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A big hello to you fans of ye olde Mix Six. As you know, I was away on some R&R. Pinch hitter Jack Feerick took over the mixing duties so I wouldn’t have one of those “Oh shit!” moments on my vacation where I completely forgot my deadline and flaked on posting. Thanks again, Jack!

Okay, on with today’s mix. I remembered that my wife liked the Outfield back in the day, and I downloaded “Play Deep” so she could sing along to those somewhat long forgotten ’80s gems. After listening to that album a few times this weekend, I started thinking back to my salad days in radio when I was just starting out on the air. It was the mid-’80s and, let’s be frank, it was a rather amusing time in music. I was working weekends at a Top 40 station, and these songs were played over and over and over and over and over in any given shift. It got to the point where I couldn’t really listen to these songs for years after I left that gig. But time heals all wounds, right? So here we go with a trip down memory lane for yours truly.

“Your Love,” the Outfield

How could I not start the mix with this top of the hour cooker! Since I’ve been listening to this album for a few days now (and how many of you out there actually do that these days?), I started to think of ways of weaving “Josie” into everyone of their songs. Try it! It’s not as hard as you think. (more…)

Living in a Box - Gatecrashing (1989)
purchase this album (Amazon)

All right, show of hands — how many of you have ever wondered what an album of Rick Astley B-sides would sound like?

Well, whether you raised your hand or not, here’s your answer: Living in a Box’s second album, 1989’s Gatecrashing. Hooray, right?

No? Anybody?

All right, fine. But we’re still going to talk about this album — no matter how hard we have to try to come up with something interesting to say. Gatecrashing’s cutout runs so deep that not even the All Music Guide bothered to review it (or upload the album artwork). I even cheated a little, and hit up some of my fellow Popdosers for their feedback. As you can see, cheaters never prosper:

Q: Do any of you have anything to say about Living in a Box?

Will: All I can say is that when your most memorable song on your debut is the one you’ve named yourself after, do you really need a second album?

David: Not really, except that I thought the song “Living in a Box” was okay.

John: Just that they were Living in a Box with the single, “Living in a Box,” from the album Living in a Box. A cardboard box. (more…)