Megamix: Miami Sound Machine, Wax, Stevie Wonder, Daryl Hall and John Oates

This is a megamix which has been brewing in my head ever since I first had the idea for it back in 1986. It is a challenge to even find 4 songs which have the exact same 89 BPM tempo in a 2-2 shuffle time signature ... that is, the same shuffle beat which is used in Hall and Oates' "Maneater", probably the best known of these four tracks. Yet, here it is, in all it's glory!

The mix opens up with "Bad Boy" from Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. This was the followup single to "Conga" in 1985, and this extended mix was most excellently done by Shep Pettibone.

Next in the mix is Wax, which was a collaboration between Andrew Gold (best known for his hit song "Thank You for Being a Friend") and Graham Gouldman, late of the English pop band 10cc. It is interesting to note, that Andrew was invited to become a member of 10cc after 1981, but refused to do so, citing his desire to further his solo career. 10cc eventually split up in 1983, with Gouldman and Gold teaming up to form Wax.

The mix then progresses into Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover", a smash hit track which appeared on his 1985 album "In Square Circle". This is of course the extended 12" mix which adds a very interesting horn section to the mix.

Rounding out the mix is a rare 12" version of the Hall & Oates classic "Maneater", the first single off of the classic album H₂O in 1982. This is probably the duo's signature song, spending a whopping 6 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts in 1982.

Rounding out the mix of course, is the ending of Miami Sound Machine's "Bad Boy". The whole mix clocks in at 18 minutes and 15 seconds. Enjoy!

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Megamix: Grace Jones, Tina Turner, Culture Club, Peter Gabriel

And now for your listening enjoyment, a downtempo megamix which clocks in at a relaxed 97 BPM. We have Grace Jones with her smooth and jazzy track "Slave to the Rhythm", which then blends seamlessly into Tina Turner's classic "What's Love Got to Do With it". The mix continues with a rare 12" mix of Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", a track which features a reggae toast vocal bit (which I used at the end of this megamix). The megamix rounds out with Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer".

Running time for this megamix is 19:41

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Megamix: A-ha, Go West, Phil Collins, Teena Marie

My first installment is a megamix I originally conceived in my basement in 1985, thanks to a pair of casette decks and a turntable. I always thought these songs belonged together. Running at about 165 BPM, you have the 12" extended mix of A-ha's "Take on Me", the Indiscriminate Mix of Go West "Call Me", the extended 12" mix of "Don't Lose My Number" by Phil Collins, then "Alibi" by Teena Marie, a track off her "Starchild" album. The megamix then shifts back to the endings of the Phil Collins and A-ha tracks. I also overlaid the extra percussion on Phil Collins' track onto the a-ha track throughout the megamix too.

I chose these tracks, not just because of a similar tempo, but the key signature of these tracks I thought made them blend well together.

Running time for the megamix is 15:50

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