By Randy Richardson

What does a century of futility musically sound like?

There's always been a little bit of Rob Gordon in me. For those who don't know, Rob Gordon is the character John Cusack played in the wonderful movie adaptation to Nick Honrby's jewel of a novel High Fidelity. Rob, a record store owner, has a single-minded passion for music and that passion pours out into the mix tapes he compiles.

Mix tapes are, in some respects, a lost art form. The music industry's shift away from vinyl records and cassette tapes to compact discs spelled the end of the mix tape era.

But in its wake a new version of the mix tape has arisen. The ability to instantly download songs from digital music services such as iTunes or Rhapsody and to copy them on to CDs has brought new life to the mix tape. You can mix and match songs any way you like, although now they call them playlists rather than mix tapes.

And that's what I've done for you, the long-suffering Cubs fan. I've put together a Soundtrack for a Century, or How to Get Your Cubs Groove On. The songs I've selected are a mix of old and new and follow, to some extent, the Cubs and their 100-year history since their last World Series championship. Most of the songs can be downloaded through any of the major digital music services and for those that are not available digitally I've provided links to where you can find the song on CD.

1. Go, Cubs, Go by Steve Goodman
2. All the Way by Eddie Vedder
3. Finally Next Year by Ides of March
4. When the Cubs Win the World Series by Cleaning Ladys
5. Here's To You, Men in Blue by J Ritz & A. Petrowksi (with 1984 Cubs team members)
6. Hey, Hey, Holy Mackerel by the John Crawford Jazz Band
7. It's a Beautiful Day for a Ball Game by Harry Simeone Chorale
8. A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request by Steve Goodman
9. Curse of the Billy Goat by Chuck Brodsky
10. Just One Bad Century by Ted Norstrom
11. Baseball's Sad Lexicon by Steve Vozzolo
12. When the Cubs Go Marching In by Steve Goodman
13. Take Me Out to the Ballgame, 9-21-97 - Harry Caray, WGN TV (Harry's last time singing at Wrigley)

Randy Richardson, author of Wrigleyville murder-mystery Lost In The Ivy, is a Regular Loser. He is a frequent contributor to Chicago Parent magazine and his work has recently been anthologized in Chicken Soup for the Father and Son Soul and Humor for the Boomer's Heart. He serves as president of the Chicago Writers Association.