I am an 80s baby. Born in 1983, I grew up in the 80s. Yes, I might have been a young lad, not knowing what music meant, but when I was old enough, I was drawn to the early sounds, the sound of my youth. I did fall in love with music toward the end of this decade, but that didn't stop me from loving everything made in the 80s. I'm now nearly 40 (next year), and whenever I'm working from home with the wife (who was born in 1989, so she's only a 80s baby for a few months), we always play 80s or 90s music. Sometimes, when we do feel a bit frisky, we might go for 2000s music, but most of the time we are in the two decades that defined us.
The 80s were glorious. A bit more colourful. The music was 'innocent' and fresh, and you could tell that people were experimenting with new technology. No more guitars and drums, but a drum machine that could do all of that and more. The technology grew, and so did the music scene. It was the start of a new era for music, and the 80s became a distinctive sound. You can tell if something was made in the 80s or 90s just by listening to it.
I am always happy hearing music from the 80s. It's just so beautiful, 'simple', but efficient. Music was more innocent (with the odd track here and there talking about inequality, etc). And sometimes very cheesy. But the cheese fest would only happen in the 90s, and really flourished then. The 80s was a decade for great music. Some of the biggest bands in the world made their finest songs in this specific decade.
Before I dive fully into my youth and what I used to wear (t-shirt with that 7-Up cartoon on it/ cheap sneakers/ colourful pants/ too brightly coloured jeans, etc) or what I used to watch as a kid on an old Philips TV set, let's talk about this mix. The mix in question was only uploaded a few days ago, and has already reached thousands of listeners. So what is this mix all about? Well, it's music from the 80s, remixed. Only slightly. Nothing really dramatic, and you can still tell who made the original, but it's slightly made more 'upbeat'. Some of the songs could have easily been released in 2022, but they weren't.
A nice mellow throwback to the 80s, with some 2022s technology applied, to make them a bit sleeker, and at some stages, even sexier.
The DJ in question had a mix like this a few years ago, and got positive feedback. Now, in 2022, he decided to do a follow up mix, and he used the following tracks to make it work:
Junior - Mama Used To Say (Dr Packer Remix)
Dr Packer feat Kenny Thomas - I Found Lovin'
Kenny Thomas - You Are In My System (Dr Packer Remix)
Pointer Sisters - Automatic (Dr Packer Re-Edit)
Imagination - Just An Illusion (Dr Packer Remix)
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling (Pete Herbert Edit)
Animation - Obsession (Dr Packer Acid Mix)
SOS Band - Just Be Good To Me (Dr Packer Remix)
Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World (Dr Packer Remix)
Luther Vandross - Never Too Much (Michael Gray Remix)
Mantronix - Gotta Have Your Love (Dr Packer Remix)
Grandmaster Melle Mel - White Lines (Dr Packer Rework)
Freeze - IOU (Dr Packer Remix)
Colonel Abrams - Trapped (Dr Packer Remix)
George Duke - Reach Out (Dr Packer Rework)
David Joseph - Can't Hide Your Love From Me (Dr Packer Rework)
Jocelyn Brown - Love's Gonna Get You (Dr Packer Remix)
Darren Giles feat Suki Soul - Don't Turn Your Back
BB & Q Band - Dreamer (Michael Gray Remix)
Duran Duran - Girls On Film (Da Lukas Rework)
Human League - Love Action (Dr Packer Rework)
Chaka Khan - I Feel For You (Dr Packer Rework)
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls (Michael Gray Remix)
Change - Searching (Dr Packer Remake Of Parkside Mix)
Evelyn Champagne King - Love Come Down (Dr Packer Rework)
Princess - I'll Keep On Loving You (Dr Packer Rework)
Miami Sound Machine - Dr Beat (Dr Packer Rework)
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Around (Dr Packer Rework)
Human League - Don't You Want Me (Dr Packer Rework)
New Order - Blue Monday (Dr Packer Rework)
Block & Crown, Paul Parsons feat Daniel - Smalltown Boy
Sylvester - Don't Stop (Dr Packer Rework)
Sylvester - Do You Wanna Funk (Dr Packer Rework)
Laidback - White Horse (Dr Packer Rework)
Prince - Erotic City (Dr Packer Re-Edit)
Yello - Oh Yeah (Dr Packer Rework)
I have to give the 80s some credit: I've typed many tracklists, but this is the only one with the least amount of 'spelling' issues. Words that Windows doesn't recognise, so credit for all the artists involved. But it's not just about spelling, but it's all about the music. Is it any good?
The short answer to that is 'yes'. Me and the missus just came back from a few days in Clacton, and on the way there and back we listened to this mix, and both of us were pleased. Very pleased. And we even burst into a sing and dance. Dr Packer has selected the big hits from the 80s, that's for sure. Heavy hitters, as the kids would like to call them. Just look at the tracks and the artists who made them, and you know you will have a great 3 hours ahead! (yes, this mix is 3 hours long!).
It's a trip down memory lane, but the trip has become a bit smoother, and more suitable for the dancefloors in 2022. We could get the younger generation on the dancefloor and dance to the tunes we grew up with. How cool is that? Unless they say something as dumb as 'who is Paul McCartney' and 'Kanye is going to make him big'. If I hear that, it makes me feel old, and it makes me cringe. The artists in this mix are certified, and are all amazing artists. They are already legendary, and this mix does their status justice.
I am sitting here, smiling from ear to ear, and nodding my head up and down. Can't go too crazy, I am still WFH. But yeah, I'm feeling this mix, and it takes me back. Back to the golden years for me, when I was too young to understand the world, and was happy in my own bubble. Dr Packer did a marvellous job in composing this mix and adding his own reworks and remixes to this. I am really a fan of this kind of remixes: making a song sound slightly different, but still making sure it doesn't lose any of the original elements. Just a tiny bit of dance music added to it, and voila: you've got a dancefloor hit!
Too many great songs to choose from, so I won't. But you should check this mix out, even if you weren't born in the 80s. If you don't like this, something's wrong with you. But I've got faith in you, and hopefully this will increase your craving for 80s music. You can thank me later, after you've checked this mix.
DJ: Dr Packer
Genre/Style: 80s, Dance, Electronic
Mix Info: 80s Remixed Part 2
Length Mix: 03:06:59
Tracks: 36 (thirty-six)
Download/Listen (via Soundcloud): CLICK HERE
File Size: unknown
File Type: unknown
Release Year: 2022
Audio: unknown
Sample Rate: unknown
More Information: Dr Packer - Soundcloud Channel