Mixtape: Where to Begin



With Status Update: on its first hiatus, I'm getting back to the epic-length mixtapes that are this blog's bread and butter (or at least chips and margarine). Where to Begin is a collection of 41 album-opening tracks. Some of them are classic, some less so, and others are by the Partridge Family. That's two hours of nothing but expectant launches that will leave you hanging, but only in the best way. Other than that, this mixtape needs no introduction.

Tracklist:
Robert Fripp - Preface
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Accidents Will Happen
The Carpenters - Invocation
The Clash - Know Your Rights
Bonzo Dog Band - You Done My Brain In
The Mountain Goats - Cubs in Five
Violent Femmes - Old Mother Reagan
John Cale - Mr. Wilson
Throbbing Gristle - Industrial Introduction
Hall & Oates - Don't Change
Joni Mitchell - All I Want
XTC - Life Begins at the Hop*
The Fugs - Crystal Liaison
The Pop Group - Thief of Fire
Napalm Death - Multinational Corporations
The Pretenders - Precious
Jellyfish - Hush
Big Star - Kizza Me
Suicide - Ghost Rider
Prefab Sprout - Faron Young
Blondie - Hanging on the Telephone
Bay City Rollers - Let's Pretend
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - The Yip Song
Marianne Faithfull - Broken English
Crass - Mother-Earth
Judas Priest - Delivering the Goods
McLusky - Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues
Twink - The Coming of the One
The Human League - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
Sonic Youth - Intro/Brave Men Run (In My Family)
Joe Jackson - Beat Crazy
Flipper - Ever
Pere Ubu - Non-Alignment Pact
Swell Maps - H.S. Art
Pixies - Debaser
Jens Lekman - And I Remember Every Kiss
The Partridge Family - Brand New Me
Fever Ray - If I Had a Heart
Frank Sinatra - The September of My Years
Patti Smith - Gloria/In Excelsis Deo
John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over [Stripped Down]

* (Note: "Life Begins at the Hop" was the leadoff track on the original US issue of XTC's Drums and Wires. On other versions, "Making Plans for Nigel" was the leadoff track. So this isn't a mistake, Hawkeye.)

(Special thanks to Saundrah Humphrey, Brooks Martin, Scott Taylor and Ricardo Wang.)

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