Cassettes

I originally addressed this issue in a blog from 2008, when cassettes were still a dead and obsolete format.  Now, after vinyl, cassettes are making a comeback.   I addressed the vinyl comeback in 2014, now I’ll tackle this second resurgence.

First, I’d like to address vinyl one more time.   I think I’ve found the reason so many people swear that vinyl sounds better than CD.  Rather, two reasons.

“The Emperor’s New Clothes.”   The Vinyl Prophet cynically believes that arrogantly asserting a counterintuitive claim – “I’m wearing clothes when it appears I’m not” OR “vinyl is superior to CD” – can be achieved with a surplus of confident arrogance.  “I know something you don’t!” i.e. only people as smart as I am can recognize that I’m right. 

There is NO logical reason why vinyl should sound better than CD.  CD technology is more advanced – digital, from the 1980s and later – whereas vinyl technology, in the form of 33 1/3 RPM LPs, dates from the late 1940s, and the basic technology dates from the early twentieth century.   180 grain vinyl is still the same technology, just a thicker slab of vinyl, that’s all.  It’s purely analog no matter how thick the vinyl.

“Thank you, Colorado.”  Another reason may be that the listener is enhanced by THC.   You can’t listen to vinyl in your car, at the gym, walking down the street.  You have to listen to it at home, on a turntable going through a stereo.  When you’re at home you’re also at liberty to indulge in any herbal remedies you might otherwise enjoy in that private environment.  Combine the two together and you have a rich and enjoyable musical experience, but perhaps also the erroneous conviction that vinyl is better than CD.   Nope, that’s the THC talking, another example of what I call “recreational stupidity”.  Not that weed makes you stupid, temporarily or otherwise, but to non-stoners it may appear that way, especially when you utter faux-profound statements under the influence which impress only others feeling the same way.

Cassettes.  Back to these.  In the 1950s, the prevailing methods of listening to music were vinyl and reel-to-reel.  Neither of these were practical for cars, which up to this point were limited to radios.  Bill Lear, of Lear Jet fame, invented 8 track cartridges (the “car” in “cartridge” referring to automobiles) expressly for the purpose of having a format which was practical in cars.  By 1962, Phillips had invented cassettes, and by the late 1970s cassettes defeated 8 tracks as the preferred format for car stereos. 

Cassette Deck.  I have a Pioneer dual deck, which I wound up removing since I wasn’t listening to tapes anymore.  It still works, it’s just gathering dust in my closet.  Crutchfield sells a TASCAM dual deck for $500 which will allow you to convert your cassette tapes into digital files. 

Car Stereo.  I got my driver’s license in 1986, and my first car, a 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier, in 1988.  It had a Delco (OEM) auto-reverse deck which worked most of the time.  My 1992 Pontiac Firebird (base model, loaded with all the options) had a deluxe tape deck, my 1992 Pontiac Firebird Formula 350 (only option: the 5.7L V8) the bare bones OEM tape deck, which I replaced with a Pioneer unit from Crutchfield.   I remember my buddy Phil with his early 70s Mercedes 450SLC with only a radio.  Aside from hearing Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” for the first time thanks to either DC101 or 98 Rock, mostly the distinction was not having a tape deck. 

My current car, a 2009 Dodge Charger, has the stock CD player.  I’m seeing cars these days from the factory with no CD player at all, just AUX and USB inputs for iPods, etc.  Fortunately Crutchfield is still around… 

Boom Box.   A large, portable cassette deck with big speakers.  Ostensibly de rigeur for those whose relatives originally came from Africa and now prefer to share their urban-oriented music with everyone else within earshot, you could of course boom anything from a boom box:  “Sinner”, by Judas Priest, or classical music should you be so inclined.  But not everyone will appreciate your sharing….

Walkman.  In the early 1980s Sony came out with the Walkman, the first practical and popular personal cassette player with headphones.  I got one for my confirmation (Catholic thing) gift.  It kept my school bus journeys in high school more fun, then later trips on the SNCF (French railroad, local commuter lines) to school as well.   With headphones, this meant that unlike a boom box, you could enjoy your music more discreetly without involuntarily inflicting your particular taste in music upon everyone else around you.   

Mix Tapes.  If you’ve seen “Guardians of the Galaxy” you’ll notice Star Lord (Chris Pratt) has his mix tape and even in the distant future, across galaxies, keeps a cassette deck – probably the only one in the universe – for the express purpose of listening to his cherished tuneage.  Before CD-Rs came by, this was a major selling point for cassettes.  I myself made a few, a Heavy Mix and a Ram Air Mix.  Maybe someday they’ll use mine for the third GotG movie’s villain to inflict Black Sabbath, Sleep, and other noxious stoner rock upon everyone.

FYI, here are the mixes for GotG1 and 2.  The story is that his mom made these of songs she liked, and he keeps them because they remind him of her.   Sadly, with all the great bands around during the 70s to choose from – Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Grand Funk Railroad, KISS, etc. – his mom had to listen to the following mediocre mom-rock tunage. “Awesome Mix”?  Not even close.  See below:

GotG1.  Hooked on a Feeling (Blue Swede); Go All The Way (The Raspberries); Spirit in the Sky (Norman Greenbaum); Moonage Daydream (David Bowie); Fooled Around and Fell in Love (Elvin Bishop); I’m Not In Love (10cc); I Want You Back (The Jackson 5); Come And Get Your Love (Redbone); Cherry Bomb (The Runaways); Escape (The Pina Colada Song) (Rupert Holmes); O-o-h Child (The Stairsteps); Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell).

GotG2.  Mr Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra); Fox on the Run (The Sweet); Lake Shore Drive (Allotta James Jeremiah); The Chain (Fleetwood Mac); Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke); Southern Nights (Glen Campbell); My Sweet Lord (George Harrison) (a good song, but come on – not his best); Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) (Looking Glass); Come A Little Closer (Jay & The Americans); Wham Bam Shang-a-Lang (Silver); Surrender (Cheap Trick); Father and Son (Cat Stevens); Flash Light (Parliament) (I’d have gone with “Maggot Brain”); Guardians Inferno (The Sneepers).

Comeback.  Speaking of stoner rock.  Those bands seemed most inclined to release their material on vinyl.  Case in point, my most recent acquisition, SLEEP live at Third Man Records, a 4 LP set.  Now in addition to vinyl, these bands are releasing their material on cassette.  As noted above, there are plenty of useful idiots pedantically claiming that vinyl is a superior format to CD and digital.  The next person who expresses any such opinion with regard to cassettes will be the first.  So far as I can tell, this is an indulgence purely for nostalgic purposes. 

Of my own collection, a recent review shows that 95% of what I have on cassette I have on CD.  Of the 5% remaining, that’s almost all bootlegs, which I haven’t listened to in ages – one Pink Floyd, a few Blue Oyster Cult (1976, Eric Bloom bitching to Carter about the 55 mph speed limit), Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc. – and few mix tapes.  The little boom box I have next to my bed has a tape deck, so I should listen to these again….