but actually preferring the cassette sound? That's just dumb.
The cassette sound is warmer than the CD sound, which is soulless.
it's not just the sound, it's the format which prevents me from embracing it like i do vinyl and CD's. i remember when the ROIR label was around, and they used to run ads BOASTING about the fact that they were putting out nothing but cassettes (this was in the '80s), with no vinyl equivalents. even back then, this triggered a GTFOOHWTBS reaction from me.
i did briefly buy prerecorded cassettes in the late eighties-early nineties, but that was mainly so i could have something to bump in my Walkman. hey, there's a Lightnin' Hopkins tape on sale at the campus bookstore bargain bin? cool, ill just kill time before my Mass Communication class and listen to it. apart from that...
When I worked at a record store I was always amazed when people would come in and sak for tapes. Happened a few times a month actually. I can understand needin somethin to bump in the ride out of necessity, but actually preferring the casette sound? That's just dumb.
during my record store years, it was mainly the teenagers at the nearby high school who bought tapes. this would have been during the transitional years of '92-'96...by the time i left, CD's were outselling the tapes two to one.
i pulled out my cassettes ahead of a fairly recent move. don't have very many prerecorded ones. i'm not sure what happened to all the ones i used to have. most of the ones i have now were mixes made by me, my friends, or people i used to trade tapes with. i try to listen to a couple a week. sometimes it can be like reading an old journal--what was i thinking when i was into that enough to put it on a tape? ultimately, it brings back lots of good and bad memories, and gives me a chance to revisit my past.
when it is time to listen to music, my niece walks right past the records and cds and grabs a tape. she likes taking them out of/putting them in the cases, ejecting the cassette deck, hitting buttons on the stereo that click, etc. the only problem is that she also likes to pull the tape out. i've spent a lot of time trying to teach her how to wind the tape back in.
Looking back, I guess an 18-year-old punk rocker walking around downtown blasting "Fight the Power" at top volume probably looked like a tool, but I was having a good time.
The fast-forwarding thing might be annoying, but its seriously not THAT terrible. Like dude said, don't we all listen to hour-long mp3 mixes at 128k?
so we can all agree then that the only use for tapes is for making mixes?
although it's true: cassette fire does abound for dirt cheap. my local store has a bunch of turkish psych and cumbia cassettes for about $3 each - they've been around for months now. i don't have a cassette player, but i'm always tempted to cop regardless.
i don't have a cassette player, but i'm always tempted to cop regardless.
I passed on a oldass Ron G mixtape and the DJ Jimi tape at a thrift store recently and had to go back and grab em a few days later cuz I regretted it.
I don't have anything I can play them on though, and I still don't care about tapes in general (had no problem dismissing them as soon as CD burning became cheap/available).
blank tapes are okay, but prerecorded tapes = a big HALE NO
there was a period in the '80s, before everybody switched over to CD's, when cassettes threatened to take over the market from vinyl. i'm glad it didn't!
tapes are okay as a secondary thing, but as a vinyl/CD substitute?? my God, any format where you can't choose the song you want to listen to is just flat-out WEAK. "wow, I wanna hear the third song on side two!" - and then you gotta fast forward or back up to the song in question. no, the cassette is not something i can feel nostalgic about.
Absolutely. I remember being pysched about getting my first CD player precisely because of the new-found ability to actually play whatever song I wanted to hear, then and there.
Absolutely. I remember being pysched about getting my first CD player precisely because of the new-found ability to actually play whatever song I wanted to hear, then and there.
I need to get some more tapes for my van - 3 too shorts, 'ironman', charley patton & brian eno are not enough
comptons most wanted, 'meat is murder' & prince 1999 I had to banish as not being worth repeast listens
I like the bass that comes from tapes.
I'm rockin' Bad Religion "Suffer", Too Short "Shorty the Pimp", Snoops "Doggystyle", Conway Twitty's Greatest, James Brown Greatest, and Colors Soundtrack tapes in my 68' Mustang tape deck, its the reason I love to drive it.
I bought a sealed Willie D "Goin Out Lika Soldier" tape at a Goodwill in the 90s that turned out to be a BLANK bootleg (with print on the shell & everything). Still the only time I've ever seen that album in any format (other than the dub that I first heard it on).
i pulled out my cassettes ahead of a fairly recent move. don't have very many prerecorded ones. i'm not sure what happened to all the ones i used to have. most of the ones i have now were mixes made by me, my friends, or people i used to trade tapes with. i try to listen to a couple a week. sometimes it can be like reading an old journal--what was i thinking when i was into that enough to put it on a tape? ultimately, it brings back lots of good and bad memories, and gives me a chance to revisit my past.
when it is time to listen to music, my niece walks right past the records and cds and grabs a tape. she likes taking them out of/putting them in the cases, ejecting the cassette deck, hitting buttons on the stereo that click, etc. the only problem is that she also likes to pull the tape out. i've spent a lot of time trying to teach her how to wind the tape back in.
I would never pop the tabs on my tapes and would invariably end up accidentally hitting the record button and dropping a second long blank spot into my songs.
i pulled out my cassettes ahead of a fairly recent move. don't have very many prerecorded ones. i'm not sure what happened to all the ones i used to have. most of the ones i have now were mixes made by me, my friends, or people i used to trade tapes with. i try to listen to a couple a week. sometimes it can be like reading an old journal--what was i thinking when i was into that enough to put it on a tape? ultimately, it brings back lots of good and bad memories, and gives me a chance to revisit my past.
when it is time to listen to music, my niece walks right past the records and cds and grabs a tape. she likes taking them out of/putting them in the cases, ejecting the cassette deck, hitting buttons on the stereo that click, etc. the only problem is that she also likes to pull the tape out. i've spent a lot of time trying to teach her how to wind the tape back in.
I would never pop the tabs on my tapes and would invariably end up accidentally hitting the record button and dropping a second long blank spot into my songs.
i've done that as well. my niece has certainly increased the number of blank spots on those tapes.
a friend of mine used to send me a new tape every month or so. sometimes he'd be too broke to buy a new tape, so he'd do the tape, band-aid, etc. over/or paper in the popped tab trick. it was always a bit of a bummer when i realized that the tape he recorded over was one i recently sent him! dude has no shame.
he was going through his old tapes recently and listening to one that i sent him. curious as to what i thought was worthy of going on a tape at the time, i asked him what was on it. he told me a few songs and then said, "i don't know what else you put on there. i taped over the crappy songs with songs from a beastie boys album."
also, a couple of months ago i discovered a copy of tape i made for girl i knew. that shit was kinda embarrassing. it was mad emotional.
Comments
it's not just the sound, it's the format which prevents me from embracing it like i do vinyl and CD's. i remember when the ROIR label was around, and they used to run ads BOASTING about the fact that they were putting out nothing but cassettes (this was in the '80s), with no vinyl equivalents. even back then, this triggered a GTFOOHWTBS reaction from me.
i did briefly buy prerecorded cassettes in the late eighties-early nineties, but that was mainly so i could have something to bump in my Walkman. hey, there's a Lightnin' Hopkins tape on sale at the campus bookstore bargain bin? cool, ill just kill time before my Mass Communication class and listen to it. apart from that...
during my record store years, it was mainly the teenagers at the nearby high school who bought tapes. this would have been during the transitional years of '92-'96...by the time i left, CD's were outselling the tapes two to one.
not me
The TDK MA-XG w/ the reinforced tape frame to reduce vibration,along w/ the Metal was incredible.
TDK SA,SA-X 110 min were my shit.
I used to love going to the wreka sto and seeing all the different types.
b/w
Making a tape for a ladyfriend > CDs/etc.
when it is time to listen to music, my niece walks right past the records and cds and grabs a tape. she likes taking them out of/putting them in the cases, ejecting the cassette deck, hitting buttons on the stereo that click, etc. the only problem is that she also likes to pull the tape out. i've spent a lot of time trying to teach her how to wind the tape back in.
All day every day.
forever.
my turntables are hooked up to a tape deck and i still use a walkman (havent gotten an iPod).
Looking back, I guess an 18-year-old punk rocker
walking around downtown blasting "Fight the Power"
at top volume probably looked like a tool, but I was
having a good time.
so we can all agree then that the only use for tapes is for making mixes?
although it's true: cassette fire does abound for dirt cheap. my local store has a bunch of turkish psych and cumbia cassettes for about $3 each - they've been around for months now. i don't have a cassette player, but i'm always tempted to cop regardless.
I passed on a oldass Ron G mixtape and the DJ Jimi tape at a thrift store recently and had to go back and grab em a few days later cuz I regretted it.
I don't have anything I can play them on though, and I still don't care about tapes in general (had no problem dismissing them as soon as CD burning became cheap/available).
Absolutely. I remember being pysched about getting my first CD player precisely because of the new-found ability to actually play whatever song I wanted to hear, then and there.
I was already used to that - with records ...
I like the bass that comes from tapes.
I'm rockin' Bad Religion "Suffer", Too Short "Shorty the Pimp", Snoops "Doggystyle", Conway Twitty's Greatest, James Brown Greatest, and Colors Soundtrack tapes in my 68' Mustang tape deck, its the reason I love to drive it.
This is worth some loot isn't? Anybody need it?
Another reason I hate tapes.
I would never pop the tabs on my tapes and would invariably end up accidentally hitting the record button and dropping a second long blank spot into my songs.
i've done that as well. my niece has certainly increased the number of blank spots on those tapes.
a friend of mine used to send me a new tape every month or so. sometimes he'd be too broke to buy a new tape, so he'd do the tape, band-aid, etc. over/or paper in the popped tab trick. it was always a bit of a bummer when i realized that the tape he recorded over was one i recently sent him! dude has no shame.
he was going through his old tapes recently and listening to one that i sent him. curious as to what i thought was worthy of going on a tape at the time, i asked him what was on it. he told me a few songs and then said, "i don't know what else you put on there. i taped over the crappy songs with songs from a beastie boys album."
also, a couple of months ago i discovered a copy of tape i made for girl i knew. that shit was kinda embarrassing. it was mad emotional.