07/17/2026
This is the first mixtape I ever received in the mail, c. ~1995 from Jimmy Callaway of Apple Pie Hubbub zine (Track list in 3rd panel and comments below ⬇️). I wrote to Marc Masters about this wondrous audio adventure for his book, High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette — please check out his book for context. This tape basically changed my life. Had it not been for mixtapes, and later, mix CDs shared via postal mail with soooo many friends near and far, I probably wouldn’t have thought to join my undergrad station and be the DJ and person that I am now. Would I have found another route to connect to others through music? Probably, as music is such a universal human experience. But different media/modes might have led to communities that would have shaped me into a different person altogether.
At the time I shared my personal mixtape story with Marc, I didn’t have the tape in hand, just the indelible memories. Recently, I was delighted to rediscover this tape and others in storage at my parents’ home.
Such a treasure trove of to excavate and reflect on… And opportunities to reconnect. I lost contact with JIMMY CALLAWAY, so if you know someone with this name who was of the generation of 1990s disaffected youth from the area of Alpine/La Mesa/El Cajon/San Diego, please let him know I’m looking for him and want to say thank you for changing my life!