Aretha Franklin "Another Night"

Dad wanted one thing for Father's Day: he asked me to convert his old cassette tapes to CDs. In essence, he wanted me to bring his musical technology from the 1980s into the 1990s. No problem (even though it was the 2000s). After handing me a shoe box filled with his old mixtapes that he created by taping songs off the radio, I went to work. At first, I was surprised by his eclectic tastes: Phish, Nirvana, Paula Abdul, and even Heavy D and the Boyz made appearances. One constant among his dozen of mixes: the song "Another Night" by Aretha Franklin. This song (which I had never heard before) make quite a few appearances on his tapes. Perhaps that was testament to my Dad's life at the time because this and several other sad ballads littered his tapes among Motown, Grunge and House music.

My Dad made these tapes shortly after he and my mom divorced in 1992. While my mom, brother and I stayed in the house he built, my Dad moved a few miles away into a dingy studio apartment he rightfully nicknamed "the dungeon" . One particular mixtape contained a handwritten title on the label "Exile on the Boulevard". Once again, this tape contained "Another Night". My Dad wasn't one to show his feelings...much less put them into words, so I believe the lyrics to the Aretha Franklin song revealed what was going on in my Dad's heavy heart...

Another night without you

Another night, I know I can get through

Another night, it's only

Another night, I won't be lonely

Another night

Another night

Another night, it ain't much

Another night without your touch

Electric Light Orchestra - "Can't Get It Out of My Head"

During the 1990s, guys used to make mixtapes for girls -- this practice usually was a result of guys having a crush on the recipient of the mixtape.  In my case, a somewhat annoying girl (who reminded me of Jan Brady) in one of my classes knew that I owned a huge CD collection and asked if I could make her a mixtape.  I told her I'd be happy to...provided she picked out her own songs and bought her own cassette tape.  Looking back, I admit that wasn't very nice of me, but I didn't want the girl to think that I liked her (because I didn't...and because I was 17 years old and acted like a stereotypical 17-year-old).  Her mixtape contained the usual mix of popular songs from 1994 (Bryan Adams, The Cranberries, Michael Bolton), but I remember she chose the song "Can't Get It Out of My Head" by Electric Light Orchestra.  I had never heard of the song and this girl was a couple years younger than me yet she somehow knew a song released in 1974.  Much like the song title implies, this memory is firmly etched in my brain.

Shania Twain - "That Don't Impress Me Much"

Today we call them "playlists", but back in the '90s they were mixtapes (because, well, they were usually recorded on cassette tapes).  Sometime around 1999, my Grandma requested an upbeat mix of music for when she walked around her neighborhood.  A few weeks later, Grandma called back and said, "Hun, thank you for that tape you made me.  I'm really enjoying it although I don't care for that song about Elvis and a comb."  Elvis and a comb?  What the heck was Grandma talking about?  I don't know about any Elvis songs about combs.  I would later figure out that she was referring to lyrics from Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much".  Got it, Grandma...no Shania.

The Pretenders "I'll Stand By You"

In the mid-90s, The Pretenders gave us another must-have song on that mixtape you made for your girlfriend. Some unsuspecting guy figured if his girl was thinking of breaking things off, then for sure he'd include "I'll Stand By You" to ensure that she would immediately change her mind. #didntwork