[The Soup Nazi]

Do virtual mixtapes count or does a cassette tape need to be involved? Years ago I made a virtual mixtape to a friend who turned 44. I set myself a number of rules:

—One song per each year of his life. The song had to have been released on that year, evidently.
—No repetition of artists (there's some slight cheating, though - see if you spot it).
—Each song had to be part of my physical collection and be absent from his.
—The sequence had to be wicked bitchen and suggest a natural flow, or a necessary break to cleanse the palate, or some kind of link/contrast - anyway this was kinda subjective , but there was a reason behind it.

It went like this:


00 — 1967 — Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels — "I'd Rather Go To Jail" (Rev Up: The Best Of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels)
01 — 1968 — The Velvet Underground — "White Light/White Heat" (White Light/White Heat)
02 — 1969 — The Rolling Stones — "Monkey Man" (Let It Bleed)
03 — 1970 — The Stooges — "1970" (Fun House)
04 — 1971 — Can — "Mushroom" (Tago Mago)
05 — 1972 — Neu! — "Negativland" (Neu!)
06 — 1973 — Roxy Music — "Do The Strand" (For Your Pleasure)
07 — 1974 — Brian Eno — "Third Uncle" (Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy))
08 — 1975 — Patti Smith — "Break It Up" (Horses)
09 — 1976 — Friction [Peter Laughner] — "Don't Take Your Love Away (Take The Guitar Player For A Ride)
10 — 1977 — David Bowie — "Be My Wife" (Low)
11 — 1978 — Wire — "I Am The Fly" (Chairs Missing)
12 — 1979 — The Slits — "Instant Hit" (Cut)
13 — 1980 — The Only Ones — "Telescopic Love" (Darkness And Light: The Complete BBC Recordings)
14 — 1981 — Lester Bangs and the Delinquents — "Kill Him Again" (Jook Savages On The Brazos)
15 — 1982 — Richard Hell and the Voidoids — "Lowest Common Dominator" (Destiny Street)
16 — 1983 — R.E.M. — "Sitting Still" (Murmur)
17 — 1984 — The Verlaines — "Joed Out" (You're Just Too Obscure For Me...)
18 — 1985 — Johnny Thunders — "I Only Wrote This Song For You" (Que Sera Sera)
19 — 1986 — Prince and the Revolution — "I Wonder U" (Parade: Music From The Motion Picture 'Under The Cherry Moon')
20 — 1987 — Dinosaur Jr. — "Little Fury Things" (You're Living All Over Me)
21 — 1988 — Sonic Youth — "The Sprawl" (Daydream Nation)
22 — 1989 — The Vulgar Boatmen — "Drive Somewhere" (You And Your Sister)
23 — 1990 — Neil Young & Crazy Horse — "Farmer John" (Ragged Glory)
24 — 1991 — Matthew Sweet — "Divine Intervention" (Girlfriend)
25 — 1992 — Television — "Call Mr. Lee" (Television)
26 — 1993 — Barbara Manning and the San Francisco Seals — "Joed Out" (No Alternative)
27 — 1994 — Sugar — "Gee Angel" (File Under: Easy Listening)
28 — 1995 — Kevin Salem — "In A Whisper" (Soma City)
29 — 1996 — Tommy Keene — "If You're Getting Married Tonight" (Ten Years After)
30 — 1997 — Built To Spill — "Made-Up Dreams" (Perfect From Now On)
31 — 1998 — Spiritualized — "I Think I'm In Love" (Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997 Live)
32 — 1999 — The Spells — "Octaves Apart" (The Age Of Backwards E.P.)
33 — 2000 — Morphine — "Slow Numbers" (The Night)
34 — 2001 — Bob Dylan — "Sugar Baby" ("Love And Theft")
35 — 2002 — Jimmy Scott — "Jealous Guy" ('Chelsea Walls' Original Soundtrack)
36 — 2003 — Yo La Tengo — "Don't Have To Be So Sad" (Hear Music Volume 10: Reveal)
37 — 2004 — Wilco — "I'm A Wheel" (A Ghost Is Born)
38 — 2005 — Sleater-Kinney — "Entertain" (The Woods)
39 — 2006 — The Hold Steady — "Chips Ahoy!" (Boys And Girls In America)
40 — 2007 — Stephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers — "Ballad Of A Thin Man" ('I'm Not There' Original Soundtrack)
41 — 2008 — Cat Power — "Song To Bobby" (Jukebox)
42 — 2009 — St. Vincent — "Marrow" (Actor)
43 — 2010 — Spoon — "Trouble Comes Running" (Transference)
44 — 2011 — Wild Flag — "Glass Tambourine" ("Future Crimes" b/w "Glass Tambourine" 7")


Considering what I've learned in the subsequent nine years, perhaps today the list would be richer, less predictable... but all in all it came out pretty decent, I think. Comments are welcome.