DJ Mikey Mike in da mix.

Finally! An actual mixed-set from yours truly! You just don't realize how many YEARS in the making it has been for me to actually churn one of these out. Over the years I've collected so much (and lost just as much) music that one of my creative outlets was to make customized 'mix tapes' for friends on cd's and cassettes! They were never properly DJ mixed per se, but were nonetheless meaningful in the track selection(s), etc. With the amount of actual vinyl I owned in the 80's, people always thought I actually was a DJ! Believe it or not, I had a cheesy Radio Shack mixer set up and a belt driven Technics turntable from 1979 + a non-Technics generic turntable setup in my room too! Suffice to say, I was NOT. Not a real beat mixing DJ at least. Anyone can fade in and fade out records, right? I just did not have the patience and resources at the time to learn how to do it properly -- the beginnings of my ADHD I suppose.

Anyway, so it's 25+ years after my first thoughts of pursuing such an endeavor. I got some cool advice from fellow blogger Enda who, himself, is a great bedroom dj. [He writes the Daddy or Chips blog and posts some of his mixes online from time to time.] Thanks to today's technology, I was able to shrink a couple of decades of learning time to just a couple of hours with the help of a program called MIXMEISTER STUDIO. It's an all-in-one suite where I can cut and paste mp3's with the help of harmonic and beat mixing tools. On the upside, the program allows you to concentrate more on the art of dj'ing and song selection than the technical side of it. On the downside, it's just taking the easy way out. Oh well -- do I really care?!? LOL. The one cool thing is that I can ultimately hook up some MIDI hardware to my computer to allow me to use an actual mixing board and such in the future.

Below is the mix that I did tonight. It took me about 2 hours to do and is no where near perfect. I just concentrated on how to do transitions and where to identify the proper intro's and outro's of songs. Yes, train wrecks abound ... but not so much. In homage to my teen years, it's an 80's mix! Oh yeah -- the program I used is just the trial version and you'll hear a very nice lady reminding you as such throughout the hour of music. I'll fork over the $199.95 AFTER I get a little more practice. Anyway, I hope you like it and tell me what you think.



Mike's 1st Mix (80s)
Be Near Me (Munich Disco Mix) - ABC
I Can't Help It (Extended Mix) - Bananarama
Living on the Ceiling (Extended 12-inch) - Blancmange
Don't You Want Me (Fascination Disco Mashup) - Human League
Slang Teacher - Wide Boy Awake
Situation (Re-recorded Remix) - Yazoo
Chains of Love (Truly In Love with the Marks Bros. Remix) - Erasure
Beethoven (I Love to Listen to) (Razormaid Mix) - Eurythmics
Preacher Man (Raging Bible Belt Mix) - Bananarama
Our Lips are Sealed (Special Club Remix) - Fun Boy Three