in this song, obviously
you think about the cover that Marilyn Manson
did a decade later, but this song wound up on
rock stations, on pop stations, on MTV. It crossed
a lot of boundaries and across a lot of barriers.
And coming out of real life, it's the only one
on my list that actually makes sense. So Eurythmics,
sweet dreams. It's amazing that you picked that
because while you were talking about burning
down the house, I really had narrowed it down.
I'm not even kidding. I narrowed it down to real
life or Eurythmics, that exact song. That is
amazing. Awesome. So we're kind of on the same
wavelength. So that makes it a very difficult
place to go from here. But the cool thing about
that you're... Eurythmics had two albums come
out in 1983. So I had a lot of Eurythmics songs
in my 1983 Spotify list that I had to narrow
it down and cut. I cut a few of the more obscure
songs out and maybe some of the more slower paced
ones out. But that one was still solidly in there.
And I was, like I said, I was going to pick that
one if I didn't pick Real Life. So it's awesome
that those two ended up together. It's like when
you have two picks in a row in the NFL draft.
And somebody falls to you and you can't believe
that they fell to you. So you get to make that
pick plus the pick you were going to make. There
you go. So I guess that makes my turn. I've got
to follow your rhythmics. And I think I know
how to do this. I think I know how to get that
next step. I'm going to go with, because this
is my last shot on side A, I'm going to try to
bring the energy level back up a little bit.
and that's going to give you a place to go to
from there. You can either maintain, you can
come back down, you can go up. I think this one
will flow nicely out of Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams.
I'm going to go David Bowie's Modern Love. Oh,
nice. Yeah, I think it's got a little bit of
the same 80s keyboard -oriented pop in there,
but it also brings it up a little bit more in
the energy department, even though Eurythmics
is more of a... a slow driving song or slower
driving song, mid tempo. And then Modern Love
brings it up, not quite to where we started this
side, but at least a half a notch from where
we were with Eurythmics. So I think David Bowie
flows nicely out of there. It does. And you did
scoop me on David Bowie, but I actually had chosen
in my bank, Let's Dance with obviously that legendary
Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar work in it. And I do
want to give a shout out to Josh Zimmer, Jason
Spiegel, and my friend Matt at the X Radio X
podcast. They all chose that as well. But Modern
Love is just as good. I'm glad to see Bowie represented.
This was a big year for him. And I think when
I say it's an underrated Bowie album, people
might like roll their eyes at me because Let's
Dance was so massive. But when you compare it
to the Ziggy Stardusts, I don't feel it has the.
recognition it should it's a really really really
good album yeah terrific album i did have let's
dance in the bank so it kind of was going to
come down to if i did pick a david bowie song
what was the appropriate song to flow from the
previous song i didn't think let's dance was
quite the vibe i was going for coming out of
your sweet dream so i think modern love at this
point in the mixtape and on track nine of side
a i think Modern Love fits just a little bit
better than Let's Dance. And of course, I also
had China Girl. I had Putting Out Fire, Cat People
song in my bank as well. So I'm a big fan of
that album. Well, coming out of David Bowie,
you could go in a couple of different directions,
but I want to kind of stay in that same vein.
But I want to go with something to close the
side that is very iconic and very powerful. And
I think I know where I'm going to go with this
because it is a side ender. I don't want it to
be too energetic, but I don't want it to be a
snoozer either. And I'm going to go with one
that has been covered by bands of a much heavier
nature later in time. That band would be Mudvayne
did a cover of it, as did one of my bands in
the early 2000s. But only the people that know
me has heard this version. So they'll know it
is my favorite song by this band. So when I bring
it up, it'll make more sense. From Synchronicity,
I am going to go with The Police, King of Pain.
to close out side a the latin jukebox chimed
in with every breath you take i mean you can
go with so many songs off synchronicity synchronicity
one two wrapped around your finger every breath
you take that album was just a monster and it's
one of the biggest albums of the year i feel
like king of pain was the best way to close off
this kind of rock side that we've got going here
but still leave the door open for where we could
go on side b So I'm going to close it off with
The Police, King of Pain. I'm glad you picked
The Police. I had several of their songs in my
bank for various moods. Of course, I had Synchronicity
2 in there. I had Wrapped Around Your Finger
is maybe my favorite police song of all time.
It is tremendous. We haven't gotten to any ballads,
which is surprising. But around the track four
or five, usually that's where you get your ballad.
We skipped right over that and just kept rocking.
Yeah, we're just, this is a party right now.
There's no time for ballads at this point. Well,
that mixtapers closes side A of our songs of
1983 mixtape. We started off with Billy Idol's
Rebel Yell, Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil,
Bryan Adams' Cuts Like a Knife, Huey Lewis in
the News, Heart and Soul, Rick Springfield, Human
Touch, Talking Heads, Burning Down the House,
Real Life, Send Me an Angel. Eurythmics, Sweet
Dreams Are Made of This, David Bowie, Modern
Love, and closing it out, The Police, King of
Pain. Remember, you can head over to myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all of the songs we're discussing
in this mix through the playlist embedded on
the episode page. Now, before we flip our proverbial
mixtape over and start rocking out on side B,
Michael, why don't you tell people a little bit
more about Michael's record collection? Well,
Michael's Record Collection is a multimedia conglomerate.
No, it's not. It's my podcast, but it's also
a newsletter and a video channel. I do all three
things because some people like to go down the
YouTube rabbit hole. Other people like to read.
Other people like to listen to stuff while they're
in the car, while they're working out. So I do
all three things and everything can be found
at michaelsrecordcollection .com. But the podcast,
basically how I describe that is... We talk about
great music with the people who make it and the
people who love it. So I've had many musicians
on to talk about albums that they've created,
or a couple of times I've had artists on to talk
about other music. And I've had people such as
yourself, podcasters, I've had writers, people
that do love music. to come on and talk music
with me. It's just a couple of music nerds geeking
out about some great songs. Usually there's a
topic involved. I know you were on, we talked
about the cars, heartbeat city. We talked about
Pat Benatar together on one of my past episodes.
And then of course, after the, the very sad and
tragic passing of Christine McVie, you know,
we, we jumped on and talked about her music for
a while. So these are the kinds of topics that
are covered. I've also had great musicians like
Dennis DeYoung from Styx or Gil Moore from Triumph,
Brad Gillis from Night Ranger. And a lot of what
I do kind of centers around rock and roll, hard
rock, classic rock, progressive rock. Those are
the main things. But I get a little poppier sometimes,
a little folkier sometimes, and I have many interests.
But rock and roll is where my heart is. So all
kind of subgenres of rock is kind of the sweet
spot for me. And it seems to be that's the sweet
spot where this mixtape seems to be hitting right
now is a little bit of everything rock. Yeah,
we really have not gone soft at all. We've kind
of kept the energy pretty high and we haven't
gotten really synthy. Like there's no naked eyes
on here or whatever so far. Yeah, and I don't
know if it's going to go there because kicking
off Side B, I'm just going to go right into it.
And I'm going to go with one of my favorite rock
albums of the 80s. And I guess you could call
it a classic rock album because the band was
a classic rock band that kind of was making their
transition into the 80s. And as a young child
who was obsessed with cars, I could stare at
this album cover for hours on end. And that album
cover is Eliminator. And this is the opening
track from it. So that is the opening track for
Side B of our mixtape ZZ Top. Give me all your
loving. I want to give a shout out to Patreon
mixtaper David Lee Smith, who also chimed in
with this one. This song, what a way to kick
off an album. Just that drum beat. It's not a
complicated drum beat. We're not talking about
Neil Peart or Mike Portnoy here. This is just
a straight ahead meat and potatoes drum beat.
But guess what? As soon as it starts, your head
starts moving. And when that guitar and bass
kicks in, it's on. I love it. ZZ Top, Gimme All
Your Lovin'. I love that. That was one of the
two that made my cut to my song bank. ZZ Top's
Gimme All Your Lovin'. The other one got me under
pressure if we really needed something high,
high energy. But yeah, you're right. That groove
that they get into, but it's a good rock and
driving beat. The guitar riff. Of course, Billy
Gibbons is amazing. And I really think that Frank
Beard doesn't get enough credit. for the engine
room that he provides for that band so i think
that's a great pick and a great way to start
off the side two of the mixtape yeah he he's
a human metronome and that's one of those things
where it gets underappreciated because if you
go a little too fast or a little too slow with
that song you change the entire impact that that
song has and that's something that i think is
very overlooked he is he is literally a human
metronome and then with cover songs guitarist
walter trout has a fantastic cover of it very
faithful to the original but he's got that walter
trout growl in his voice and i absolutely love
that cover plus his guitar is a little bit more
flashy playing wise and i mean that in a just
a different style than the texas blues that the
reverend is playing in it so he adds a little
bit more of the blues rock maybe like of a joe
bonamassa style to This song, I absolutely love
that cover. It's worth checking out. But now
I pass the torch back to you to dig in with track
two on Side B. It's really hard to follow ZZ
Top because they are such a distinctive band.
They got that Texas blues going. And I'm going
to stay in a little bit of that ruralness that
ZZ Top's music sort of evokes. But I'm going
to move from Texas to the Midwest. This was a
song that I really didn't... I left it in my
bank, but I didn't really think I would need
to pull it out. But because it's following ZZ
Top, I think, uh -huh, I'm going to pick it out.
And that was a clue because from the album Uh
-Huh, I'm going with John Cougar, Mellon Campus.
He was then with Play Guitar. Wow. Okay. Awesome.
Got a little bit of that country tinge to the
rock, but it's still a rocker. I like this song
a lot. It's one of my favorite songs by him.
You scooped the artist for me, which is great.
I actually had Authority Song on there, just
in case we were kind of going down a more dancey,
kind of upbeat, almost punkish kind of vibe.
But Play Guitar, coming out of ZZ Top, works
absolutely perfectly. I like the way this is
flowing so much right now that I just want to
go grab my boombox out of the closet and start
making this tape. Well, thanks to the beauty
of modern technology, you could just head over
to myweeklymixtape .com and listen to the embedded
versions. Nice. I like the ad drop there. That's
good. Of course. Total cheap plug. So coming
out of John Mellencamp, I want to keep the energy
and I want to kick it up a little bit more. But
I want something that is going to have everybody
in the room or in the car or in the stadium singing
along. And I can't think of a better song on
my list right now. than Def Leppard's Photograph
from Pyromania. It's rock, but it still has a
little bit of that 70s glam pop sound that Def
Leppard has woven through their music throughout
the years. And when that chorus hits, everybody's
singing Photograph together in unison. You got
the harmonies going. I'm just feeling that coming
out of John Cougar Mellencamp. It's not as twangy
as other places I could go, but I still want
to keep that energy up. And I feel like this
does it. I have two cover songs for this one
I should point out. Because you had mentioned,
Mike, that you do listen to some Americana and
some twangy stuff. In 2004, a band called Malibu
Storm did an Americana version, almost country
-esque of it. Very, very good. And then in 2010,
Santana covered the track with Chris Daughtry
on vocals. And Daughtry absolutely nails it.
So coming out of John Cougar Mellencamp, maybe
a little bit of a, not a full left turn, but
maybe a little bit of a curve into Def Leppard's
photograph. Yeah, that's great. I just talked
about that album and that song on that album
with the Def Leppod. Neil from the Def Leppod
does a bang up job talking about all things Def
Leppard. And so this is obviously. a crazy it's
crazy to think about this being as old as it
is because 1983 to me it seems like it was yesterday
and uh it's been 40 40 years it's hard to even
say it out loud but but photograph is is phenomenal
it was my first taste of deaf leopard obviously
through mtv and it was one of those things that
just was so different it was a video that told
a story at a time when MTV was playing a lot
of, you know, sort of live on a soundstage type
of videos and just really weird stuff. And this
one kind of told a little mini story. And then
you had these guys, these, you know, good looking
dudes and the lead singer's wearing a Union Jack
sleeveless shirt and the drummer's got no shirt
on. He's wearing Union Jack shorts. And it captured,
you know, the imagination of music, obviously
captured the imagination of the guys and the
look. captured the imagination of the girls and
everybody liked deaf leopard. And they became
a very, very big band at a time when there were
just some imports coming in from, from England.
And that was one of the bands that really caught
fire through MTV. So a photograph is a great
song. One of my favorite deaf leopard songs to
this day. It's a great pick. And I could see,
I could see the turn there. Well, how are you
going to, are you going to keep leaning into
the turn? Are you going to kind of pivot it right
back? I'm going to take a little bit of a weird
turn here because this is track four on side
B. And I think that's normally where you might
get a little bit of a curveball. And so I've
got this section of my song bank that's called
Outside the Box. And Outside the Box, I've got
songs that didn't quite fit in any one given
category. But I think there's one that I can
insert here that might work. And that is from
my favorite band's self -titled album. I'm going
to go with Mama. Ooh, okay. It's a little different
vibe, a little darker, but it still has some
power behind it. It's a rock song. It's got a
heavy drum beat. So I think it works here, but
it is a little bit of a left turn. And I acknowledge
that, but this is a good place on a mixtape for
a left turn. I love that pick. You did scoop
the band. I had That's All waiting. I just didn't
know if we were going to get into that funky.
realm where it would work so like if you had
chosen david bowie's let's dance i might have
closed side a with that's all given that kind
of a funky phil collins ending to it but i like
where you're going with mama here in this situation
but yeah coming out of it good luck yeah i mean
that's kind of a palate cleanser if you think
about it And people like to, you know, you might
want to call that a deep cut. You did on side
A with Real Love. I think I'm going to go with
a deep cut here. Okay. Coming out of Genesis.
And it is a little bit of a stretch. It's going
to definitely be another. We're going to be weaving
on side B here between lanes. But I think I'm
going to give you a nice palette to bring us
home for the rest of the tape. And I'm going
to go off the band's self -titled album. Very
underrated band. Very amazing lineup. I would
call this a super group, if you will, with Fast
Eddie Clark from Motorhead and a young Dave King
who would go on to front the amazing Flogging
Molly. I'm going to go with Fastway. Say what
you will. Let's pick the party up here. I love
dropping the Flogging Molly knowledge on people
about Fastway. because i would say do you realize
that in 1980s dave king sang in a what would
be pretty much a hair rock band and people look
at me and tell me i'm absolutely crazy and then
i play the song and their jaws you hear it hit
the ground he is such an incredible hard rock
singer and he's still such an incredible singer
say what you will just picks up the energy it's
got that motor head vibe with a little bit of
a blues touch to it. And Dave King's vocals are
just perfect on it. It's got that 80s snarl and
that 80s swagger, if you want to call it that.
So my track five, Fastway, Say What You Will.
I really like that. I had submitted that song
to you for your opening guitar riff mixtape as
well as a suggestion because I love this band.
I know everybody loves their flogging, Molly,
but I rue the day that Dave King swore off metal
and decided it was stupid because he was so good
at it. Fast Away was the second band that I ever
saw live on the first concert that I ever went
to, as there was a four -band bill, heavy metal
bands, started with Kick Axe, a Canadian band.
Uh -huh, I remember them. Then Fast Away. Then
after Fastway was Quiet Riot and then Scorpions.
So that was an amazing day. And same venue where
I saw Brian Adams, outdoor venue. We were in
a sort of like this cordoned off VIP section
on the right in front of the stacks and stacks
of speakers. So I didn't hear very well the next
day. Or till now. Yeah, I'm still having trouble
with that ear. Matthias Jabs from Scorpions did
some permanent damage, I think. But that was
a fantastic day. I will never forget Dave King
throwing a Nerf football into the crowd and having
it thrown back to him during the show. An amazing
band. And I think a band that you're right, underrated,
should have been bigger. And given who was in
the band, they were a super group. Yeah. And
now you have kind of a blank slate to go anywhere
you want, although it is leaning a little bit
more in the rock arena again. It really is. It's
going to be difficult to go from there. But how
I connect the dot there is I go with. Why not
just follow Fastway the way that the band followed
Fastway at the first concert I ever went to and
go quiet riots. Come on, feel the noise. All
right. We're going to rock. Let's go ahead and
rock. And this one also has a little bit of a
poppy vibe and a little bit of a. Of course,
it is a cover. It's a little bit of a glam vibe
from the original from Slade. And I think that
this works pretty well right after Fastway. I
think it's a good pivot. And now you can also
go harder or you can pull it back. So I think
that this is a good side B now. It was a little
bit all over the place and now it's starting
to really gel as we hit the home stretch. Yeah,
and like Side A, Heart and Soul by Huey Lewis
and the News, I will just say it. Maybe this
is a hot take because I still have nothing but
love for Slade. But Quiet Riot's Come On, Feel
the Noise is the definitive version. I agree
with you. And I love Slade. But Quiet Riot, there
was just something magical about those musicians
at that time. Kevin Dubrow is one of those guys
who's just absolutely overlooked when you think
of the great vocalists of the 80s. He had that
mouth, he described it, he got a mouth like an
alligator in Metal Health. That's a perfect description
of him. But Rudy Sarzo and even Chuck Wright,
who did some of the bass work on that album before
Rudy came back to the band. Carlos Cavazza, Frankie
Benally is a fantastic drummer. This is a band
that almost gets relegated to punchline status,
but Quiet Riot was a band that rocked and had
the respect of everyone else on the Sunset Strip.
In 2016, I went to a record show in Pennsylvania
and Frankie Benally was one of the guests of
honor at the show. I don't want to was one of
the people sign it and doing signings and meeting
fans at the show. And my cousin and I went for
the weekend and we went the first day. We walked
around. We took pictures. We did some browsing
and stuff. Stayed at a hotel. We got up the next
morning for breakfast. And Frankie Benally was
at the same hotel as us. So we walked over and
just said, Hey, Frank, you know, we're big fans.
We just wanted to say how much we love metal
health. You know, we think your music's awesome.
And he's like, Oh dude, that's incredible. And
we sat down to eat and he kind of looked both
ways. He goes, do you care if I sit with you?
And we're like, sure. So we sat at a Hampton
Inn in, I think it's Oaks, Pennsylvania. And
we just sat at a table with him talking music
for a half hour and eating breakfast and just
shooting the breeze. And I said, by the way,
I've got my metal health album in the car. And
he goes, grab it. And he's got it. He signed
it for me. I've got it framed up on my wall now.
I was really bummed when he passed. He was one
of the most down to earth. He was not a rock
star there playing rock star. He was just a fan.
amongst the fans and the love that he had for
quiet riot, trying to keep it going until his
death. And the fact that it's still going now,
I know it catches a lot of hell from some people
that says, why would they keep the band going?
It's because of what Frankie Benally put into
it, even though there were different singers
and as all the drama about that, he just kept
trying to keep that spirit alive because it really
drove him and fueled him. And it was a big loss
when he passed and, you know, F cancer because.
I would have loved to have seen them live again.
So a little bit of a downer there, but I love
Frankie Benally. I love Quiet Riot. Yeah, that's
a great story. Thank you, thank you. It's a great
story that you have. And not only do you have
that great memory, I think if people don't know,
there's a great documentary that Frankie did
called Now You're Here, There's No Way Back.
I recommend that highly. Go check it out. I love
rock documentaries, but even if you don't love
all the rock documentaries that I love, I think
that's one that everybody can enjoy. And I think
you will gain a lot of respect for Frankie through
that documentary. So coming out of Quiet Riot,
when that song comes on, my pedal starts to push
down a little bit more. And at this point, I
want to keep that energy going and I want to
floor it. And I can't think of a better way to
floor it than going off of 1983, because obviously
that's the year we're talking about. Peace of
mind, Iron Maiden, The Trooper. We're going to
turn this thing up to 11. We're getting a speeding
ticket now. That's exactly what's happening.
And you know what? When we get pulled over, the
cop's going to roll down the window, license
and let, Oh, wait a minute. You're listening
to maiden. He's going to give us the metal horns
and he's going to send us on our way. Iron maiden,
the trooper. I want to give a shout out to seeker
11, who also chimed in with this one. Come on.
I mean, Iron Maiden is legendary. Hopefully,
2023 is the year they're finally inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame like they very
much deserve. They're pioneers of metal. And
being a metal and rock guy in all the genres
I listen to, this song just stood out for me
amongst the rest of Peace of Mind. So following
up, come on, feel the noise. Let's hear it for
The Trooper. Wow, that's a great pick. And I
have two Iron Maiden songs still in my bank after
crossing out several others from that album.
And The Trooper was one of the songs that I picked
on a recent episode. I had a couple of fellow
podcasters come on. We picked our favorite wake
up morning songs. And The Trooper was one of
those for me that I picked because it's one of
those songs that first thing in the morning,
if you're on your drive to work, if you play
The Trooper, you are waking up. You're not going
to need that caffeine. You're not going to need
to stop for coffee. You're going to have that
caffeine buzz from that song. It's a classic
Iron Maiden gallop. It's high energy. Bruce sings
the heck out of that song. And yeah, that's an
amazing song. A great pick coming out of Quiet
Riot. And now you have the task of trying to
figure out where to go from Iron Maiden. Do we
keep going upward? Do we bring it down? What
do we do here? Yeah, that's the question, isn't
it? And we're running out of room here on this
side B. So I've got two picks left and I can
change the direction now that we take or I can
keep that thing going. But the song that I feel
like fits the best here, I'm looking right now
at this bank of songs, Brian, and I see so many
songs I'm going to lament leaving off of this
mixtape. That's just the nature of The Beast.
And speaking of The Beast, unfortunately, he
just announced that he will not be touring anymore.
The legendary Ozzy Osbourne played the role of
The Beast in a video for the title track to his
Bark at the Moon album. And I think Bark at the
Moon is a great follow -up to The Trooper. Yes.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Definitely is.
i love that you picked that you scooped it i'm
happy you scooped it we needed to have ozzy in
there and i was trying to like hint to you with
iron maiden because but then again we don't i
don't know like there was the whole iron maiden
ozzy thing at ozfest with the messing around
with the sounds and i know the two bands don't
like each other but musically back to back come
on that is awesome i love that pick Yeah, this
is a tape that you're not going to want to take
out of your player. You're going to want to leave
it in there and keep going, flip it over and
listen to the whole thing over again. This is
a lot harder rock than I thought we would get
in 1983 with all of the synth that was coming
into popular music at the time and all the different
styles of music there were. And we've threatened
to take it in other directions throughout this
program, but we like our rock. We're rockers,
Brian. Yeah, and I'm leaning right into that
because on one hand if you've got ozzy osbourne
on the other hand i have to come up with my last
song of the night and i feel like where this
rock is headed we just gotta raise the horns
up for the man who probably started these horns
and i'm gonna go with the title track from holy
diver and i'm gonna go with dio and i want to
give a shout out to chris agar who chimed in
with stand up and shout another great dio song
either one would work but Seeing where we're
coming with Bark at the Moon, I kind of wanted
to keep the heft, but change the pacing a little
bit. So that way it didn't become almost one
BPM throughout all the last couple of songs.
So I'm going with Dio's Holy Diver. And that's
my last song of the night. But I'd love to hear
what you think about that one coming out of Ozzy.
Wow. I think it's a great song coming out of
Ozzy. It just doesn't leave me any room for the
final track to do a whole lot. There's so many
songs that I want to get to and I'm going to
leave them all off. But it is absolutely an appropriate
song coming out of Bark at the Moon from Holy
Diver. I might have gone Rainbow in the Dark
there instead, but that certainly works too.
So, I mean, yeah, you got your Ozzy and your
Dio and your Iron Maiden back to back to back.
I mean. I don't know if that's if there is there
an unholy trinity. Is that a thing? There is
now. Yeah, I like it, though. It's pretty great.
It does leave a lot of pressure. It's like, go
metal again. You know, there is a lot of pressure
there. But man, this side B, you're going to
get your fill of rock. It really makes mama stand
out now as the sore thumb. Yeah. Now you have
the challenge. What do you close out side B with?
That is a challenge. And, you know, I'm looking
at this list and there's so many iconic albums.
We're going to get killed for leaving off of
this thing, but we have to leave some of these
things off. And I was hoping to get. Some of
the pop that I like, it's a little more, again,
deeper cut in here. That's not going to happen.
I've got to go with something that is not completely
a left turn, so it's going to have to have high
energy. It's going to have to have some rock
to it. And you start with a bang, you need to
end with a bit of a bang too. That makes things
really difficult. You're not going to get Cyndi
Lauper here from me. And you're not going to
get Elvis Costello's Every Day I Write the Book
here from me. But something's got to go here.
I am going to take a little bit of a left turn
here, though. I am going to go a little deeper.
And I don't know if this is something that you're
into. Because I do know you like your punk aesthetic.
I don't know if you would count these guys as
a... clear cut punk band, but, and I'm probably
going to get some stick for ending the, the,
uh, mixtape with this, but I really like this
song. It's a high energy song and it's not sort
of in the same exact rock vein. It's got a different
vibe to it, but it's still energetic as hell.
I'm going to go with the plimsolls a million
miles away. Wow. I think that's a good way to
end this album with a little bit more of an obscure
song, but good energy. It's going to introduce
some people. You've got this thing in your player.
This last song comes on after Holy Diver. They've
known every song. They go, who's this? And then
you get to be cool and explain to them who the
Plymouth Souls are. So I like it. I really was
hoping there would be some kind of tie -in that
I could end this thing with Zebras, who's behind
the door, but I don't think we quite got there.
Yeah. I don't know if that would have worked.
It probably, you know what? Anything could have
worked in this playlist as a whole. Hearing the
plimsolls at the end, I would have actually thought
you would have followed up fast way with that.
Cause I feel like those two would have went nice
back to back, but then again, you went to the
quiet riot and then it took off. Yeah. Okay.
Look, we're going to try something new tonight.
I might have to start doing this moving forward.
What's one song on your list that there was no
way in hell it would have fit, but that you want
to give a special shout out to? That's a nice
way to put it. Man, I look at all of these iconic
albums like, oh, my gosh, we didn't pick from
Journey's Frontiers, for example. Right. I want
to give a shout out to David Owens, who chimed
in with Separate Ways, Worlds Apart. And I kept
looking for a spot to plug that one in. And I
just didn't see it. You had Billy Joel's Innocent
Man in here. Yep, that was on my list. Elton
John had an album out, The Fix. Reach the Beach
came out that year. Man, there are so many. What
did not fit from 1983 that I would have loved
to have had on here? I'm going to give a shout
out. Again, this is a very deep cut because there's
no way this would have... There was a little
bit of an opening at one point in this mixtape
where it would have fit. But I'm going to give
a shout out to a regional favorite of mine. The
Michael Stanley Band. Oh. Came out with a song
in 1983 called My Town. He's basically singing
about his love for Cleveland. And I think that
that's a song that more people need to know about.
So that's the one that I don't see how it would
have fit on here. But that's one I would have
liked to have found a way to get on there. And
some of the other ones I've already mentioned.
I'm not going to go back over them and steal
your thunder. But yeah. That's one that I think
a lot more people should go and play and check
that one out. Awesome. Well, the song that I
thought you were going to close with, considering
where I went with the Ozzy Dio or Maiden Ozzy
Dio trio, I thought you were going to close with
something from Kill Em All. And we didn't. So
somehow nothing from Metallica made tonight,
which is strange. But I do want to give a shout
out to Ryan Howell, who chimed in with the Four
Horsemen from that. But my track that didn't
make the list because there was just no place
I saw it making sense was Violent Femme's Blister
in the Sun. And I want to give a shout out to
Rob Jones who chimed in with that one. I just
don't see any place on this mixtape where that
song would not have felt like a complete, you
know, screeching wheel, left turn, 180, whatever
you want to call it. So that would have been
my, I guess you'll call it an honorable mention.
track for the night but without our honorable
mentions side b of our mixtape started with zz
tops give me all your loving john cougar melon
camps play guitar deaf leopards photograph genesis's
mama fastways say what you will quiet riots come
on feel the noise iron maidens the trooper ozzy
osbourne's bark at the moon Dio's Holy Diver,
and The Plimsoll's A Million Miles Away. Remember,
you can always head to myweeklymixtape .com to
hear all the songs we've discussed in the mix
through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. Now, Michael, before we eject this masterpiece
of a 1983 mixtape, why don't you tell people
once again where they can find Michael's record
collection to learn more? All right, well, everything
kind of stems from my... website michaelsrecordcollection
.com you can follow me on twitter at mike's records
and it's michael's record collection on facebook
youtube instagram and i do have a tiktok i don't
post very much i don't find the time to make
videos very often but i do have one you can follow
me there michael's record collection .com is
the place to go and there's a link right there
on the front page where you can sign up for that
free e -newsletter get your email every week
Doesn't cost you anything. You don't even have
to read it. Just sign up for it. I don't even
care if you read it. Michael Citro, as always,
man, I love talking music with you. Thank you
so much for joining me on my weekly mixtape.
And I look forward to continuing our musical
discussions in the future. Thanks again, man.
Hey, thanks for having me, Brian. I just hope
that your listeners will forgive us for not putting
anything from U2 or R .E .M. in this mixtape.
Yeah, that was another one that I kind of was
sitting there and I almost didn't want to mention
it. But now guess what? Cat's out of the bag.
Remember, folks, you can find me at My Weekly
Mixtape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
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.com to hear the music discussed on tonight's
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Mixtape. That's all for this week. Thank you
once again for listening, and until next time,
enjoy the tunes.