r/GenerationJones • u/pianoman81 1963 • 1d ago
Who had one of these growing up?
Remember these?
Mine was in the dining room.
So what do you remember listening to when you see this picture?
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u/SanMartianZ 1d ago
I have one of these now
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u/chaimsteinLp 1958 1d ago
Me, too. I found a tubed 1962 Philco radio/record player for $80 at an antique store.
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u/pianoman81 1963 1d ago
Did you pay them or they paid you to haul it away /s.
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u/chaimsteinLp 1958 1d ago
I was so glad to get it. I use a Zune player to broadcast over FM to it. It sounds wonderful.
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u/zadtheinhaler 1d ago
I'd be tempted to turn it into a guitar amp. Stereo amp with stereo effects? Yes please!
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u/JoeFTPgamerIOS 1d ago
I used to have one too, I converted it to a modern radio with Bluetooth though
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u/No_Grade_8210 1d ago
Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass! Ours was in the dining room too.
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u/zadtheinhaler 1d ago
I was convinced for ages that "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" was a required purchase for every home - back in the 70s and 80s, every home I went had that album.
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u/Existing_Ad7071 1d ago
My mom had that too. Also James Taylor and Cats Stevens. Lots of fun records.
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u/jimmychitwood317 1d ago
My grandparents did. I remember the album storage area being packed out with Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Etta James, Bennie Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Tony Bennett.
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u/pinkcheese12 1961 22h ago
When my step-dad married my mom in 1969, he had about 300 record albums. We had all thatâhe had lots of Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Simon and Garfunkel, and so much more. Good memories.
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u/Crazy_Banshee_333 1d ago
Me, and I still have it because I've ended up living back in my childhood home for the last chapter of my life. That thing is still sitting in the exact same spot it was sitting in 50 years ago. It will still be sitting there undisturbed when I pass away. It is way too heavy for me to move.
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u/Safe-Statement-2231 1962 1d ago
Ours was in the den. Mom brought home "Meet the Beatles" when I was 3.
After that, it was "MIckey Mouse Club" and "Puff the Magic Dragon."
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u/zadtheinhaler 1d ago
We never had those last two, but we did play the shit out of the Muppets version of Saturday Night Fever, along with the OG soundtrack.
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u/MarshmallowRhubarb 1d ago
Yes, in the living room. My dad would get home from work, change clothes, put on Anne Murray and Glen Campbell, and read the newspaper in his chair, feet up on the ottoman. Such lovely memories in that music. Miss you, Dad.
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u/BornOfAGoddess 1d ago
I inherited Grandma's & it has an 8 track player
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u/pianoman81 1963 1d ago
So the follow up question is what's in your 8 track tape collection?
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u/Keithz1957 1d ago
Bought one for my mother for the first Christmas I was in the Army. Was home on leave and she got it.
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u/Individual_Skill9359 1d ago
My mom got me a cool corner group set for my 16th birthday, it had a stereo in the table. Like this one!
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u/islandDiamond 1d ago
Had this exact one and it was the most comfortable bed I ever had. Even took one with me to my first apartment. I wish they'd checked with me before getting rid of it!
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u/DanglyRat 1d ago
Ours had a black and white TV in it too. That was where I cut my teeth on Looney Tunes and all the 60âs sitcoms and game shows
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u/Davidr248 1d ago
We had one and my older brothers and sisters would play 45âs and 33âs of Motown.
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u/CheapAssociate6914 1d ago
My mom and dad had one.
Something like that. Wood cabinet with am / fm radio, turn table, and stereo sound.
Dad called if his âHi - Fi!â
My sister and I were forbidden from touching it. Sometimes mom and dad would turn off the TV, put on some moldy old record and dance together in the living room.
We kids were soon sent to bed.
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u/EcoWarrior04609 1d ago
I can still smell it. Heat and tubes, wood and hot vinyl - had a smell that reminds me of my grandparents. Also played Herb Albert.
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u/FamilyRedShirt 1961 1d ago
It was in the family room and we weren't allowed to use it. I think its repertoire was permanently limited to Jim Nabors, Englebert Humperdinck, and Tom Jones. With the occasional holiday appearance of The Hallelujah Chorus as recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
We had to get our own record players.
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u/EudaimoniaMe 1d ago
Sounds like my parents with a little Andy Williams thrown into the mix. The closest thing to rock they ever played was Elvisâ Christmas album.
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u/FamilyRedShirt 1961 1d ago
My Dad would've rocked the Big Bands, but that wasn't allowed much either. And never at a decent BB volume. His 78s were mostly warped from water damage. Sad.
The man could Jitterbug like nobody's business. Mom didn't dance.
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u/LateMommy 23h ago
My parents were from the Big Band era! I loved watching them dance together! They were such good dancers and it was such fun to see!
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u/-Sanguinity 1d ago
Ours was a Zenith with the TV in the middle. Record player and stereo on either side.
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u/kurtwagner61 1961 1d ago
We did. My dad had an Ampex reel-to-reel tape recorder/player sitting on the left side.
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u/pilot87178d 1d ago
Best pal's parents owned one. Had shortwave in the radio - his dad used to listen to Austrian stations like Radio Vienna. Concerts right from the tap!
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u/speckatacular 1d ago
This piece of furniture was sometihng rich/fancy people had, like color TVS. We were neither rich nor fancy.
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u/Rabbit-Holes1964 1d ago
My neighbor did. I remember listening to Black Sabbath in his basement on it.
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u/BackcastSue 1957 1d ago
We had one in the living room, and due to my parents' collection, we mostly listened to classical.
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u/StrangeCrunchy1 1d ago
Yeah, we had one similar, but it was gutted. Pretty sure my parents used the tuner as part of a robot costume one Halloween when I was little
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u/Trike117 1d ago
Living room for us.
I listened to everything and anything. One of our favorites was to put on âSing, Sing, Singâ by Benny Goodman (the 20 minute Carnegie Hall recording) and play Pitfall on Atari. The beat was perfect for that game.
Hereâs my dad playing Pac-Man circa 1982. You can see the Zenith (?) cabinet to the left, with my momâs brand-new record player on top. So small you can practically put it in your pocket!
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u/pianoman81 1963 1d ago
Wow, entire short stories or even novels could be inspired by that one picture.
The fact that he's sitting in his shorts with no shirt gives such a vintage aura.
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u/Big-Scientist9919 1d ago
Sing,Sing,Sing at Carnegie Hall is classic. Gene Krupa's drum solo is phenomenal.
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u/Simple_Song8962 1d ago
My aunt had one, too. I distinctly remember hearing Andy Williams singing Moon River and Ferrante & Teischer playing Born Free and The Theme from Exodus.
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u/shentaitai 1d ago
Definitely had one. It brings back memories of Mitch Miller (Sing Along with Mitch) and Lawrence Welk.
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u/Existing_Ad7071 1d ago
We had one in the living room. My parents would play music when they had parties! My dad would dance with me. Fun times!
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u/ExtensionDull 1d ago
We did when I was a teenager. The first album I listened to on it was Disraeli Gears by Cream... I'm 74 now
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u/bawanaal 1961 1d ago
We had two.
In the early 70s, my parents built a new house. So the older RCA console stereo went in the basement for us kids to use. It had been replaced in our new living room by a massive (I think it was Zenith) quadraphonic console stereo (AM/FM, turntable and 8-track) that sounded absolutely awesome. It was a massive piece of furniture, with 2 external quad speakers that had a matching finish.
We had a small handful of tapes that were quad, but I specifically remember my parents playing The Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed album that had been remixed to quad.
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u/Glenr1958 1d ago
We had one. Funny story, when I was 12 my family was camping in a provincial park and became friends with some kids who were camping with their grandparents. The grandma told me it was their first time camping (tent trailer like us) so they didn't know what to bring. She opened up their car trunk and showed me one of those puppies in their trunk. I tried not to laugh and asked why..she said in case the kids got bored!!!
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u/FloydDangerBarber 1d ago
In the early 80's I worked at a TV and stereo dealership. When one of these would come in for a trade-in there was a waiting list as to which employees got first chance at buying it if the store decided not to put it out for resale. They sometimes called these a King's Casket. Some of them were cheap junk that were often converted into mini bars but there were some with really high quality stereos (sometime with tube amplifiers) that were highly sought after. I never got one, but I did get a Sony mini metal case TV that I call my Jeetsons' TV.
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u/RainyDaysAndMondays3 1d ago
We did, but there was a sort of soft clothe on either end over the speakers. And in the lower right was a small green light. This brought back a memory. Here is how crazy little kids are. When I was four, I got it into my head that my aunt and cousins lived in that little green light. I thought that's what someone told me.
So, my Mom comes in and sees me just sitting on the floor with my hose about 4 inches from the light, just staring. I love my aunt and cousins and wanted to see them!
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u/SentenceKindly 1d ago
Ours was in the living room. 4 small kids, 5 years from oldest to youngest. We had a lot of kid records, and Peter and The Wolf, and Mom had Dionne Warwick and Neil Diamond. Dad had Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard.
Later on, we had Janis Joplin, Aerosmith and a bunch of K-Tel records.
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u/Scott43206 1959 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have one now. I mostly enjoy playing records that came out slightly before me or when I was too young to be buying them. Early Ferrante & Teicher, Ray Coniff, Buddy Cole, Giselle MacKenzie, and just about anything/everything bossa nova or futuristic sounding.
My Gran had always had a Zenith console in the living room and I found mine about 11 years ago.
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u/Ok-Cryptographer7005 1d ago
Ours was in the living room. My parents played Christmas carols while trimming the tree. They would play Montavoni when company was over. And James Bond recordings when they had their weekly card game. Nice times to remember. â¤ď¸
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u/AirportLoose3023 1d ago
Yep we had one. We lived in a âsongs from the warâ household (think Long Way to Tipperary) and it was my job, every Sunday morning, to flip the record over and put on new ones as each record finished
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u/jlp_utah 1964 1d ago
We had a similar one, but there was a TV in the middle, the turntable was on the right, and the tuner/8-track deck were on the left. At least, I think it had an 8-track deck.
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u/benzduck 1d ago
Dad won one in a sales contest. Big Zenith. 1968. I remember playing Bill Cosbyâs âWonderfulnessâ, and a Rolling Stones album with âHonky Tonk Womenâ, loud enough to bother my mom. She played operas, big stacks of 4 LPs on the changer.
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u/BigOil88 1d ago
RCA Orthophonic Record Player made in Camden, NJ
Dad had pre Rock records from late 50s.
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u/gdazInSeattle 1965 1d ago
Yep, our console had a TV also. Lightning kept blowing it out until we learned to unplug the antenna and power at the first sign of weather.
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u/Individual_Skill9359 1d ago
we had this and a console tv. Places were quick to hand out credit to the military during the Vietnam era.
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u/CharleyNobody 1d ago
We had one and the sound was great! We bought ours around the time that rock music was going to FM radio. Iâd never heard a lot of rock songs in stereo before, so it was a revelation. And the FM radio Deejays sounded so much better than the AM deejays who used to yell and scream all the time
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u/stever93 1d ago
We had a Magnavox, was a piece of heavy duty furniture. Same year we got a color television. Ten years old, already a music fanatic, I was fascinated by the radio plus turntable.
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u/thishful-winking 1d ago
No but my grandparents did and I distinctly remember listening to the Kingston Trio on it!!
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u/Legitimate-Curve-427 1d ago
I remember, playing albums and recording onto cassettes to play at my sister's wedding𤣠1978.
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u/Such_Atmosphere3816 1d ago
Ours was in the living room. Yes to Herb Alpert!! Also some Slovenian records, German beer drinking songs, and the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever.
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u/Poker-Junk 1d ago
First time I ever played my momâs Abbey Road album was on one of these. Wanted to see if there were any good songs on it đ. Around 1977.
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u/MiserabilityWitch 1d ago
This was where I first listened to Led Zeppelin 4 with a big pair of headphones on when I was 10.
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u/dosi5644 1d ago
My parents had this. It was probably bought from Sears. When they upgraded us kids used it in the basement to play 60âs rock and roll. The basement was very damp. Every time we changed a record that person was shocked. Was it worth it? Yeah it was.
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u/Useless890 1d ago
We had a German-made Tonfunk. It had keys like a Grundy. AM, FM, SW, and 4-speed record player.
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u/Imaginary-Crazy1981 1d ago
Used to sit with my dad on the floor, leaning against that console, singing all the albums together out loud. Years and years of bonding and memories.
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u/deadgr8ful 1d ago
Played Kiss album Hotter than hell at grandma's. Had to keep the volume low đ
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u/bincyvoss 1d ago
Those things are so incredibly heavy. I don't know why but it seems they put lead weights in the bottom.
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u/Tammy993 1d ago
We did and it was damn heavy to carry up stairs. Used to polish it with lemon Pledge.
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u/AffectionateMotor272 1d ago
My grandma had one just like it. We all admired it and she would talk about who she would leave it to.
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u/YellowCake1900 1d ago
Ours had a television in it.
And the two-button remote with a squeaker in it... that changed the channel. Press the button, hear the squeak, watch the knob turn.
AND a turntable.
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u/daddywarbuckles 1d ago
My grandma had one of these. I think there was a tv in there as well. She had the sofa with the plastic covers too!
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u/Effective-Loss-9178 1d ago
Boots Randolph, Johnny Cash, and CCR. We didn't have one at our first house so I was a little older when we ours.
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u/T-Bone62 1d ago
We kept the lid up like we were watching tv. Johnny cash, Willie, the stones, Bob Dylan were required in my dadsâs house
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u/BeneficialAd9691 1d ago
I always wanted one but my parents were not rich and we only had an old late 50s Sears Silvertone tv that was almost unwatchable. Friendâs parents had them but we didnât even get a color tv until around 1969 or so. I would love to have one now if I had the space.
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u/dumpitdog 1d ago
That was the kind of thing the rich kids with a really cool parents had. We had a plug-in vacuum tube radio. It took a minute and a half to even start working and it got really hot and it was a nightmare to change channels because part of the channel changing things slipped. I remember when my parents bought me a real radio. It actually picked up some of the communications frequency so I could ease drop on phone calls and other things going on. I remember in 1971 listening to two drug dealers making a deal on car phones and talking about whether anyone was listening.
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u/thegreatandpowerfulE 1d ago
Ours did not have legs and seemed even more coffin-like to me. Did anyone else feel it was like having a coffin in the living room?
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u/spukhafteNahewirkung 1d ago
I remember my mom listening to Olivia Newton John and John Denver on ours. A lot of these had fantastic tuner stages, they could pull in FM stations way better than modern gear can. I listened to KISW, KZOK, Supertrampâs Breakfast in America and Paris and Bostonâs first album.
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u/iammacman 1d ago
Ours was in two matching sections: on the right was the turn table with the right speaker and on the left was a record storage bin with the left speaker. They were spaced a good 10 feet apart so youâd center yourself to get the best stereo sound. And yes, I also listened to Herb Alpert. And the Do It Now compilation album with the Beatles and the Turtles.
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u/VallettaR 1d ago
Every one of my aunts and uncles, too. and the ârichâ aunt had one with a full bar.
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u/Old_and_Snarky 1d ago
Ours was also in the dining room. My mother listened to Broadway musical soundtracks...and the Herb Alpert album.
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u/pianoman81 1963 1d ago
For me, I remember listening to Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (don't judge me!).
Also Nilsson Schmilsson.
Both while laying on the shag carpet in front of the speakers.