Well, it's likely to be a number of weeks before this is actually mailed, but here's the tracklisting:

The B-52's: "Planet Claire"
Warren Zevon: "A Certain Girl"
The Fools: "Psycho Chicken"
The Fabulous Poodles: "Bionic Man"
The Who: "Bitter And Twisted"
The Neats: "Six"
Ozzy Osbourne: "Little Dolls"
Judas Priest: "The Ripper"
Wall Of Voodoo: "Red Light"
The Cramps: "New Kind Of Kick"
The Fleshtones: "Return Of The Leather Kings"
Animotion: "Obsession"
The Vapors: "Sixty Second Interval"
Jason And The Scorchers: "Shop It Around"
Iggy Pop: "Girls"
Lou Reed: "My Name Is Mok"
The Cult: "The Phoenix"
Love And Rockets: "Kundalini Express"
The Jazz Butcher: "Big Saturday"
The Cleaners From Venus: "Living With Victoria Grey"
Robyn Hitchcock: "The President"

This takes me from 5th grade through high school.

The first four songs are the earliest that I remember really liking on WAVA FM-105 in DC. The B-52's had to start this mix, and "Planet Claire" had to be the track since it's the opening track of the first album I ever bought. I heard The Fools' "Psycho Chicken" and loved it several years before I heard the T-Heads' original. "Bionic Man" has become, in the last month, one of the most unfortunately biographical songs I know.

The next two songs are songs I remember from the radio when we first moved back to NYC. "Six" got decent airplay on WFMU, which I could pull in on my FM transistor radio.

Soon it was 9th grade, high school, Dungeons and Dragons, early adolescence--naturally metal ensued. These two tracks are among my faves from this phase. We adopted the drum intro from "Little Dolls" into our marching cadence in band.

All the while, I was still tuned in "left of the dial", and was fortunate enough to work for two summers at a country club where my fellow workers ranged in age from early high school to mid-20's. Beer ensued. One of my co-workers and I would trade song lyrics in the kitchen--DK's "Police Truck", a slew of Donnie Iris, and this Wall of Voodoo track were our standards.

Wall of Voodoo led to the rest of the old IRS catalogue--giving us The Cramps and Fleshtones. "Leather Kings" used to be a show-stopper when they'd play it live.

The next two tracks will be forever associated with ex-girlfriends, hence great sentimental value. The extended solo at the end of "Obsession" is still a blast.

Our town didn't get cable until mid-way through my junior year. However, despite not having MTV at home, for one magical summer we had U-68, a UHF broadcast music video channel. The only problem was they only had about 2 1/2 hours of programming, that they repeated all summer long. In it were Dead Or Alive, Whodini (Big Mouth), Run DMC(King Of Rock and You Talk Too Much), King(Love And Pride), and this Jason & The Scorchers monster.

Iggy was an icon for me for many years. I saw him in late '86 at the old Ritz. I love the Gershwin line, it fits the song unbelievably well--Iggy really brings out the sleaze in it. The Lou Reed track is from the movie Rock and Rule, some of which used as my yearbook quote (movie not the song).

The mix closes out with some more "mature" music that was introduced to me while working at one of the coolest chain stores on the planet at the time. I was fortunate enough to work for managers who had and shared enormous record collections, pointing out things we should give a spin.

Anyway, there it is. Again, I won't be able to get these mailed for several weeks, but wanted to get the tracklist out there before it gets lost.

where did you live in the area?

WAVA was sooooooo much better than Q107.

Wait, you get Q107 down there? It can't possibly be the same station, can it?

We lived in Groveton, then Fort Hunt, just downstream from Mt. Vernon.

Been listening to the mix a few times today. Outstanding as usual, but, gotdamn, it's gonna take a lot more than someone else's sentimental value to get me to like the Ozzy, Priest, and Animotion tracks.

I'll get a review up as soon as I can.

All right folks, I'm taking liberties here. It doesn't look like I'll be able to get downstairs to the CD burner for another several weeks. So I've uploaded the mix to Sendspace--the bad news is no one is getting artwork, the good news is that this beastie is available to all and not just to those in the original exchange circle.

The track listing is in appropriate thread in the Mix Forum.

Here is the link:

Thanks for getting this done, under difficult circumstances. I feel like singing "hero" by Mariah Carey.

hey billz, did you know the dude from Animotion lives in pdx now?

http://www.wweek.com/html/q&a052699.html

I was always envious of the way he could raise one eyebrow.

The B-52's: "Planet Claire"
Apart from Devo’s debut, I’m not sure if so much has ever been done with so little. I always loved that Ricky removed the two middle strings of his guitar. Why over-complicate? This isn’t my vote for best B-52s song (that’d be “Dance This Mess Around”), but it definitely sets the mold. 4/5

Warren Zevon: "A Certain Girl"
Yeah, it’s a straightforward rock ‘n’ roll rave-up, but I’m not one to complain about that sort of thing. As long as it’s done right. And this one, with the smirking background question-and-no-answer vocals, is done right. There’s always such a masculine quality to Zevon, even when he’s goofing around. 4/5

The Fools: "Psycho Chicken"
This is pretty funny, and the lyrics are actually better than Byrne’s original. More psycho, less bogus art school drama. 3/5

The Fabulous Poodles: "Bionic Man"
I’m a fairly big fan of the Fab Poos. It kinda makes me chuckle thinking about their decision to put out literate Kinks-inspired pop tunes just as the world was settling cozily into either the coke-fueled narcissism of disco or the gloom of post punk. “Bionic Man” has always struck me as one of their lesser songs, verging on novelty, which doesn’t prevent me from liking it, just means that I don’t listen to it as often as, say, “Workshy”. 3/5

The Who: "Bitter And Twisted"
I would never guess that this was the Who. I’ve never heard this song before in my life. It must’ve come off It’s Hard or some ‘80s album I’ve never bothered to listen to. I don’t like this much at all – the lyrics are bad enough, but that shitty synth wash that some genius in the ‘80s decided was the equivalent of a Wagnerian string section remains one of my all time music pet peeves. Yech. 1/5

The Neats: "Six"
Whew. This is a relief after that Who song. The tone of the keyboard could’ve been much dirtier, but that rough guitar chording balances it out pretty well. 4/5

Ozzy Osbourne: "Little Dolls"
I really hate metal. And I really hate Ozzy’s whine. I don’t understand how he has a career. The fucker can’t sing, has zero charisma, and he’s got all the artistic insight of a garden weevil. Plus this kind of guitar chug and deedly-deedly soloing always pisses me off. 0/5

Judas Priest: "The Ripper"
I really hate metal, did I mention that? This is just torture to me. The vocals make Pavarotti seem subtle. Really, with the existence of retarded twats like Judas Priest and Ozzy, what exactly was the need for the parody by Spinal Tap? 0/5

Wall Of Voodoo: "Red Light"
Stan’s getting his weird on. Like most Wall of Voodoo I find this more interesting than listenable. But I’ll accept interesting as a perfectly legit goal. 3/5

The Cramps: "New Kind Of Kick"
“Like baby needs mom, like Suzy needs Dick.” This was from back when the Cramps still sounded fairly dangerous and potentially psychotic. Loved it then, love it now. “Drano hotshot!” 5/5

The Fleshtones: "Return Of The Leather Kings"
Leather Kings? Leather GODS more like. Musically, this is pretty much the same song as “New Kind of Kick”, but with a horn section and the requisite “Supa-Rock” Fleshtones chant. 5/5

Animotion: "Obsession"
Here’s the perfect example of that ‘80s synth wash. Jesus Christ, I’m breaking out in hives. People used to think they were so cutting edge while noo-wave dancing to this stuff. Oh well, I also hate the Human League, if it’s any consolation. 1/5

The Vapors: "Sixty Second Interval"
The line on these guys has always been that they were a one hit wonder, which is true chartwise, but total bullshit to anyone who bothers listening to their debut album. It’s full of tight, melodic songs that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the Jam’s “Setting Sons” album, even right down to the fine Foxtonian bass playing. Foxtonian. You can look it up, but it won’t be there. 4/5

Jason And The Scorchers: "Shop It Around"
Damn, I hope the re-formed Scorchers tour. Although I doubt the Parkinson’s ravaged Michael J. Fox will join them on stage this time around. But maybe Kristin Kreuk will fill in for him. 4/5

Iggy Pop: "Girls"
It’s funny how at the time, Iggy’s immediately post-Stooges work was looked upon as his lost years – and now, that first foursome of albums (the Bowie-fied double shot of The Idiot and Lust For Life, the Stones-ish Kill City, and the new wave friendly New Values) sound like classics. This song is palpably lecherous, which was way more fun to ponder back when Iggy didn’t look like a 120 yr old junior boys’ catcher’s mitt. 4/5

Lou Reed: "My Name Is Mok"
One constant of any Billzebub mix is the promise of at least one honest-to-god rarity, and this one brings the goods right here. This is a lot of fun, and there isn’t a whole lot of fun in the Lou discography. 3/5

The Cult: "The Phoenix"
I really like the early Cult stuff, but I really thought they lost the plot – or maybe just gained a new one – with the release of Electric. There’s not much to this song, and what little of it there is is mostly ruined by the non-stop wank of Billy Duffy’s guitar. Don’t hate. Don’t like. 2/5

Love And Rockets: "Kundalini Express"
Quite possibly my fave Love and Rockets song. A little T.Rex glam groove, a few well-placed woo-hoos, and dat big ol’ ‘80s drum sound. What’s not to like? 4/5

The Jazz Butcher: "Big Saturday"
I was really hoping for “Southern Mark Smith” on this mix, just because I want to pirate that fugger for my own mixes. Anyway, I don’t have any complaints about this song – the Jazz Butcher represents the best of the post-post-punk, pre-Brit pop moment in the continuum of U.K. pop. 5/5

The Cleaners From Venus: "Living With Victoria Grey"
I like this well enough, but I’m not completely sold on Martin Newell. Pleasant jangle, decent melody, and pretty average vocals. It works fine, but it’s not like I’m gonna tattoo his pic on my bicep or anything. 3/5

Robyn Hitchcock: "The President"
Interesting choice for a Hitchcock song. I’m a sucker for Andy Metcalf’s bass work in this era of Hitchcock – he plays like he’s under the mistaken assumption that he’s in a jazz band or something, and somehow that works perfectly. 5/5

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Nice work on this mix, Billz - and as usual there's a ton of stuff I love. I'm almost relieved that you threw on that metal stuff just so you know my rating system is capable of bottoming out. Also, extra points for the intro and outro - it's the personal touch that makes this garment so wearable.

Thanks, dood!