When I started making mix tapes in the 1990s, terrestrial radio was a presence in my life: I listened to rock radio. I heard hit singles on the radio, so, when compiling playlists, I took many great songs for granted. That's always been true, but it became an issue in the early 2020s. I went through a period where my playlists leaned too hard into new artists and songs I was unfamiliar with. The music I selected in that era is all good, but it needs leavening with songs I have memories of, songs I can sing along to. This phase led me to a corrective period I'm calling my 250th Anniversary Series, where I deliberately began including golden favorites from great bands that had never appeared on a playlist.
- Hell N Back, Bakar
- Wait, Sarah McLachlan
- All Night Long, Peter Murphy
- bad idea right? Olivia Rodrigo
- Giddy Up, Jenny Lewis
- Hully Gully, Beach Boys
- You Turn Me On I'm A Radio, Joni Mitchell with Neil Young & The Stray Gators [from the Roses Early sessions]
- Waitress In The Sky [Ed Stasium mix], The Replacements
- Deathly, Aimee Mann
- My Wife, The Who
- Pass You By, Gillian Welch
- Rand McNally, Death Cab for Cutie
- You're Gonna Miss Me, 13th Floor Elevators
- Why Don't We Do It In The Road? The Beatles
- I'm Just A Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like a Man), Daryl Hall & John Oates
- Lost In The Evening [The Pushkin Sessions], Fancy Trash
- Here's The Thing, Courtney Barnett
- $20, boygenius
- If I Take You Home Tonight, Diana Krall
- Interesting Drug, Morrissey
- CUFF IT, Beyoncé
- Chaise Longue, Wet Leg
- Impossible, Lyla Foy