Since my previous post was about music, I’m sticking with that theme for this one, although this post takes us right back to where this blog should be: to the track! Since I can scarcely enjoy a good drive without the accompaniment of good music, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that every time I’m at my track I have music playing, and I like to make playlists as a sort of “score” for my races. This seems a lot like the old pastime of making “mix tapes,” a lost art form in today’s digital world, but one that I used to be spend hours on as a young’un. Of course there’s a lot of “pre-made” playlists on the usual sites as well, some generated by actual people, many others no doubt created with AI, and sometimes I just want to listen to a particular album so I’ll turn that on, either by finding it on the tube or firing up i-Tunes and playing a rip of a CD I actually own.
TOP: Just like my extensive stash of 1:64 die cast and slot cars, this collection of CDs, 12″ and 7″ vinyl records represents more than half a lifetime of acquistion.
LEFT: Stashed in the basement but often tapped into, factory made cassettes packed with hundreds of homemade “mix tapes” from my formative years!
MUSIC TO FIT THE RACE!
Well, there’s so much good music in the world, and obviously its not all appropriate for car racing, at whatever scale! Thus I try to keep my selections “geared” to the event, whether they are long or short races, and whether they are sports cars, muscle cars, or the Trans Am fleet. But what’s appropriate? Well, HARD, FAST, and LOUD almost always works! For muscle car racing especially, I’m often listening to mid and late ‘60’s “Garage Rock” or ‘70’s and early 80’s Punk or Hardcore.
For sports cars I usually prefer New Wave, Punk’s richer and more polished cousin. And for the Trans Am fleet, considering that the glory days of Trans Am were in the early and mid 70’s, that’s usually scored by a mix of Glam rock, early Metal, and that sound just generically-but appropriately-referred to as “classic rock,” so that could be anything from the Rolling Stones to T-Rex to Led Zeppelin to AC/DC. And for any kind of racing I can always go with another great genre from the ‘60’s, the “surf/drag” sound made famous by Jan & Dean, Dick Dale & the Del-Tones, et al, a category so cool and so addictive that bands all over the world are still doing it!
But I mix it up, because there’s so much good stuff out there! Sometimes I’ll go with harsher edged electronica, both the type that leans more toward “rock” and the type that’s all “synth.” Rockabilly has its place too, and like Garage Rock that means both the “real stuff” from the 1950’s and the “revival” stuff, much of the best of which was laid down in the 80’s but which is still being recorded even today! A big part of what makes this fun is the variety, which is why sometimes I don’t use a playlist but just dial up something on YouTube and see if the algorhythm is smart enough to match what I pick at the beginning with something equally good, and if not, hitting the “next” button is a just a smack on the keyboard. With my “jumbotron” LG 50” TV on the wall right above the track hooked to a PC with WiFi and a decent set of old speakers, I’ve got anything I want to listen to at my fingertips! OK, I admit, some things about the always-on digital world are cool!
Of course I like other kinds of music as well, from classic Country to Goth to Shoegaze to movie scores and soundtracks, and even vintage jazz and classical music has its place in my heart and in my record collection. But not at the track: when I’m racing, whatever I’m listening too, it has to MOVE! I want a beat as hard as nails, whether that’s produced by a Roland 808 or a drum machine or a sweaty shirtless stud banging the skins: something base and animalistic, something that makes it impossible to stand still!
Now c’mon race fans, I can’t be the only one who does this! I know that some of you other basement racing drivers are rockin’ out with your favorite go-fast tunes when you’re down in your man-caves at your own tracks! So hot ‘bout it, fellow slot-heads? What are you scoring your races with??
Mix tapes does take me back! I had them for all situations, my driving mix (many of these!), study mix, relaxation mix …etc. I remember those endless hours listening to the radio waiting for that one song I desperately wanted, waiting for that perfect moment with cassette set and fingers at the ready to capture the song (without the annoying DJ intro talking over it, of course!)