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Sp: Fear & loathing cross the country listening to my 8-trak
| Edgy DC Oct 09 2009 09:45 PM |
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[quote="metsguyinmichigan"]Seriously, eight-track tapes. What the hell were they thinking? Was the idea that they would play continously without having to be taken out and turned over? |
| RealityChuck Oct 10 2009 06:37 AM Re: Album of the Day |
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[quote="metsguyinmichigan":1adv2fqm]Seriously, eight-track tapes. What the hell were they thinking? Was the idea that they would play continously without having to be taken out and turned over?[/quote:1adv2fqm] They worked in cars and, at the time, had better fidelity than cassettes. The big problem was fitting the songs on an album into four equal pieces. Especially when the songs were supposed to be played in a particular order. As for Rush, the only thing I find outstanding about them is their mediocrity.
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| soupcan Oct 10 2009 04:02 PM Re: Album of the Day |
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[quote="metsguyinmichigan":14y8eww8]Seriously, eight-track tapes. What the hell were they thinking? Was the idea that they would play continously without having to be taken out and turned over?[/quote:14y8eww8] I think one of the things they thought would make 8-tracks popular was the 'program' option (was it even an option?). That if an album had 12 songs you could listen to a group of 4 over and over without rewinding or fast forwarding through the ones you didn't dig.
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| Edgy DC Oct 11 2009 04:04 PM Re: Album of the Day |
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When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band released Live/1975-85 in 1986, there was an 8-track tape edition, and we thought it pretty goofy, as none of us had really seen any new releases on 8-track since 1982. I guess BS still had friends driving around in Chevy vans with 8-track players that he was trying to look out for. I bet a copy of that edition in good shape is worth a pretty penny right now. Probably one of the only boxed sets that ever came out on 8T.
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| RealityChuck Oct 11 2009 07:35 PM Re: Album of the Day |
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[quote="soupcan":gnste4pd][quote="metsguyinmichigan":gnste4pd]Seriously, eight-track tapes. What the hell were they thinking? Was the idea that they would play continously without having to be taken out and turned over?[/quote:gnste4pd] I think one of the things they thought would make 8-tracks popular was the 'program' option (was it even an option?). That if an album had 12 songs you could listen to a group of 4 over and over without rewinding or fast forwarding through the ones you didn't dig.[/quote:gnste4pd] Not an actual option, though you could do it if you pressed the track button multiple times. But it was highly unlikely that any four songs would be all ones you liked, and anyway, people back then liked listening to albums from start to finish. I don't know anyone who ever skipped over songs. You bought and played the entire album. I never heard anyone complain about some of the songs being bad; if you didn't like (or, at least, didn't mind listening to) all the songs on an album, you didn't buy it.
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| Kong76 Oct 11 2009 07:51 PM Re: Sp: Fear & loathing cross the country listening to my 8-trak |
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The 8 track's car usage was nice while it lasted, but god they sucked. A song would be on, and then fade out, and then resume on the next track. I can't remember what I had for lunch two days ago but I could probably tell you on a Pink Floyd Animals song I have in my head right now exactly where it faded and then picked up again. ha ha charade you are
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| Frayed Knot Oct 11 2009 07:55 PM Re: Sp: Fear & loathing cross the country listening to my 8-trak |
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There weren't a lot of things I was on the "cutting edge" of back in the day but foreseeing the advantage of cassettes over 8-tracks was one of them. Never liked 8-tracks, never owned one.
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| RealityChuck Oct 12 2009 11:45 AM Re: Sp: Fear & loathing cross the country listening to my 8-trak |
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Well, eight tracks were used because they were a proven high-end technology. Radio stations at the time had all their music on 8-track; they were perfect because they didn't require cuing up. You slammed the cart (as we called them -- short for "cartridge") into the player, pulled a lever to lift the capstan, and pressed "Play." It would play the song, get to the end and stop automatically. I used to wind them myself from time to time when I needed a particular length. I remember taking a couple of songs from my own copy of Dark Side of the Moon and putting them on the air that way. Consumer 8-tracks were slightly different. You didn't have the capstan lever. Also, the carts usually only had two tracks, though they were the same size as 8-tracks -- you fit two tracks of music onto the same space as 8. Cassettes were certainly more convenient, but had the disadvantage of a slower tape speed (IIRC, 8-tracks were 3 3/4 ips; cassetts were at 1 7/8 ips). Slower speed meant lower fidelity and worse tape hiss (before Dolby became common). The audio on cassettes was generally not acceptable, whereas 8-tracks were studio quality.
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