Remember Mix(ed) Tapes? No? What Are "Tapes"?

Monday 10/23/2023 by Icculus

REMEMBER MIX(ED) TAPES? NO? WHAT ARE "TAPES"?

IT was not uncommon in the 1990's for fans with too many cassette tapes to either give them away or "liquidate" them for the cost of buying a new tape (at the time, around $1.50 a tape including shipping costs). I liquidated hundreds of tapes because I had too many and wanted them to go to better homes. And at that time, there wasn't access to Phish's recordings online, and so I preserved certain versions of songs (usually jam segments only) that I wanted to hear again (or again and again and again) and didn’t want to lose for all eternity by dubbing them onto two dozen or so 100-minute mixtapes or mixed tapes.

And here are the first 13 of them for your amusement. It's surprising to me that not everything on those tapes circulates today online (sigh), so I may be giving such tapes to someone to digitize the material that has yet to circulate online (more sighing). In any event, if this post gets enough attention, I’ll consider posting the "setlists" (so to speak) of the other ten or so mixes that I have, which I do not seem to have ever typed-up, and so I would need to pull the tapes to type them up (not easily done without the full use of my right leg, as I continue to recover from ruptured right anterior tibialis tendon repair surgery). So please, if you appreciate this content, indicate as much in the Comments. Thank you!

Most Of The Tapes I Didn't Liquidate (Primarily For Personal Reasons)

Tape One

Side A

Side B

11/30/91 Brother

03/13/92 Antelope->BBFCFM->Antelope

07/23/93 Chalkdust Torture

Tape Two

Side A

Side B

03/25/92 YEM (Setting Sail)

04/11/94 Foam

04/14/94 Runaway Jim

04/11/94 Fast Enough for You

05/20/94 Bathtub Gin

04/29/92 Possum

07/31/93 Split Open

04/08/94 ...DWD jam segment

04/11/94 Caravan

04/08/94 If I Could (!)

04/22/90 Harry Hood

Tape Three

Side A

Side B

05/06/92 ...Stash Jam

04/12/91 FunkyBitch (sdchk)

06/05/90 Whippin Post

03/13/91 ...Reba Jam

12/07/92 ...YEM Jam

Tape Four

Side A

Side B

04/18/93 Mike's ->

07/23/93 Bluesy Jam (sdchk) [doesn’t circulate online?]

04/18/93 Yamar

02/11/93 David Bowie

03/02/93 Tweezer

12/29/92 ...Stash Jam

10/07/94 ...Reba Jam

12/05/92 Rollaway Brad (sdchk)

09/28/95 Fog

10/19/91 Terrapin (w/Mimi)

07/23/93 Assorted Jams from Sdchk [doesn’t circulate online?? wuuut? how!?]

10/19/91 Harry Hood

Tape Five

Side A

Side B

10/21/95 ...Reba Jam

09/28/95 ...Tweezer (continued from Side A)

07/15/94 Ltr Jimmy Page

12/08/95 Antelope

07/15/94 ->Bowie

12/08/95 Come Together

09/28/95 Fog (I put it on two mixes apparently lol)

11/01/91 Landlady->Destiny Unbound

11/01/91 Tube

Tape Six

Side A

Side B

12/07/92 Chalkdust

11/30/91 Antelope

12/07/92 Reba

05/02/92 David Bowie >

12/07/92 Vibration

05/02/92 CREW FOOTBALL THEME SONG >

02/11/93 Foam [typo, as no Foam was played on 2/11, it may be 2/4/93]

05/02/92 David Bowie

03/17/92 Ice

10/20/94 Harry Hood (experimental!)

11/30/91 I Didn't Know

06/14/94 ...DWD Jam

Tape Seven

Side A

Side B

03/16/89 DividedSky [from mislabeled tape, actually 3/3/89]

10/20/94 McGrupp's

06/14/94 Guelah

05/04/90 WhippinPost (real thing)

06/18/94 Ice

07/03/94 Split Open (!?!?!?!)

12/02/95 ...SimpleJam>

07/03/94 Antelope (w/fireworks)

12/02/95 Faht >

12/02/95 Tweezer

Tape Eight

Side A

Side B

12/09/94 Antelope

10/28/95 You Enjoy Myself

10/25/94 SOAM

11/04/90 Sdchk: Yamar [doesn’t circulate online??]

07/13/94 DWD Jam

11/04/90 Sdchk: Have Mercy [same?!?!?!]

Tape Nine

Side A

Side B

10/01/89 Reba (first version)

04/26/96 ...Bowie

05/05/93 ...Maze

Some More Tapes I Didn't Liquidate (Primarily For Personal Reasons)

Tape Ten

Side A

Side B

12/09/94 Wilson

07/14/94 Chalkdust Torture

12/09/94 ...Tweezer...

06/28/95 ...Tweezer>DEG>Tweezer...

Tape 11

Side A

Side B

*White Album* (low gen) (Nitrous->Minkin)

04/05/94 YEM...

Tape 12

Side A

Side B

03/19/92 Sdchk:

07/11/88 …Curtain (With) continued from Side A

03/19/92 Shaggy Dog

07/11/88 Alumni Blues

03/19/92 Jam >

10/25/94 ...Weekapaug

03/19/92 Hey Andrew! >

03/09/90 ... YEM > La Grange

03/09/90 Whipping Post

03/01/90 Rhombus Story

03/01/90 ...Possum

07/11/88 Curtain >

Tape 13

Side A

Side B

*The Original Bliss* [sigh I thought this would be available online somewhere by now I released it on etree years ago]

04/22/92 Wilson

05/02/93 Antelope

11/28/92 Mike's Hydro Groove

05/12/92 ...YEM...

11/28/92 My Sweet One

04/22/92 Language

07/11/88 Suzy Greenberg...

p.s. So if you look at the image of the mixed tapes (their jcards refer to Tape 1 thru Tape 22, and say PHISH MIX) it looks like the WinTaper software program (Dan Tepper's tape jcard label creating software) that I used to create the jcards required me to put some kind of date in the date field of the interface, and so I just put ??/??/YY in a bunch of them even where the music on the mixes wasn't from YY (year) at all.

p.p.s. As noted above I apparently have some Phish that doesn't circulate online, somehow (two soundchecks and the Original "Bliss"), so if you do find any of this music online please note as much in the Comments and link to it. It is a pain in the ass to get music I've got only on tape circulating online, but the fact I bothered to preserve these soundchecks on tape means they were worth saving. Soooo sadly unless one of you finds 'em online and links to them, I'm gonna feel morally compelled to get them circulating For The Benefit Of The Phish Community. Thank you!

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.

16 comments - Link: http://phi.sh/b/652475ac

Comments

2023-10-23 12:43 pm, comment by HarborSeal

Yes, @Icculus, we do enjoy these posts.

Just listened to the 4/8/94 If I Could for the first time. Wow! Maybe you should push for that for the jam chart?

Score: 8

2023-10-23 1:24 pm, comment by ANewNameForDotNet

I had so many of these same shows on tape. Lost them all in a move at one point. Seeing that OOB show from '94 brings back amazing memories - thank you for that..

Score: 4

2023-10-23 2:06 pm, comment by Jer2112

Definitely enjoy stuff like this. I'm a noob, but a lot of my early phish listening was through cassettes like these.

Score: 4

2023-10-23 2:20 pm, comment by dutchzoo

Appreciate your posts and stewardship @Icculus. I remember you from the early to mid 90s Zero / SK days. Got any of those tapes kicking around? Hope you are well.

Score: 3

2023-10-23 2:31 pm, comment by phishroc

Yup. very true, chick I knew named carrie gave me all her old tapes, still cherish them and they will be played in my new place as soon as the old technics is set up. Goonies never say die!

Score: 3

2023-10-23 3:28 pm, comment by lysergic

The Phish Community thanks you in advance for getting those soundchecks online! You are a real human being and a real hero.

Score: 3

2023-10-23 11:56 pm, comment by hincandenza

I'm still grateful for one of those liquidations of 50 tapes, at a time when doing blanks and postage through rec.music.phish meant waiting months sometimes to get one show back in the mail. Definitely was a different time, not having access to the entire recorded history at your fingertips. I'd never heard Forbin / Mockingbird when that box of tapes arrived. Later, I remember mailing my copy of 5/3/85 I'd gotten in a trade to someone who seemed to think it was worthy of studying as a possible earliest generation, only to go missing in action for many months, maybe a year, then arrive safely back in the mail with a complimentary freshly taped copy of 7/23/97 just weeks after that performance. Amazing that there are still gaps in what's available online but on tapes somewhere! Anyway, most of one of those liquidations here.

Score: 2

2023-10-24 11:25 am, comment by Bogotafee5514

I want your tape collection!! SERIOUSLY. Still am big into analog despite my recent Spotify subscription and long time Live Phish one. Have my mixed tapes from school days, however never amassed a good Phish tape collection. Have some Dead I've found later that people were liquidating so to speak. Always on the look out for Phish tapes that need a new home.

Score: 2

2023-10-24 12:03 pm, comment by Mshow96

One man’s tendon is another man’s treasure. Killing it with these blog posts!

Score: 1

2023-10-24 6:32 pm, comment by davludes

I was at the tail end of the tape trading, but I absolutely loved it. Getting tapes in 97-99 was a treat. Getting to hear all of the cool Simpsons crowd participation and Gamehendge for the first time blew my mind. I like this content and you must release those tapes!

Score: 3

2023-10-25 6:24 am, comment by Topspinjon

Thanks for posting. Wish I had my old tapes. Be cool if Relisten or archive.org was cataloged in a way to allow for mixes/playlists and recreate some of these!

Score: 1

2023-10-26 7:46 am, comment by dscott

Ah, memories. I miss the smell of mylar in the morning!

Score: 0

2023-10-26 1:05 pm, comment by User_25597_

for some reason my dad can't seem to quite pull the trigger on me getting rid of the last of those tapes that i have stashed in my high school bedroom. i do miss those days in a way...it was an instant conversation starter- what tapes do you have that I don't? does this sound better than mine? etc. and maybe not having immediate access to every note an hour after it was done made us cherish those concert moments all the more.
i have made phish mixes, but not just the jam segments. i will dig into these soon.

Score: 1

2023-10-26 2:01 pm, comment by uglyroomer

I love this post! I certainly enjoy the vast libraries available with streaming services. But this hits home for me. Besides opening up a new record and enjoying the fresh smell and artwork, I personally love to see the careful organized tape description with artwork and date. We loved this music and it shows that you do too with that pic. My tape library is gone with exception to one. A recording of a bbc led zeppelin show I made from the radio YEARS before its official release. Thank you!

Score: 2

2023-10-27 5:53 pm, comment by Pagegrrl34

My children exist because I met their dad trading GD tapes thru the mail via 1-900-RUN-DEAD/The Mars Hotel Betty board. Also saw my 2nd PH show (12/31/95) thanks to a trader I met there as well (still homies!). Generation XL-II in the house (no high speed dubbing)!! My 1st Phish bootleg came from a trader as a bonus on a TDK-90 because he didn't have anything i wanted and ironically sat in the same row at my 1st PH (10/22/95)! STILL have all my shows and the wooden crate holders. Back in my day, you either hand wrote or typed a list and had to call ppl to set up the trades ...God, where did the time go? I was tripping out during the Chicago run, 28 year Phishaversary was 10/22...I had just turned 23, my youngest child's age now.

Score: 2

2023-10-28 2:20 pm, comment by GiveMeSlack91

Bootleg live Phish mix tapes! Back in my trading days, I never considered making mix tapes of different tracks since it was too much work to cue the song and work out the times to fit a 45/50 minute side. About as close as I got was adding fill onto the remaining tape space after the sets (usually on side B).

I commend your efforts!

Love that you've kept the typos in your listings. Back in the days when the Helping Phriendly Book was printed on dot matrix, 3-hole punched, and bracketed to sell in the lots.... getting dates and set lists wrong was a real thing, lol. Then there were the new songs coming out, where no one really knew what the name was, how to spell it, etc.

I have been relistening to my tape collection this year and am enjoying checking the setlists here on .net... and chuckling at some of my own J-card typos.....

Score: 1