As a child of the '80s who came of age in the '90s, I am more or less an outsider to most of the 21st Century's popular music. Of course, I occasionally discover pop hits from more recent years which make an impression on me, to the point where I get ideas for new mashups on the spot. This happened yesterday when I was refilling some prescriptions at Walgreens and then buying sandwiches for my family at the Subway next door. At both stores, the radio introduced me to mid-2010s pop songs which fit eerily well with each other, and I immediately knew what I had to do. Listen for a callback to one of my earlier mashups, a brief cameo from the legendary Rick Astley, and a musical selection from one of my personal favorite games for the 8-bit Nintendo. (Shout-out to my man Seiji Toda!)

Here's a list of everything I used here:

Shawn Mendes - Treat You Better
Magic! - Rude
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar - Bardic Ballad
Montaigne - My Life Is Better with You
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Muse - Starlight
Billy Joel - My Life
Tears for Fears - Break It Down Again ("Worldbuilder" Soundmark)

...thanks a lot, Ellie Spectacular. Because of your extensive video and mashup library, any song that mentions the words "my life" will never fail to remind me of Australian rocker Montaigne's exuberant exclamation of "MY LIFE!"