Mixtape for the Backlot by Bob Mack

06/07/2025 14 min
Mixtape for the Backlot by Bob Mack

Listen "Mixtape for the Backlot by Bob Mack"

Episode Synopsis

I was back at the Pearl Hour at 214 Lighthouse Ave ( Former After Dark ) today. After we got home Darden and I were listening to old house and I remembered the music in the Backlot. Mostly it was current music videos that played, but I liked to change things up especially during the week. 1995 or 1996 - I dont know if Bob Mack ( Mack I called him ) even lived in the Monterey area or just visited often, but he was a regular at the After Dark on Thursday nights. He had explained to me that he had a magazine called Battle Royale that he ran with the Beastie Boys. I had no idea what he was talking about and didn't pay much attention. But Mack came in one night early and handed me a cassette tape that he had made from his old record collection, songs that he thought I'd like to play in the Backlot of the After Dark. The audio here is the first half of side A. I listened to that tape so many times that I was to replicate this part, down to the timing of space between songs. He was right, that over used old casstte tape filled with scratchy jazz records was perfect. I googled Bob and the magazine. I remembered it was Royal something. Turns out he wasn't lying. Battle Royale magazine was real and has a following. Bob Mack died in 2023. Such a loveable character that guy. 

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