Late last year I had to get our old Matsui tape deck and speakers down from t'attic.
I still play tapes especially at Xmas and our current player conked out. Matsui came to the rescue.
I like old tech like tape decks. There's the romance of their heydays. CD players just don't have it for me.
We bought the Matsui unit in the 80's in Farnborough. It was a Curry's own brand I think.
We used to copy tapes off mates and make mix tapes back then and taping cassettes was second nature having been doing it since the early Seventies.
Did you enjoy taping and do you still possess any cassettes?
I bought albums on tape rather than vinyl in the 70's. I don't have tapes now, but only a couple of years ago we bought a portable radio/cd player new from a major retailer and it had a cassette player as well! No idea why.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be 8 Track tapes coming back next Kev!
DeleteAnalogue music and vinyl has had a comeback, because it has a more natural sound, and, as records are not easily portable, analogue cassettes and players have also regained popularity.
ReplyDeleteMy son-in-law buys brand new LP's. Its like 1972 all over again!
DeleteStill got a lot of cassettes! I used to record all my vinyl purchases to cassette so I didn't wear them out - very sad, I know. I'd also record every John Peel show and save any tracks I liked - still got all those. When I was in a band with mates we had a 4-track recorder that used C60s and even our drum machine relied on cassettes for programming. Do I listen to or used any of these tapes now? Never! But I can't quite part with them...
ReplyDeleteDo you recall the Sinister Cleaners and the John Peel and the Ukrainians Paul?
DeleteThe Sinister Cleaners slipped past me but I remember Peel playing the Ukrainians A LOT! Wedding present off-shoot, I think...
DeleteYep. A mate of mine is their lead singer! They're still going!
DeleteLong gone. But prior to video I used to tape Top of the Pops and Gerry Anderson shows back in the 70s. I can still remember having to tell mum and dad to hush while I held the microphone close to the TV set. I also remember trying to get our budgie to shut up by chasing him round the room into his cage while I was recording an episode of UFO late one night. Lots of chirps on several recordings. Later on we got a TV that had a sound output socket that I could just connect the tape recorder into so no background noise. I also recall taping Star Wars in the front row of our Odeon on a C120 and having to keep an eye on when to turn the tape over. I wore that tape out playing it over and over again. Happy memories.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories Yorkie. I was chuckling about your budgie! ha ha
DeleteI got the Star Wars sountrack on cassette and regretted it shortly after, as I didnt get the gorgeous John Berkey death starvbattle poster, or decent suzed photographs onnthe sleeve inner!
ReplyDeleteIs that a gatefold album? I think I've sold a couple over the years.
DeleteI bought the vinyl but I think I only played it once. The real appeal was that absolutely fantastic Berkey poster. I played The Story of Star Wars a lot more but, again, the packaging was pretty much irresistible.
DeleteWish I hadn't sold them now Paul!
DeleteSometimes I regretted not getting the big album cover, then I found that for a modest charge, you could get WHSmiths to send of For an empty one. I did that for the Kate Bush ones.
ReplyDeleteWhaat?! I bought all my Kate Bush ones on vinyl, apart from that weird single she did with Larry Adler, which I came across as a cass-single. Got Kick Inside with my first weekly wage and Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds with my second Bill
DeleteI'm being thick. Why did WH Smiths sell empty album covers?
DeleteThey didn't, but they could order replacement covers from the distributors. I suppose to replace damaged ones.
DeleteAmazing!
DeleteWhat can I say? In my defence, I didn't own a record player! Didn't stop me buying the live on stage ep mind you.
ReplyDeleteBack around 2013, I had to buy a new used car, and that deprived me of my tape deck. I still have a lot of cassettes, but no cassette player hooked up. :/
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I can find most of the songs I want on YouTube and download them as MP3.
The same happened to us Scott. We had to sell out beloved Ford Focus Estate, a huge ship of a car with a .... tape deck! It was around the same time too! End of an era which we stretched out another decade at least! ha ha
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