the mehallo blog. beta.

Today is my 15th Wedding Anniversary.

And on December 9, 1995, Jeanne and I got married in my cousins’ living room in Half Moon Bay, CA. And as part of the show, our favors were mix tapes copied on to genuine cassettes.

Not CDs. The technology – and price – just wasn’t there yet. It was 1995. So instead, we gave out a unique cassette offering that took a whole month to prep.

At the time, we were listening to Big Band. Sinatra. Jazz. The wonderful music of Cole Porter.

And Pink Floyd.

And that became the plan: To mix these genres into a complete, Pink Floyd-like conceptual album. For our wedding. With wedding standards as well as ambient sound recorded where the wedding was going to take place.

All we needed was a month. And lots of electric toys.

sources
My dad collected old stereo equipment. And I used to play with audio when I was in high school. So I raided my father’s garage.

And his record collection. He had an incredible set of Hi-Fi Big Band LPs – most of which were recorded in the 1950s, when magnetic tape became standard. This was a step up from the scratchy wax disk sound that usually went with Big Band.

By the 1950s, Big Band had fallen out of favor – but luckily, Capitol Records brought in most of the original bands for these vinyl gems – and had some great sessions. Even though the resulting albums didn’t sell very well.

Years later, I found many of these recordings (and more) on a four CD set: Big Bands in Hi Fi Volume 1 and Volume 2. An incredible collection of rarities.

Also part of the mix is an extended version of Sing Sing Sing – with amazing drums; from a 1967 concert album, Benny Goodman Today. This is another rarity that eventually showed up on CD. Imported.

We rounded out the tracks with some Cole Porter (THIS is an incredible album), Sinatra (so is this) as well as George Winston’s take on wedding standby, Pachelbel’s Canon. With the sound of a steam locomotive (found a recording of this one) in the background cause our honeymoon involved a train ride to Seattle.

going analog
To prep things, I cobbled together two four track mixers, two eight track decks – as well as a barely functioning turntable, three cassette decks and a stereo VCR.

Old radio broadcasts were mixed in – as well as rare 1920s jazz recordings (found at the local library) – blended with a very ‘tinny’ sound coming from a cheap speaker miked inside a metal bucket. And an Edison Cylinder Phonograph.

And somehow we got them all completed in time. The Collection of Our Favourite Dance Tunes mix tapes were ready – just in time for the nuptials. Featuring a copy of Arthur Baker’s Mercator as the font; it was his wedding gift.

few samples
While we don’t (yet) have a digital version of the complete recording, here are a few of the songs that made the final cut.

It’s incredible the memories that flood back when listening to this music  . . . .  We don’t have many photos from our wedding (long story there), so these tracks really are the snapshots in time for us.

Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring from Cantata No. 147

Benny Goodman: Let’s Dance

Tommy Dorsey: I’m Getting Sentimental Over You

Frank Sinatra: Fly Me to the Moon

Ella Fitzgerald: Anything Goes

Frank Sinatra: I Get a Kick Out of You

Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World

George Winston: Variations on the Canon by Johann Pachelbel

tags: design history, music, photography, thoughts // 5 comments  . . .