We created Side A of this mixtape last year. Now we’re settled into the long road ahead, it’s time to get a little more adventurous with the playlist in order to keep your focus and keep the good times rolling.
Balance is always important with any mixtape, but so is being true to your taste, and let’s face it, that’s what a mixtape is all about. So, for Side B we've made it quite eclectic and thrown in some old skool hip hop, 80s new-wave and some 70s Americana, just for good measure.
Digging the tunes, hard.
Track 1: Snoop Doggy Dogg – Gin and Juice
Snoops debut album is without doubt his best and most memorable, and any road trip should include his Doggystyle album or at least a few tracks. Nothing says early 90s like the D Oh Double G. But we highly suggest that you refrain from taking the song literally, the 'po po' wouldn’t appreciate you and your homies "smoking indoors sippin' on gin and juice" whilst operating a motor vehicle.
Track 2: N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
Remember where you were when you first heard or learned about N.W.A.? I was a young white middle-class kid who had no idea what was going on when I was first introduced to N.W.A., but I guess that’s what drew me to it, and in those formative years, jumping from The Beastie Boys into N.W.A. was almost like night and day. This is Side B, this is when we introduce mates to OUR kind of music. It will always remain a favourite and must be included.
Track 3: Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
I mean, c’mon, if you don’t get down to Beastie Boys, you ain’t ridin’ with me. They literally have hundreds of songs that will improve any road trip, but I went with "Intergalactic" because it’s easily one of their best-known songs and a terrific gateway for your passengers who may not be right across what they do. With Beastie Boys, you can rarely go wrong, so turn it up and get involved.
Track 4: Devo – Girl You Want
What an absolute banger of a tune from the men in the red flowerpot hats. Sure I could’ve gone for "Whip It", but that’s too predictable, and this is such an awesome fast-paced new-wave killer that if your car mates don’t know its Devo, they’ll be asking quick sticks. This is the way you mixtape baby!
Track 5: Eagles – Life In The Fast Lane
The song that takes its title from the moment Glenn Frey was riding shotgun with a drug dealer on their way to a poker game going 145kph, at which point the dealer exclaimed, “Hey man, it’s life in the fast lane”. Definitely a great tune with an instantly recognisable riff, perfect for road-trippin'. Perhaps with some good friends rather than drug dealers. Classic.
Track 6: Boston – More Than A Feeling
Like the Eagles song before it, this one is laden with a crescendo into that unforgettable riff. It’s got a timeless road trip quality that can amp you up, but also settles you into a mindset of cruising long distances. This is a must-have for any trip up any great highway across the globe. Preferably when warm with the windows down.
Track 7: Faith No More – Midlife Crisis
By now, you’ve given your car mates ‘wow’ moments, and rather sliding into Billy Squier – The Stroke at this point, it’s time to bring it up a few years and get your second wind of heavier gear to see you out the next 100kms or so. With that in mind, FNM is needed and especially "Midlife Crisis". The head starts nodding, the hands tapping the steering wheel, and when that chorus hits, the car sings the bizarre lyrics in unison, it’s a time.
Track 8: The Living End – How Do We Know
BIG. FAT. RIFF. This will raise the hair on your arms in an instant and get everyone grooving hard in your Datsun 180B. Aussie rock n roll dished up by The Living End is a must have for any car ride. Your choice of which classic to go with, but you shouldn’t overlook this monster.
Track 9: White Zombie – Supercharger Heaven
Stepping up the heaviness for this beast of a tune. It’s a fantastic face paced road warrior type tune that gets the blood going and may induce heavy right footed confidence. Be warned, White Zombie has that effect. This 3 and half minutes of ferocity was always in the car on my road trips and continues to play a part in lifting the spirits after lots of kms of blacktop.
Track 10: Steve Earl – Copperhead Road
Break out the (synth) air bagpipes, because things are getting real now. When this song plays on any road trip, comradery sets in, you know you’re in this long haul together and there’s no stopping till you reach your destination. What a brilliant story tune, and absolutely no road trip is complete without at least two spins of this one. Could go back to back, it’s that powerful on long drives.
Track 11: Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
Another track that unifies and empowers a carload of people to continue on a journey. With this up loud, and the highway ahead of you, nothing tastes better. A must have.
Track 12: Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
Is there any better way to finish a mixtape? I thought about including "Don’t Stop Me Now" instead, but this truly is the way to wrap up Side B. Everyone knows it, everyone loves it, everyone sings it and jams out hard, Waynes World style. A true road trip masterpiece.
As I wrote in part one of this article, music is such a personal thing, that there really isn’t any right or wrong way to go about a mixtape.
A mixtape is an ebb and flow, rise and fall, heart pumping and emotion building. Keep those things in mind and you can’t go wrong.
