MFE Liner Notes

MUSIC FOR EVERYONE an amalgamated blend

For as long as I can remember, I've been making mix tapes for friends. OK that's not true, 'cause I remember throwing out my pacifier as a three-year-old and I wasn't making tapes back then. But it wasn't too long after that I was playing a 45 of "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" over and over for my little friends, in my little room, on my little blue record player. For some reason, I thought everyone should hear it.

Though I didn't put BJ Thomas to tape at the time, the idea of annoying people with sounds they didn't necessarily want to hear was emerging as a defining personality trait. It probably wasn't until high school that I really started making mix tapes in earnest...first for myself, and eventually others. Misfit music mostly, interspersed with oddball soundbites from TV and the radio and instructional records I'd find in thrift store bins. When I say 'misfit' I mean kinda misfit for your average high school kid who lived before you could buy the entire prepackaged lifestyle ensemble at Hot Topic in the mall. In reality, most of it was only slightly more progressive than, say, Peter Gabriel.

Though I had an interest in music, my honest acknowledgement that I had no talent for, nor instruction in playing it led me to getting a show on my community college's radio station. This was a delightfully ear-opening experience that brought ready access to tons of new music. I was amazed at the variety and quality of songs and artists I never knew existed. What truly blew me away was the volume of songs that were a thousand times better than anything you'd hear on commercial radio. A thousand times better as they may have been, they were inexplicably ten thousand times more obscure. If a tape I made could make it only 9,999.99 times less obscure, I thought it was a worthwhile endeavor...so off I went making tape after tape.

Though adult life has limited my tape (now CD) making abilities, and I no longer have access to so many volumes of raw material, I manage to get a disc or two together each year. Thanks to KSCU, KPIG, CMJ and recommendations of friends (even you perhaps), I'm still finding things fresh, original and shareable. 'Music for Everyone' is this year's volume...within, I hope you find something to love...and maybe something to hate too.

'Music for Everyone' was inspired by Nick Hornby's book 'Songbook,' a kind of paperback mix tape I read this fall. Not surprisingly, Hornby also wrote 'High Fidelity,' first a book then a John Cusack movie that prominently featured the mix tape. While our tastes in music are alternately overlapping and divergent, I feel a certain kinship in our appreciation and love of music. If you're looking for a good read, I'd highly recommend 'Songbook.'

This ended up a lot longer than I thought it would.

Thanks for reading...and listening,

Don

December 2004