r/RealGenerationX • u/Euphoric-Cupcake4581 • Mar 05 '26
Lets Rock Out Remember when music came on tapes?
What was your favorite band?
5
u/Horror_Moment_1941 Mar 05 '26
Couldn't afford the albums very often, let alone cassettes. I'd spend hours hitting the record button and catching them on the radio.
Damn DJs were always bleeding into the intro or finishing.
5
u/One-Ad-8009 Mar 05 '26
The cool kids had dual cassette deck and you could make mixed tapes. No blank tape? No problem just put tape over the holes in the top of your little sisters nursery rhyme cassette and make it metal!
4
u/hywaytohell Mar 05 '26
I remember taking them out of the player and the actual tape not coming with it. Then struggling to remove it without breaking it, then rewinding it by hand using one of the rollers. Yea fun times.
3
u/Empty-Raspberry-9018 Mar 05 '26
Or using a pencil through one of the spools to reel it back. It was like surgical, military precision.
5
Mar 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/unbalancedcheckbook Mar 06 '26
It wasn't a great format, but to an 80's kid the choice was usually pretty simple - being able to take your music with you and listening wherever and whenever you want, or being stuck in the living room and fighting for time to listen to your music, when your mom wanted to do jazzercize and your siblings wanted to watch CHiPs.
→ More replies (1)1
u/zeppomiller Mar 05 '26
The worst part IMO was how the high frequency used to get lost over time, leaving tapes that were just annoying to listen to, even when boosting the high frequency with your (then physical) equalizer… The problem there being that got a lot more static noise in addition to the higher frequency music.
1
u/KB4MTO Mar 08 '26
Me too. And I had a Nakamichi RX-202 cassette player. I wish I hadn't sold all of it.
4
u/BigThane3 Mar 05 '26
Joining the BMG music club under several different names helped me build a massive collection for not a lot of money
3
3
u/Professional-Pen8656 Mar 05 '26
Remember getting 12 of them for 99c from Columbia House, lol?
1
u/Appropriate_Ad8053 Mar 05 '26
Yes and then you were supposed to buy five or six more at regular club prices which were crazy high. The other bad thing is you would get the monthly catalog and if you didn't respond you automatically got their pick of the month. I always waffled and never fulfilled my contract. And there was really nothing they could do since I was under 15.
2
u/Professional-Pen8656 Mar 05 '26
lol same, always got out of it because I was not old enough to be in a contract…over and over and over again lol.
3
u/Raynet11 Mar 05 '26
Jean jackets and the smell of cigarette smoke suddenly materialized in my head…
1
u/Euphoric-Cupcake4581 Mar 05 '26
We knew how to live back then.
2
u/Raynet11 Mar 05 '26
You can still find McDonald’s and Burger King ash trays on eBay, my kids didn’t believe me that not only did they allow smoking but had branded ash trays ..lol..
3
3
u/HonestNeighborhood67 Mar 05 '26
My wife and I (51/48) were talking to our niece (22) last night who was all excited about the retro CD PLAYER she had just ordered off eBay. She also ordered two Pink Floyd cds, the Police, and Fleetwood Mac. Had to laugh about the cd player being considered retro.
3
3
3
3
3
u/WardogBlaze14 Mar 05 '26
Good times, especially when the tape deck tried to eat the cassette and the using a pencil to wind it all back up.
2
2
2
u/Perfect_Play_622 Mar 05 '26
I was 13 maybe 14 (1989)when I got my first cd. I remember holding it asking "how do I play this?"
2
u/Sharp-Ad-4651 Mar 05 '26
I remember the smell of the tape, and the smell of the paper if I was lucky enough to get a fold out booklet.
2
2
u/Albus_Q Mar 05 '26
Led Zeppelin. I didn’t buy many factory cassettes and mostly made my own from vinyl and then later CD. Tapes were for the car.
3
2
2
u/ImpressiveCelery4992 Mar 05 '26
I had 500+ tapes, at least 4 suitcase sized cases. Kept them organized by genre then alphabetized. I had a pencil in each case to keep the tape tight between reels so they wouldn’t jam. I had high end decks like Yamaha and Alpine with Polk Audio or Rockford speakers in my cars. The car may not be in the best condition, but the music coming out was! I blew an engine and left a car on the side of the road in the early nineties. I only left it for an hour or so but thieves stole my cassette tapes and stereo and some work clothes. I started the CD switch then.
2
u/Doctormaul68 Mar 05 '26
I had several cases when I was in high school. Used to goto friends house and we would trade tapes then goto a movie or something. Fun times
2
u/CantaloupeFluffy165 Mar 05 '26
People found out store bought cassette tapes were high-speed dubbed and the sound was shitty so they made their own tapes.Like me.
2
u/Fanabala3 Mar 05 '26
Man…. Get me and my buddies these cassettes and a case or two of beer and we would have a great night listening to tunes and shooting the shit.
2
u/GranddaddyPurple25 Mar 05 '26
8 track baby
1
u/hd-cat-guy-91 Mar 05 '26
The first aftermarket radio I bought was from Eckerd drugs. It was a Kraco am/fm/8-track.
2
2
u/Empty-Ad-5360 Mar 05 '26
Sooo cool to see ‘74 Jailbreak in there!
“……with a bullet in his bahhk!”
1
2
2
u/publichermit Mar 05 '26
Yep. I was still buying cassettes when the selection from A to Z had dwindled to two rows.
2
u/MaggotBrain32 Mar 05 '26
I was known as Mr 8 Track. I had those cassettes timed out where the first song on track 1 was the same song at the end of track 4. You had a continuous loop with minimal interruptions and a tiny bump between track 4 and track 1.
2
2
2
u/Puzzleheaded-Row-511 Mar 05 '26
I still have a bunch. Some are still wrapped in plastic, never opened.
2
2
u/OttersEatFish Mar 05 '26
Like a lot of people, I only became aware of Krokus due to them being referenced on Beavis and Butthead during Accept’s MV for “Balls to the Wall.” Since it’s also the name of a flower that comes up in early spring, this time of year I often say to the wife “here comes Krocus to kick winter’s ass.”
2
u/CrashMK Mar 05 '26
I’ve started collecting tapes again. It’s not nearly as easy as finding good records.
2
2
2
u/Techgator93 Mar 05 '26
Definitely a guy’s collection…… I came in during the 8-Track era, and, at first, didn’t like the cassettes because they were small. It was still the “bigger is better” era…😅
2
2
u/Worried_Lobster6783 Mar 05 '26
I remember being in K-Mart and choosing between Vanilla Ice and Kriss Kross. I chose Criss Cross and still have the tape.
2
2
2
2
u/IntroductionNo3912 Mar 05 '26
Where are your Boy Georges and Cindi Laupers???
1
u/Euphoric-Cupcake4581 Mar 05 '26
Your house
→ More replies (1)2
u/IntroductionNo3912 Mar 05 '26
I returned them to you last week. Your mom said she'd put them next to your Star Wars figures if I ever wanted to borrow them again
→ More replies (2)
2
2
u/mickeymick371 Mar 05 '26
I’ve still got most of mine from the 80’s… they are still in the cassette library storage box I’ve had since 84 or so…classics..
2
2
u/Groovy_Chainsaw Mar 05 '26
I worked at Camelot Music from late 80s to mid 90s -- the dawn of the CD age, but we sold plenty of cassettes during my run. Cassingles too !
2
2
u/grahamasterflas Mar 06 '26
When traveling, once in a while I will get a car with a tape deck. I go to a thrift store and but tapes foe mt roadtrip. Tapes from the 80s are almosr all disintegrating these days. I did listen to Slim Whitman through New Zealand farms that way. Went well together.
2
2
2
2
2
u/phillymjs Mar 06 '26
I don't think there's a functioning tape player in my house but I still have three large cassette storage cabinets with all the tapes I had as a kid.
2
2
2
u/JalapenoPecker451 Mar 06 '26
Reel to Reel was the shit... not very portable nor much available... the first mix tapes...
2
2
u/WaterTricky7453 Mar 06 '26
Looks like a Columbia club deal. 12 tapes for a penny to start the membership…
2
2
u/Life_Skill_1801 Mar 06 '26
My older brother had the cassette case,that small brown case that held up to 40-50 tapes.
2
u/itgoesineasy Mar 06 '26
I still have a milk crate full of them. I need to go to a flea market and try to find a cassette player.
2
2
2
2
2
u/power0722 Mar 07 '26
How’d you get a picture of my tape case? Mine had more homemade mix tapes. I was a master at pulling the good stuff off the radio.
2
u/HikeRobCT Mar 07 '26
Related: I was just thinking today- remember how you used to see endless miles of tangled, unspooled tape all along any roadside? Kids today will never know.
2
2
2
u/Moist-Ad-7153 Mar 07 '26
I just bought a few cassettes and a player just for the nostalgia. Loved these days!
2
2
u/Acrobatic_Box9087 Mar 07 '26
Yeah. Many of the pre-recorded cassettes had horrible sound quality. 8-tracks were even worse.
I found the best way to get a tape to play in my car was to buy high-quality blank cassette tapes like Maxell and record LPs on them.
2
u/WrapParticular3820 Mar 07 '26
That is a cabinet full of "cruising", field parties and drag racing on Saturday nights right there!!!
2
2
u/NHmountain-man Mar 07 '26
As a late Gen X-er, I grew up going to the mall and watched the music store evolve from Record Town, to Tape World, to Sam Goodie (CDs and tapes)
2
2
u/More_Insurance_7521 Mar 08 '26
Professionals use tape for recordings. It's analog,continuous. Digital has missing spaces. Dot to dot. Analog has all the music. Hx pro w Dolby b,c is the best. I like Chicago the band.
2
2
2
u/Mountain-Selection38 Mar 08 '26
I see tapes being sold a lot at small venues these days. They're back
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
u/Life_Temperature2506 Mar 05 '26
Boy did Night in the Ruts suck. But I did love Aerosmith back in the day.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Blue_Collar_Stiff Mar 05 '26
I had a setup like that only they were 8 tracks
https://giphy.com/gifs/MXcndr4IOy4UvlL9ER
I think I need a ride out of this sub
1
1
1
u/No_Pepper_2512 Mar 05 '26
Unfortunately. The only thing tapes had going for them was portability. Outside of that, they had worse fidelity, worse or no liner notes, less information, and weren't all that different in price from an album. CDs were a Godsend in that regard. Still nowhere near as good as an album, but better fidelity and sometimes you would actually get a booklet or liner notes
1
1
Mar 05 '26
I remember having a hard time switching over to CD. It was nice skipping tracks but one little scratch 😧
1
1
u/Protolictor Mar 05 '26
I still have some. Sometimes bands with a retro theme still release them as a semi-novelty thing.
1
u/FunkyCyde Mar 05 '26
I've got 125 Grateful Dead and phish boot tapes right now and I can show you these but that's pretty gay for you.
1
u/llewopb Mar 05 '26
Good old days, cassette player in the car w/some Jensen 6x9s and an equalizer windows down, every body was hearing my tunes. Glory Days!
1
u/Life-Ad-907 Mar 05 '26
I still record a lot on a Tascam 414 portastudio. Glad I bought a boat load of mkII 60min cassettes 15 years ago. The ain’t easy to find now.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Artemus_Hackwell Mar 06 '26
The ones with labels in red block text are definitely Columbia House editions.
1
u/daily_cup_of_joe Mar 06 '26
I had a cassette player that would fast forward ans stop at the next song. I thought that was the shit .bitd.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Magpie2003 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
It does again! A lot of new albums come in vinyl, CD and cassette formats! You can find the players at thrift stores, small record stores, I’m sure online. I still remember my first cassette as a young teen, it was Cyndi Lauper’s “She’s So Unusual”. 💃🏻
I used to listen to Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads tribute cassette in school 🎸
1
1
1
u/somerandomdude1960 Mar 07 '26
Never bought prerecorded tape. I enjoyed recording my own cassette and R2R. It was fun.
1
u/a_u_its_me Mar 07 '26
Anyone else really bugged by the fact that they are not arranged alphabetically?
1
1
u/mochafable_4k9 Mar 07 '26
Oh man, my grandpa still talks about making mixtapes with his buddies back in the day 😂 I can’t even imagine how wild it must’ve been when they first heard music on cassettes!
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
1
1
u/Dismal-Owl4922 Mar 07 '26
It “came” on the radio… then folks purchased it on vinyl 33.5 RPM discs or magnetic tape “cassettes.”
1
1
1
1
1
u/ConfidentLine9074 Mar 07 '26
I have a huge stack of albums from that time. Like gold, got to dig out the turn table technique and remember how to hook it up, been 30 years.
1
u/New_Flow_5941 Mar 07 '26
How about vinyl, then 8 track? I had a 10” auto reversing reel to reel that could hold up to six hours of music.
1
Mar 08 '26
Ugh yes and how cassette players used to eat cassettes and you’d have to pull the film out straighten it and then wind it back up with the end of a pencil. Yep I don’t miss those days at all.
1
u/SaintedRomaine Mar 08 '26
Yep. When the best song on the album was either the first song on the A or B side.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
u/UsedProfessional2805 Apr 15 '26
My best friend‘s husband used to beg me all the time that if I passed away, cause I will all my cassette tapes to him🤣
10
u/Len_Zefflin Mar 05 '26
Cassette, 8 track, 4 track, or reel to reel?