80s Genre/Categories Mixtape Draft - Draft Underway (2 Viewers)

[Eephus]

I listened to the mixes from Zamboni, Floppo and VikeMe. I'm going to come out and say it, 22 songs is too long for future mixes. It's hard to keep any flow going for that long but the bigger problem is that it's just too long to listen to in a single sitting. This is especially a problem in the 80s because it was the golden age of 12" extended mixes.

Agree that there's a lot to get through but I think 22 songs is coming in the same 80 - 100 minute range that a lot of others have, going to a specific time limit is probably best but where do you set it?

I seem to be one of the most vehement mix bigots here so my opinion may not be popular. I think we should stick to about 15 tracks. If you average 4 minutes per song that work out to an hour.

My 80s mix is one of the worst offenders at 102 minutes. I went with the shortest version available of every song except for "Paid in Full" because the Coldcut remix was the whole point of the pick. If we do the 90s next, I think the problem gets worse because a lot of bands used the extra space on CDs to extend tracks, not necessarily for the better.

I also prefer the scavenger hunt categories more than straight genre choices because you can produce more cohesive flowing mixes with them than being forced to work in a rap (or country or metal) song. But that's just me.

 

[KarmaPolice]

since we are talking about these being too long it might not be a popular idea, but I was thinking about an ABCs song draft.

very simple:

one word/name songs

one for each letter

try to keep it around 100mins

would be mostly wide open, but with a little strategy for the harder letters.

 

[El Floppo]

btw- I'm enjoying these drafts more than previous versions that had judges and points and whatnot.

 

[Eephus]

btw- I'm enjoying these drafts more than previous versions that had judges and points and whatnot.

8/10

since we are talking about these being too long it might not be a popular idea, but I was thinking about an ABCs song draft.

very simple:

one word/name songs

one for each letter

try to keep it around 100mins

would be mostly wide open, but with a little strategy for the harder letters.

If you build it...

 

[zamboni]

since we are talking about these being too long it might not be a popular idea, but I was thinking about an ABCs song draft.

very simple:

one word/name songs

one for each letter

try to keep it around 100mins

would be mostly wide open, but with a little strategy for the harder letters.

Very interesting premise.

Throw it out there and see what sticks.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I would need help with google doc since I am a computer idiot.

 

[Northern Voice]

I would need help with google doc since I am a computer idiot.

I can help out with the next draft, I don't really want to commish it though

 

[zamboni]

I would need help with google doc since I am a computer idiot.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[Northern Voice]

Also, apparently even with the VPN spotify knows I'm, an "out of country user" and they will let me keep using it if I pay the monthy price, but I no longer have access to free spotify.

 

[Eephus]

Also, apparently even with the VPN spotify knows I'm, an "out of country user" and they will let me keep using it if I pay the monthy price, but I no longer have access to free spotify.

would you still have to use VPN to access?

 

[Northern Voice]

Also, apparently even with the VPN spotify knows I'm, an "out of country user" and they will let me keep using it if I pay the monthy price, but I no longer have access to free spotify.

would you still have to use VPN to access?

Yes, if I do without it won't let me past the first page, just tells me to enter my e-mail address and they'll let me know when it launches in Canada.

 

[Chaos Commish]

btw- I'm enjoying these drafts more than previous versions that had judges and points and whatnot.

 

[El Floppo]

btw- I'm enjoying these drafts more than previous versions that had judges and points and whatnot.

stop judging me!

 

[valence]

since we are talking about these being too long it might not be a popular idea, but I was thinking about an ABCs song draft.

very simple:

one word/name songs

one for each letter

try to keep it around 100mins

would be mostly wide open, but with a little strategy for the harder letters.

Very interesting premise.

Throw it out there and see what sticks.

I've made my own mixes with this theme. I enjoyed it.

 

[Eephus]

It took me a while but I finally was able to listen to two more mixes. Real life forced me to take Simey's road to nowhere in four or five separate sessions. Because of this, I lost a lot of the flow although I thought the Lovett-REM-Culture Club-REO sequence worked pretty well. It may have been too subtle to penetrate my thick head but I thought the road theme only applied to a handful of songs. I probably shouldn't complain with my lameass jump rope theme though.

I especially liked the Lloyd Cole and Dazz Band tracks. The REO and Scorps album covers get high marks as well. The Dazz Band track came off a compilation called "Funky Kids' Party", which also had Superfreak and Bad Mama Jama on it. It ain't exactly the Wiggles.

I listened to NV's mix while on my Saturday run. I was pretty much able to make it through it all at once. As a workout mix, I appreciated that it was predominantly uptempo once I made it through the interminable two and half minutes of the Theme from Cheers. It was good to hear the The Tones on Tail and PWEI tracks because they don't get played that often nowadays. The Teenage Head, Hunters & Collectors and Pursuit of Happiness songs were also good obscurities. The mix flowed really well. There were a couple of times where my mind wandered and it took a while to realize the song had changed, which is a good sign for mixes in my book.

I haven't heard Rhythm Nation in a long time. The Jam/Lewis production that sounded so fresh at the time sounds really dated now. There's a song somewhere underneath the surface of huge drums and synth FX. There were some great sounding records made during the 80s. Studio and synth technology made huge strides but I think some artists got overwhelmed by the technical capabilities. My other observation is Switching to Glide. I always remembered this as a concise three minute power pop song but upon further review, it's three minutes of a song stretched to nearly six minutes. I don't love the song nearly as much as I did a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Eephus]

BTW, the latest Spotify version (v9.8) is horrible. I spent too long over the weekend reverting to v9.7 and disabling auto-update.

Who would develop a piece of music library software with non-sortable columns? How did this not get fixed during pilot testing? I hate poor UI design more than I hate 80s gated drum sounds.

 

[JZilla]

Yeah I can't believe how awful it is. Too lazy to roll back though.

 

[simey]

It may have been too subtle to penetrate my thick head but I thought the road theme only applied to a handful of songs. I probably shouldn't complain with my lameass jump rope theme though.

My collection was a confetti of songs that I liked in the 80s, and fit the categories. Other than being 80s songs, they had no specific bond or connection. Therefore, my theme led you on the road to nowhere.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Yeah I can't believe how awful it is. Too lazy to roll back though.

They've done lots of terrible updates. On the mobile version, it's way harder to find my friend's playlists.

 

[Chaos Commish]

BTW, the latest Spotify version (v9.8) is horrible. I spent too long over the weekend reverting to v9.7 and disabling auto-update.

Who would develop a piece of music library software with non-sortable columns? How did this not get fixed during pilot testing? I hate poor UI design more than I hate 80s gated drum sounds.

I think the gated reverb drums are why I'm still currently hooked on 80s playlists.

 

[KarmaPolice]

since we are talking about these being too long it might not be a popular idea, but I was thinking about an ABCs song draft.

very simple:

one word/name songs

one for each letter

try to keep it around 100mins

would be mostly wide open, but with a little strategy for the harder letters.

Very interesting premise.

Throw it out there and see what sticks.

Keep thinking about this, but don't think there would be enough Z, X, and Q songs to make decent mixes. I guess we could skip them, combine them into one category.

I really liked our mystery theme draft we did too, and would be down for commishing another one of those since not a lot of those mixes were posted if I remember right.

 

[El Floppo]

What is this Mystery draft?

 

[KarmaPolice]

Last time I believe I had a pile of themes I came up with and that others sent me via PM ie songs about summer, animal songs, 90s, etc.. and I randomized them and sent the participants 3 that they could choose from for their mix. The commish and the drafter were the only people that knew what their theme was when the draft started, although some were obvious right away. Just made for a fun, wide open draft instead of everybody pooling from the same types of songs/decade, etc.

 

[Eephus]

Here's the relative frequency of the first letters of words in the English language:
a --- 11.60%
b --- 4.70%
c --- 3.51%
d --- 2.67%
e --- 2.01%
f --- 3.78%
g --- 1.95%
h --- 7.23%
i --- 6.29%
j --- 0.60%
k --- 0.59%
l --- 2.71%
m --- 4.37%
n --- 2.37%
o --- 6.26%
p --- 2.55%
q --- 0.17%
r --- 1.65%
s --- 7.76%
t --- 16.67%
u --- 1.49%
v --- 0.65%
w --- 6.75%
x --- 0.04%
y --- 1.62%
z --- 0.03%

We did a similar themed baseball draft and the scarce letters were a big challenge.

It would be possible to combine letters and reduce the number of songs in the mix. Here's an example with 17 categories
a --- 11.60%
b --- 4.70%
c --- 3.51%
d --- 2.67%
ef --- 5.79%
h --- 7.23%
i --- 6.29%
gjk --- 3.14%
l --- 2.71%
m --- 4.37%
n --- 2.37%
o --- 6.26%
p --- 2.55%
qruv --- 3.96%
s --- 7.76%
t --- 16.67%
wxyz --- 8.44%

There are a lot of different way to slice this. The obvious question is whether combining letters would significantly diminish the nerd appeal of finding songs beginning with Q.

 

[Eephus]

Last time I believe I had a pile of themes I came up with and that others sent me via PM ie songs about summer, animal songs, 90s, etc.. and I randomized them and sent the participants 3 that they could choose from for their mix. The commish and the drafter were the only people that knew what their theme was when the draft started, although some were obvious right away. Just made for a fun, wide open draft instead of everybody pooling from the same types of songs/decade, etc.

Making these mixes was fun but it kind of made the drafting part irrelevant because everybody was chasing a different target.

 

[Northern Voice]

What if you could use song title or artist for X, Q, Z?

 

[JZilla]

How about just say 22(?) rounds and people can choose which letters they don't use..

 

[KarmaPolice]

How about just say 22(?) rounds and people can choose which letters they don't use..

this could work too, or we could use artists for some hard letters, but put a cap of two songs each artist so we don't have 10 zztop songs. still have to use a one word song though.

 

[El Floppo]

I'm game.

 

[valence]

i'm in

 

[Binky The Doormat]

In if this thing goes!

 

[zamboni]

Instead of forcing one to use Q, Z or X, can enable three wildcards to substitute those letters for any others.

 

[zamboni]

Also would recommend capping artists used for the tougher letters.

 

[Eephus]

How about just say 22(?) rounds and people can choose which letters they don't use..

this could work too, or we could use artists for some hard letters, but put a cap of two songs each artist so we don't have 10 zztop songs. still have to use a one word song though.

I'd rather do songs -OR- artists rather than some combination of both. Part of it is nerdish purity but the bigger issue is that it'll keep the other theme free for a future draft.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Instead of forcing one to use Q, Z or X, can enable three wildcards to substitute those letters for any others.

Agreed on having to do something with these - otherwise its a mad scramble for a load of junk you really don't want in your mix.

 

[Eephus]

I prefer mulligans to wildcards because 26 songs is too many.

 

[Eephus]

I assume if we're doing song titles, I'm assuming that "The" and "A" don't count as words. What about "I"?

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I assume if we're doing song titles, I'm assuming that "The" and "A" don't count as words. What about "I"?

Two ways - Could be used for "i" or ignored and go with the next word.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Ok, how about something like this:

- draft 1 song per letter

- songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

- you can have 4 mulligans for letters you don't want to use, so we would have 22 songs (sorry, Eephus)

- you can draft songs out of order, but mixes should flow in alphabetical order (forward or reverse alphabet)

- keep it under 90mins

- other themes highly encouraged - do a 70s mix, female mix, etc. at the same time

How does that sound to the masses??

 

[zamboni]

Ok, how about something like this:

- draft 1 song per letter

- songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

- you can have 4 mulligans for letters you don't want to use, so we would have 22 songs (sorry, Eephus)

- you can draft songs out of order, but mixes should flow in alphabetical order (forward or reverse alphabet)

- keep it under 90mins

- other themes highly encouraged - do a 70s mix, female mix, etc. at the same time

How does that sound to the masses??

I like it, but not clear on how you're using mulligans here. So meaning we only have to use 22 out of 26 letters?

Not a big fan of multiple drafts going on at once - would dilute discussion of all the drafts.

 

[Eephus]

songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

Not a fan

 

[KarmaPolice]

Ok, how about something like this:

- draft 1 song per letter

- songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

- you can have 4 mulligans for letters you don't want to use, so we would have 22 songs (sorry, Eephus)

- you can draft songs out of order, but mixes should flow in alphabetical order (forward or reverse alphabet)

- keep it under 90mins

- other themes highly encouraged - do a 70s mix, female mix, etc. at the same time

How does that sound to the masses??

I like it, but not clear on how you're using mulligans here. So meaning we only have to use 22 out of 26 letters?

Not a big fan of multiple drafts going on at once - would dilute discussion of all the drafts.

Yes, use 22 of 26 letters.

No, not two drafts. I know some do it anyway, but just saying in this draft along with an alphabetical list required some might go next level and do a rock opera theme too, or just take songs from 1975 or something like that too.

 

[KarmaPolice]

songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

Not a fan

Why is A a word, but not I?

 

[Eephus]

songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

Not a fan

Why is A a word, but not I?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. Are you saying that all songs drafted must have one word titles? That seems overly restrictive.

 

[KarmaPolice]

songs must be one word songs/names - no I Spy, The Clap, Mr. Mustard, etc..

Not a fan

Why is A a word, but not I?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. Are you saying that all songs drafted must have one word titles? That seems overly restrictive.

That was the idea, but if nobody likes it that is cool too.

 

[Northern Voice]

One word only makes it difficult but I like it

 

[simey]

In if this thing goes!

Me too.

 

[zamboni]

I'm all for difficulty. I think if you open it up to prefixing "The" and "A", it opens up a lot more choices and takes out some of the challenge. But not a huge sticking point for me.

 

[Eephus]

One word only makes it difficult but I like it

My concern is one word titles only will hurt the mixes. People will have to draft songs purely to satisfy the letter of the rules, rather than picking songs that are great or fit the mix.

 

[zamboni]

Just to confirm: the song OR band has to be one word, and one word only?