I haven't seen eight-track tapes or cartridges for sale in a good while. Wikipedia indicates they were popular in the U.S. until the early 1980s. I thought they went the way of the dodo bird earlier than that date. Wishful thinking on my part, I guess. The photo from Wikipedia also shows the innards of an eight-track tape. The magnetic tape was its weak link. It got chewed up in the player, ruining the eight-track for any further plays. I remember seeing the shiny furls of magnetic tape along the shoulders of highways to the eight-tracks that had been pitched out the windows by disgusted motorists. People sometimes bash progress and yearn for the good old days. I was nothing but thrilled when CDs showed up on the music scene and replaced the eight-track tapes. Your mileage may've varied with eight-track tapes, but that was my bad experience with them.
For some reason, I am still able to find a healthy supply of them at local thrift stores. It is sometimes surprising to see titles/artists that I thought were well past the 8 track phase right there in all their cumbersome cartridge glory-Michael Jackson and Foreigner come to mind as examples.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to a site dedicated to the ancient media: http://www.8-track-shack.com/index.php
Foreigner was a big 8-track band. I also remember Deep Purple and Bad Company found in everybody's van or car. I just have bad memories of spending a lot of money (not sure on price) and having the tape get chewed on the first play. Thanks for the link and comments, Greg. I enjoyed them.
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