Chronos is the first in my weekly mix series featuring 45s played at 33 1/3 speed. In this series, I share the goofy joys of slowing down both timeless classics and time-bound curiosities to yield what are often humorous and sometimes strikingly beautiful results. We’ll start off this week with a little tour of the ’60s.

1. Be True To Your School (45-33) | The Beach Boys
   1963
   Think: friendly douche bag as you “ra ra” along with the boys.
2. Set Me Free (45-33) | The Kinks
   1965
   The sinister, outsider stance often taken by the Kinks is amplified by the reduced speed.
3. These Boots Are Made For Walking (45-33) | Nancy Sinatra
   1966
   That little “Ha!” that Nancy does kills me every time.
4. Uptight (Everything’s Alright) (45-33) | Stevie Wonder
   1966
   Young Stevie has that high-end vocal that comes across pretty alright as a 45-33, with just maybe a smidge of Notorious B.I.G.’s “plummy, wheezy, humid” sound, as described in NPR’s 50 Great Voices series.
5. Tears Of A Clown (45-33) | Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
   1967
   Another high-pitched male vocal from Smokey, this time with some sort of New Jack swagger in the beat.
6. Respect (45-33) | Aretha Franklin
   1967
   Unexplained, you might just fool a friend into thinking this is just a regular, unheard cover by a male soul singer.
7. D-I-V-O-R-C-E (45-33) | Tammy Wynette
   1968
   Tammy has been transformed into the stereotypical yokel!
8. Going In Circles (45-33) | The Friends Of Distinction
   1969
   Also featured on “Collected 2014-Q3”, this is my “time is a flat circle” deep dive theme song.