All mixed up

Lately, my big thing at work has been mix cds. I’ve been a big fan of making the things since I first got a cd burner back in ’99, but I go through this ebb and flow of making the things. Currently, I’m flowing.

There’s been Do I Hate Myself? volumes one and two, featuring AOR / MOR radio hits from the ’70s and ’80s, such as Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, America‘s “Sister Golden Hair”, Toto‘s “Africa” and so on and so forth. They were a good week-long project between me and two of my co-workers, and resulted in me burning an obscenely large number of copies for people.

Then there was Geek Rock, with MC Chris‘ “Ratz”, Weird Al‘s “Dare To Be Stupid”, Jamie Kennedy‘s “Rolling With Saget”, and a host of Saturday Night Live stuff, like the Natalie Portman rap and “Lazy Sunday.”

The one I’m most proud of, though? The power pop comp I just got done doing. We’re talking Cheap Trick, Matthew Sweet, the Replacements, the Smithereens, and two of the greatest one-hit wonders ever, the Plimsouls‘s “A Million Miles Away” and Big Country‘s “In A Big Country.” Now, I know that these songs were pretty much it as far as either band was concerned.

The Plimsouls’ Everywhere At Once is pretty decent, but Big Country? They shot their wad on that song. I’ve heard other stuff they did, and it comes nowhere near being as good as “In A Big Country.” But you know what? That’s completely okay with me. That song is so fucking amazing that even the fact that Dashboard Confessional covers it on their new album can’t ruin it for me. It’s that damn good. Probably my number one “cheer up” song of all time. You can’t beat it. The lyrics are easy enough to sing along to, and the guitar line all distorted to sound like bagpipes? Fucking brill.

Dashboard Confessional – In A Big Country” (video)
The 15-Minute Hipster has a link to Face to Face’s cover of the song, as well.

the Plimsouls – “A Million Miles Away