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8 tracks

A

agreenbe

Guest
just out of curosity, does anyone still own an 8 track player? 8 tracks?
Which companies were considered the best brand for 8 track players?

Why were records and cassettes more popular when the 8 track was out?
 
> just out of curosity, does anyone still own an 8 track
> player? 8 tracks?
> Which companies were considered the best brand for 8 track
> players?
>
> Why were records and cassettes more popular when the 8 track
> was out?
>

I haven't had an 8 track player in ages, but two years ago a friend of mine bought a used 8 track player and started buying 8 tracks in antique stores for $1, then would get frustrated when half of them broke the first time she played them. I'd tell her that's why I collected records, not 8 tracks!!

The answers to your questions are here....

<a href="http://www.8trackheaven.com/">http://www.8trackheaven.com/<a>
 
> just out of curosity, does anyone still own an 8 track
> player? 8 tracks?
> Which companies were considered the best brand for 8 track
> players?
>
> Why were records and cassettes more popular when the 8 track
> was out?
>
I've had several 8 Track players in the past. They all sucked. Around 2000 I got a Montgomery Ward boombox with radio/tape/8 track and the 8 track player played the tapes very well with good sound quality.


I only own 1 8 track tape that I never listen to however.<P ID="signature">______________

AIM: JeremyA1069</P>
 
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that, yes, I still have an 8-track player... actually, it's a Realistic (Radio Shack) TR-80 player/recorder. I don't remember very many recorders on the market, but this was one of the things that I wanted when I was getting one.

I actually got this in 1977 and 8 tracks were on the fast track out by this time. Being a high school student, I didn't have a lot of money and one of my friends whose father worked for Buick had a whole lot of tapes that they would include with in the purchase of new Buick. The tape was called "Free Spirit '77".

Having this recorder, I would record over these. I had several airchecks that I recorded on this, including 1979 WSPB "Wonderful 106" (AC) Sarasota, FL, and WMGQ (Magic 98.3) New Brunswick, NJ (also 1979 and AC). Interestingly enough WMGQ is still Magic and playing AC. But, they don't play those jingles that I loved back then.

It was only a few years ago that I finally took the airchecks off the 8-tracks and put them on CD.

I don't ever remember 8-tracks really having that much market share. They were mainly in cars and that was about it. The albums of the day were always less expensive on records. So, between the higher cost and most people not being able to listen out of their cars, well. But, I remember cassette players taking over in cars around then, and many people had some form of cassette player at home. I had mono cassette players/recorders since 1972.

The other thing that was really annoying about 8 tracks is that many (all?) had no rewind or fast forward. You could jump between program tracks 1, 2, 3, or 4, but there was no easy way to go back or forward (I do remember someone having a fast forward on their though - I think).

Another annoying thing that would occasionally happen is that the aluminum strip that was put on the tape itself would sometimes fall off. This is how the playing would know that to switch to the next track. So, when that would happen, you would have to manually switch it once you heard the first track starting over again, meaning you would miss the beginning few seconds of the song on the second track.

Overall, 8-tracks were just not that convenient.

Now, it doesn't surprise me that "foreverchanges" friend had 8-tracks breaking 2 years ago. These things didn't hold up well over time. I forget why, but I know it says on 8trackheaven.com, most of my tapes needed some sort of repair before I was able to get the airchecks off successfully.

I don't recall many of the brands of tape at the time, but I do remember Ampex.

So, now you know that I'm an old fogie. Thanks for the bit of nostalgia ;-)
 
> > just out of curosity, does anyone still own an 8 track
> > player? 8 tracks?
> > Which companies were considered the best brand for 8 track
>
> > players?
> >
> > Why were records and cassettes more popular when the 8
> track
> > was out?
> >
>
> I haven't had an 8 track player in ages, but two years ago a
> friend of mine bought a used 8 track player and started
> buying 8 tracks in antique stores for $1, then would get
> frustrated when half of them broke the first time she played
> them. I'd tell her that's why I collected records, not 8
> tracks!!
>
> The answers to your questions are here....
>
> http://www.8trackheaven.com/

I have a used one too that I purchased at a garage sale, one of those Panasonic stereo's with the 8 track player/recorder built in.

When I was a kid my friends parents had a Fisher stereo with the record player/cassette recorder/8track recorder all in one. When I got older, at my first job at the local restaurant, the owner played 8 tracks on the restaurant sound system. Stuff like the "singing cowboys" etc. I decided to record an 8 track "mix tape" for the restaurant since I couldn't stand all that old Gene Autry and singing cowboy stuff the owner always had playing. I recorded Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and other "outlaw" and newer country stuff that I could find on that 8 track... Anyway, the restaurant kind of rocked on Friday and Saturday nights when "my 8 track" played. This was in the early 80's... times have changed... a LOT.

BTW the 8 track I made was a 90 minute "Realistic" brand recordable 8 track from Radio Shack... wish I still had it, would be fun to hear again.
 
I never owned an eight track player. I do have one eight track tape. The disco version of Evita. I wish I could record it from the tape.

> just out of curosity, does anyone still own an 8 track
> player? 8 tracks?
> Which companies were considered the best brand for 8 track
> players?
>
> Why were records and cassettes more popular when the 8 track
> was out?
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
> I never owned an eight track player. I do have one eight
> track tape. The disco version of Evita. I wish I could
> record it from the tape.

Steven, If you want to send it to me, I'll record I'll put it on cd or cassette.
 
My grandmother had an 8-track player in her home hi-fi (1970/1980s). I don't remember who made it, though I remember the enormous silver contraption taking up 75% of the bookshelf. The phonograph was on top. It had a regular cassette player too.

She only had a few 8-tracks. I popped one in once (Conway Twitty) and I immediately popped it back out. She said she didn't like the 8-tracks because the songs would overlap the "programs", so halfway through the song, the audio would stop, you would hear a loud click, and the song would continue.

My parents never owned 8-tracks. My dad still uses the record player he owned in the early 1960s.<P ID="signature">______________
"Your solution is both fair and democratic ... and I want no part of it."

http://kcradio.tripod.com
http://zerwekh.hypermart.net</P>
 
I remember those hi-fi's.....they were quite big...but had everything you wanted on them....


Does anyone remember those stereo systems that were built into a wooden cabinent? They were long and had two speakers on each side and the console was in the middle.


I remember having an RCA stereo hi-fi that meatal swifal on the floor and had a blue cover with the console inside...my parents bought it at Simpsons dept store in Toronto back in 1975.

those were the days...


My grandmother had an 8-track player in her home hi-fi
> (1970/1980s). I don't remember who made it, though I
> remember the enormous silver contraption taking up 75% of
> the bookshelf. The phonograph was on top. It had a regular
> cassette player too.
>
> She only had a few 8-tracks. I popped one in once (Conway
> Twitty) and I immediately popped it back out. She said she
> didn't like the 8-tracks because the songs would overlap the
> "programs", so halfway through the song, the audio would
> stop, you would hear a loud click, and the song would
> continue.
>
> My parents never owned 8-tracks. My dad still uses the
> record player he owned in the early 1960s.
>
 
> I remember those hi-fi's.....they were quite big...but had
> everything you wanted on them....
=======================================================================
An aunt had a beautiful cabinet system that had the record player(16/33/45/78)
and an am/fm/sw radio that had to "warm up" for about 30 seconds before you could use it.

That was the first unit I found that I could hear TV sound on.

I wanted it when she moved to a nursing home but my bride would have done something serious if I dragged it home.<P ID="signature">______________
"What's That?" "French Horns!"

</P>
 
> I have a used one too that I purchased at a garage sale, one
> of those Panasonic stereo's with the 8 track player/recorder
> built in.
>

I wonder if any company ever made a combo unit with 8-Track, Cassette and CD Player?
 
> > I remember those hi-fi's.....they were quite big...but had
>
> > everything you wanted on them....
===========> ============================================================
>
> An aunt had a beautiful cabinet system that had the record
> player(16/33/45/78)
> and an am/fm/sw radio that had to "warm up" for about 30
> seconds before you could use it.
>
> That was the first unit I found that I could hear TV sound
> on.
>
> I wanted it when she moved to a nursing home but my bride
> would have done something serious if I dragged it home.
>
I've never seen one of those that had SW on it! I love those big old hi-fi's that look like a nice piece of furniture...nothing sounds quite like those things. They are still out there, and sometimes they still work! Look in your local antique stores....
 
> I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that, yes, I still have an
> 8-track player... actually, it's a Realistic (Radio Shack)
> TR-80 player/recorder. I don't remember very many recorders
> on the market, but this was one of the things that I wanted
> when I was getting one.


Well, that makes 2 of us...I still have the Panasonic recorder I bought back in '71. Still works afaik, though I tossed all my tapes decades ago. Hung on to the recorder more as a collectors' item than anything else.

>
> The other thing that was really annoying about 8 tracks is
> that many (all?) had no rewind or fast forward. You could
> jump between program tracks 1, 2, 3, or 4, but there was no
> easy way to go back or forward (I do remember someone having
> a fast forward on their though - I think).
>

My recorder, and most players I've had all had fast forward. Due to the way the tapes worked there was no way to rewind them.


>
> I don't recall many of the brands of tape at the time, but I
> do remember Ampex.
>

I'm pretty sure most of the major tape manufacturers made them (Scotch, Maxell, BASF, etc.) Blanks were pretty widely available.

> So, now you know that I'm an old fogie. Thanks for the bit
> of nostalgia ;-)
>

There is a website for 8 track collectors <a target="_blank" href=http://www.8trackheaven.com>www.8trackheaven.com</a>.
 
My grandparents had a combination stereo, cassette and eight track console.
The stereo was quadraphonic stereo.


> My grandmother had an 8-track player in her home hi-fi
> (1970/1980s). I don't remember who made it, though I
> remember the enormous silver contraption taking up 75% of
> the bookshelf. The phonograph was on top. It had a regular
> cassette player too.
>
> She only had a few 8-tracks. I popped one in once (Conway
> Twitty) and I immediately popped it back out. She said she
> didn't like the 8-tracks because the songs would overlap the
> "programs", so halfway through the song, the audio would
> stop, you would hear a loud click, and the song would
> continue.
>
> My parents never owned 8-tracks. My dad still uses the
> record player he owned in the early 1960s.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Or look on ebay.

My grandparents had that type as well. It was huge and sounded oh so good. It was purchased around 1974 and I listened to WLNG on it all the time. Their house was six miles from the WLNG transmitter. I also heard WABC and one time (only one time) I was able to listen to WCBS-FM.


> I've never seen one of those that had SW on it! I love those
> big old hi-fi's that look like a nice piece of
> furniture...nothing sounds quite like those things. They
> are still out there, and sometimes they still work! Look in
> your local antique stores....
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
> I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that, yes, I still have an
> 8-track player... actually, it's a Realistic (Radio Shack)
> TR-80 player/recorder. I don't remember very many recorders
> on the market, but this was one of the things that I wanted
> when I was getting one.
>
> I actually got this in 1977 and 8 tracks were on the fast
> track out by this time. Being a high school student, I
> didn't have a lot of money and one of my friends whose
> father worked for Buick had a whole lot of tapes that they
> would include with in the purchase of new Buick. The tape
> was called "Free Spirit '77".
>
> Having this recorder, I would record over these. I had
> several airchecks that I recorded on this, including 1979
> WSPB "Wonderful 106" (AC) Sarasota, FL, and WMGQ (Magic
> 98.3) New Brunswick, NJ (also 1979 and AC). Interestingly
> enough WMGQ is still Magic and playing AC. But, they don't
> play those jingles that I loved back then.
>
> It was only a few years ago that I finally took the
> airchecks off the 8-tracks and put them on CD.
>
> I don't ever remember 8-tracks really having that much
> market share. They were mainly in cars and that was about
> it. The albums of the day were always less expensive on
> records. So, between the higher cost and most people not
> being able to listen out of their cars, well. But, I
> remember cassette players taking over in cars around then,
> and many people had some form of cassette player at home. I
> had mono cassette players/recorders since 1972.
>
> The other thing that was really annoying about 8 tracks is
> that many (all?) had no rewind or fast forward. You could
> jump between program tracks 1, 2, 3, or 4, but there was no
> easy way to go back or forward (I do remember someone having
> a fast forward on their though - I think).
>
> Another annoying thing that would occasionally happen is
> that the aluminum strip that was put on the tape itself
> would sometimes fall off. This is how the playing would
> know that to switch to the next track. So, when that would
> happen, you would have to manually switch it once you heard
> the first track starting over again, meaning you would miss
> the beginning few seconds of the song on the second track.
>
> Overall, 8-tracks were just not that convenient.
>
> Now, it doesn't surprise me that "foreverchanges" friend had
> 8-tracks breaking 2 years ago. These things didn't hold up
> well over time. I forget why, but I know it says on
> 8trackheaven.com, most of my tapes needed some sort of
> repair before I was able to get the airchecks off
> successfully.
>
> I don't recall many of the brands of tape at the time, but I
> do remember Ampex.
>
> So, now you know that I'm an old fogie. Thanks for the bit
> of nostalgia ;-)
>
I have a compact stereo system that I bought at Sears about 20+ years ago with 8=Track, dual cassette, turntable, and AM/FM. I recorded alot of "Gary Lockwood's Police Blotter" from KJR-AM during that time period, which I could say launched my aircheking hobby. I later went on to record KUBE 93FM and KPLZ-FM in the later 80's & early 90's. BTW, this was all done on cassette. Now, the system sits, gathering dust in a corner of my apartment.<P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
> I remember those hi-fi's.....they were quite big...but had
> everything you wanted on them....
>
>
> Does anyone remember those stereo systems that were built
> into a wooden cabinent? They were long and had two speakers
> on each side and the console was in the middle.
>
My parents had one of those. It had an AM/FM reciever, turntable, and a slot for LP's. That was way back in the day(mid 60's). At that time several models with TV were also available.
<P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
The only Shortwave consoles I've ever seen were older (50s/early 60s) and were European-made.

To answer another question that came up earlier, no I don't believe a cassette/8-track/CD unit has ever been manufactured. 8-tracks offically died a number of years prior to CDs coming out. 8-tracks fell from grace by the late 70s and CD players started appearing in Hi-Fi shops around the winter of 1984/85. Columbia House was the last source for pre-recorded 8-tracks (as well as open-reel tapes) into the early '80s --not counting Reader's Digest polka anthologies sold to the 80+ demographic.
 
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