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Jerry Lee Lewis: "They don't call me the killer for nuthin'..."

By Noah Mallin

Back in the old days I was known as something of a mixtape maven, making knees knock in the lunchroom with inspired pairings of, say, James Brown and Camper Van Beethoven. It turns out that lost art is alive and well and like Michael Jackson choreography - at its height behind bars.

The New York Times by way of Billboard, Reuters and a side route through BoingBoing among others report on one music distributor that isn't staggering around at death's door.
Granted they specialize in pre-recorded cassettes and not mixes but their business is expanding when big record companies are contracting -- and with an "obsolete" format no less. Why? They market to America's ever-growing prison population. Nothing says "Be my bitch" like some homemade hootch and an Anne Murray cassette.

Why not CDs? It's simple, CD's can be broken into handy little neck-threatening shards. If you've ever tried strangling someone with cassette tape you'll know it's not terribly effective. According the the nation's paper of record:

"Best-selling current titles include Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III," Mariah Carey's "E=MC2," Usher's "Here I Stand," Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad," Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons," Leona Lewis' "Spirit" and Lyfe Jennings' "Life Change."

Perennial sellers include Al Green's "Greatest Hits," Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory," Michael Jackson's "Thriller," Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" and a best-of collection by the Stylistics."

Hey, prisoners listen to the same crap as the rest of us!