We had some great radio in the late 60's-early 70's. If you lived near the middle of the US, you got WLS at night, the greatest rock and roll station in history, IMHO. But daytime was another matter.
The FCC directed WLS to throttle its power way back in the daytime. In my small town, FM was in the future. AM was country music. An honorable genre loved by its fans, it was hated by me.
That left one alternative: the portable eight-track player.
In this day and age of hundreds of hours of music that fits in a player small enough to clip to your belt, eight-track tapes seem prehistoric. But they were cool to own circa 1971. Sure, they faded in and out between switching tracks (creating some unique memories of songs that now don't quite sound right without it!) and were prone to breaking after many playings, but we still loved them.
Hundreds of thousands of portable players were sold so we could take our music with us wherever we went. Like the tapes themselves, they were of great mass. Big enough to run on four or more D-cell batteries, call them alpha-version iPods.
The coolest ever designed was the pictured Panasonic Plunger. Switching tracks was like blowing something up! Does that rock, or what?
Of course, portability meant not only toting a player. You also had a suitcase full of tapes to listen to. That meant somebody else had to carry the cooler and towels to the beach.
Eight-track tapes still have their fans, and some bands are even releasing new music in the venerable format! For everything you ever wanted to know about the plastic containers of music, visit http://www.8trackheaven.com/. Thanks to them for the Plunger photo!
Comments (2)
I had a red Panasonic portable eight track! It was nice to have something that small that was portable. I don't remember them being stereo? Eventually I found that the track 4 and 1 would mixz together! I guess the head in the eight track slipped after long useage? Being a product of the seventies, I have hundreds of eight track tapes that are useless now.Most, the heads desinigrated. 8 Track machines are harder to find. Most of my best music will be lost to eight track and even cassette tape.
Posted by Rivers End | May 27, 2009 4:17 PM
Posted on May 27, 2009 16:17
It sure was the portability of 8 tracks that sold them. They were less vulnerable than portable record players and records. NO scratches or skips. But they often became unplayable as Ron points out. But they were great when no other alternatives were around. I recall some of the first 8 tracks I had.
Allman Bros at Fillmore East
Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits
K-tel’s Believe in Music collection
Beatle’s Hey Jude
I had a couple of home recorded 8 tracks as well. Best of Bread, vol 1 and 2 together. And BTO’s Not Fragile.
Cassettes came along and got better and LPs were just hard to beat as long as you were home. They had more fidelity and clarity than cassettes were ever able to match, save a DBS recording system which only Panasonic/Technics seemed to offer. LPs continued to remain king till CDs came along. I held out for many years before I finally gave in, in about 94.
But I’ll never forget those few years of freedom with portable 8 tracks from about 72 to 74.
Also, there were times when one might find an 8 track sale for much cheaper than an LP. I got a few 8 tracks that way. You know you were a baby boomer if . . . you had 8 tracks for a while. I did!
Posted by Scott Irv | May 28, 2009 9:55 PM
Posted on May 28, 2009 21:55