Whato Adam
First, thanks for the listen, you must have felt a bit older after the listen, not because of reminiscing about the '80's, but you actually were after 8+ something mins of mashup...
'Don't Try' didn't start out to have any mini-covers in it, they just 'appeared', I tried a few ideas and these seemed to fit best, and added interest to the main theme of the tongue twisters, Caz's Vox were pretty much first takes, it was very revealing to hear what was going through her mind when she addressed the mic.
I still love the intricate drums on 'Teardrops', I had a drum pattern that sounded similar, so I took a listen to the original and although it sounds constant, it actually changes quite a bit during the intro. so I wanted to build that feel.
These 'Parsley-o-rama' mashups format to me is like a Shakespeare play, there needs to be a main plot and sub-plots also memorable moments (To be or not to be..) hooks, the main plot being the TT's, the sub plots that emerge and cross were, the mini covers, the guitar fills (needed to be sing-able), and the re emerging drums, and of course Caz's Vocals.
There's hooks from all of these, I found myself singing some of the TT's (not the Polish, not the Thai), one particlular guitar fill, but of course the mini-covers are hooks themselves.
Although I worked on it for months, I still like listening to it.
Our Price, I remember them, love just fingering through the albums, listening to whatever was on the speakers, as you say Adam, looking out for Yellow 'reduced' stickers. Thanks for the memory,
Regards
cpm