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.)