Hot Mixmania

Yesterday, July 31st, was one of the hottest days of the year in the Chicago area. Today, August 1st, promises to be at least just as hot as the day before, if not hotter. Like yesterday, I have a day off work today, which means that I won't have to go outside and brave the incredible heat. Nonetheless, I guess this is the perfect time for a Hot Mixmania.

When I found out that the Mixmania theme for August would simply be “hot,” I didn't really know what I was going to do. I thought about doing a hot mix as in “sexy” or “sexual.” I decided against that idea. Then, I realized that I didn't have much time left and I needed something. So, I settled on a type of mix I hadn't really done before. All the songs are linked through their titles. Each song's title has a variation of either “fire,” “burn,” or “hot.”

Here's my song list for Hot Mixmania, with some comments:

1.“Fire” by The Ohio Players: What better start to this mix with than a great song such as this?

2.“Burn” by Usher: I wasn't a big fan of Usher's last album, but I like this song.

3.“Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer: How many mixes will this song be on?

4.“On Fire” by Lloyd Banks: I am far from a G-Unit fan, but I have to admit that this song really grew on me. I love that beat!

5.“We Be Burnin'” by Sean Paul: Part of me wishes I had put the “Legalize It” version on this mix for some odd reason.

6.“This Fire” by Franz Ferdinand: Never heard Franz Ferdinand's sophomore album, but I really enjoyed their debut.

7.“Make It Hot” by Nicole feat. Missy Elliott and Mocha: Whatever happened to Mocha?

8.“The Roof Is On Fire” by Rock Master Scott And The Dynamic Three: We all know the chorus, but how many people actually have heard the original song? I'll be honest and admit that I had never heard the original song until I did this mix.

9.“Burning Down The House” by Talking Heads: Ah, an 80's classic.

10.“Firestarter” by Prodigy: The song that introduced much of the world to Prodigy.

11.“Drop It Like It's Hot” by Snoop feat. Pharrell: Snooooooooooooooop!

12.“Through The Fire” by Chaka Khan: The song Kanye turned into one of his best songs.

13.“Fire” by Busta Rhymes: Busta's “Fire” samples The Ohio Players' “Fire” which is the first song on this mix.

14.“We Didn't Start The Fire” by Billy Joel: When I took American History in High School, my teacher played this song for us and gave us a handout with the lyrics. We studied the song to find all the references.

15.“Fire And Desire” by Rick James and Teena Marie: If I'm not mistaken, this is the song that Rick James and Teena Marie performed in their final performance together on the 2004 BET Awards.

16.“Farewell Fire” by Boards Of Canada: I love the way this song mimics a campfire in that it just gradually gets fainter and fainter until it just completely goes out.

Props to Jim, as always, for organizing this. All of you stay cool out there.