8 Track Flashback

[Vintage]

My first cassette deck was an under-the-dashboard Muntz and it and my case of cassettes got ripped off after I moved to Toronto. My second cassette deck was an in-dash Craig Powerplay. When an opportunistic punk took my CCM Super Tacks skates and my second case of cassettes when I carelessly left my car door unlocked on a residential street back in London, I didn't lose the deck.

It was quite common back in the old days that either your deck or tapes got stolen. I remember in 1975, I was riding in a guy's van to the Long Beach Arena to see Led Zeppelin. I don't remember the guy's name (he was a friend of a friend), but I remember he was big.

One of the other guys in the van didn't have a ticket, so he jumped out to go find one as we were pulling into the parking lot. He came back with a floor seat that only set him back $10. That ****** off the big guy, cause we were sitting in the nosebleeds (I paid him $20 for my ticket). Then, after the show, we get back to van and all his 8-tracks had been ripped off. We rode home in silence.

 

[Dave78]

"Unload"? I would think you'd treasure both the music of your youth and artifacts from your youth yet you're using a word that implies that all that stuff is worth less than just a quick buck to you. If I were in your position, I'd be looking to add to my 8-tracks.

Well of course I treasure the music of my youth. That is precisely why I quickly replaced all my 8-Track tapes with vinyl when I began buying record albums just a couple of years later -- then cds to replace the vinyl just ten years after that.

But while the tapes themselves have sentimental value (which is why I would likely keep a few), I really have no interest in buying more music for an outdated (as I see it) format (especially when that would require me to also invest in a player).

But if some Camero restoration lover is in the market for 8-Track tapes on Ebay to play in his sweet ride, I'd be happy to help him out. For a fair price of course.

 

[Dave78]

It was quite common back in the old days that either your deck or tapes got stolen. I remember in 1975, I was riding in a guy's van to the Long Beach Arena to see Led Zeppelin.

The Long Beach Arena was a terrific place for a concert. A small 12,000 seat venue with better acoustics than the larger 20,000 Forum in South Los Angeles. I saw a few concerts there in the late 70's, but, yeah... the area was real run-down back then so vandelism there isn't a big surprise to me.

Do you remember when Led Zeppelin sold out the Forum for seven consecutive nights in '76 or '77? I should Google it, but I recall that set a record for the place.

I had my car stereo ripped out from under the dash of my car (as well as an EQ in the glove box), but that was at the L.A. Coliseum for the USC/UCLA game in '80.

 

[Magic]

When I bought my orange Datsun truck with a camper shell and **** carpeting, I had my new 8-track player properly installed in the dashboard.

Vintage,

You have given me a totally new outlook and visual of "who" you are

that is kinda cute

 

[Vintage]

The Long Beach Arena was a terrific place for a concert. A small 12,000 seat venue with better acoustics than the larger 20,000 Forum in South Los Angeles. I saw a few concerts there in the late 70's, but, yeah... the area was real run-down back then so vandelism there isn't a big surprise to me.

Do you remember when Led Zeppelin sold out the Forum for seven consecutive nights in '76 or '77? I should Google it, but I recall that set a record for the place.

I had my car stereo ripped out from under the dash of my car (as well as an EQ in the glove box), but that was at the L.A. Coliseum for the USC/UCLA game in '80.

Yes, I remember the 1977 tour very well. I always thought it was six nights at the Forum, but it could have been seven. I went two nights at the Forum: the night Keith Moon showed up and sat in, and the final night (night 6 or 7). I also saw them the week before in San Diego. I was a bit of a Zeppelin freak back in those days.


Saw many shows at the Long Beach Arena too -- Black Sabbath, Foghat, Black Oak Arkansas, Queen, BOC, Van Halen, and dozens more. They still have shows there once in a while. I saw Dylan there about three or four years ago. Of course, the area is much nicer now.



BTW, love the KMET avatar, Whoo-ya!

Vintage,

You have given me a totally new outlook and visual of "who" you are

that is kinda cute

Uh-oh...
***:

 

[Hepcat]

That is precisely why I quickly replaced all my 8-Track tapes with vinyl when I began buying record albums just a couple of years later -- then cds to replace the vinyl just ten years after that.

Well the latter part was certainly a mistake anyway. You can't necessarily trust the record companies when they say that their new technology is better.

 

[Hepcat]

That is one fine looking beast Hep, I would take that over any 8 Track player.

Another is the Pioneer CT-93 cassette deck which incorporated the state of the art Dolby S Noise Reduction system and was marketed in the 1990-1993 period:

 

[LG]

That is a nice deck for sure, but I don't use the Dolby NR ever when I am recording, except if it's an old vinyl album that I can't replace and has too much surface noise.

It is kind of sad in a way that the tape being made by companies like Maxell(Their S-Series is stunningly good) were the best ever offered, but it didn't stand a chance when CD-Burners hit the market. I still mess around with my Yamaha deck it will last me a lifetime.

 

[Hepcat]

Here's an early ad for Panasonic's 8-track player. How wrong they proved to be!

 

[Dave78]

Yes, I remember the 1977 tour very well. I always thought it was six nights at the Forum, but it could have been seven. I went two nights at the Forum: the night Keith Moon showed up and sat in, and the final night (night 6 or 7). I also saw them the week before in San Diego. I was a bit of a Zeppelin freak back in those days.


Saw many shows at the Long Beach Arena too -- Black Sabbath, Foghat, Black Oak Arkansas, Queen, BOC, Van Halen, and dozens more. They still have shows there once in a while. I saw Dylan there about three or four years ago. Of course, the area is much nicer now.



BTW, love the KMET avatar, Whoo-ya!



Uh-oh...
***:

Vintage- you are correct that Led Zep played six nights at The Forum. From Wiki:

Between 1970 and 1977, Led Zeppelin played at the Forum 16 times (their live album How the West Was Won was partly recorded at the venue), including a run of 6 sold-out dates in 1977; one of these shows comprises the famous bootleg Listen To This Eddie.

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KLOS and K-WEST were pretty good rock stations back then, but wasn't KMET simply awesome?!?! Jim Ladd, Paraquat Kelly, "the burner" Mary Turner, etc. ***:

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