Are cassettes becoming a thing of the past?

[willdav713]

You may have also seen certain "house brand" blank cassettes (Radio Shack's Realistic was probably the best known) Kmart had a very cheap, low-quality 3-pack. In Puget Sound, the Pay N' Save chain of drug stores sold blank cassettes/8-Tracks made for them by Ampex. They were surprisingly good for what they were obviously and the price was perfect.

Speaking of K-Mart, the Gemini tapes I bought there were not bad, I recorded KSJLs Funky Fresh Freaky Friday on one of those. Great output on a cheapo Soundesign Am/Fm Turnable Cassette Deck.

 

[Darth_vader]

Yup, I sometimes used "Radio Shack" tapes (I think they were loaded with BASF tape; I missed the "Realistic" boat by a few years) when I couldn't get my TDK's.

And Bongwater, I had a bunch of KDK's that someone in school gave me in the late 1990s. Believe it or don't, they were decent for storing computer data on, and some of my earliest Apple IIE programmes I came up with as a kid (circa '97/98) were recorded on them. Actually worked pretty well considering how fussy the cassette I/O ports on those early Apples are! (Then I managed to track down a 5 1/4" diskette drive......)

 

[Bongwater]

Yup, I sometimes used "Radio Shack" tapes (I think they were loaded with BASF tape; I missed the "Realistic" boat by a few years) when I couldn't get my TDK's.

And Bongwater, I had a bunch of KDK's that someone in school gave me in the late 1990s. Believe it or don't, they were decent for storing computer data on, and some of my earliest Apple IIE programmes I came up with as a kid (circa '97/98) were recorded on them. Actually worked pretty well considering how fussy the cassette I/O ports on those early Apples are! (Then I managed to track down a 5 1/4" diskette drive......)

Maybe you got a better batch, Or maybe they were better suited to computer use. All I know is I tried to record the Heartbeat City album from The Cars on one and it seemed like it was riddled with tiny dropouts...

 

[Darth_vader]

Oh yeah, these were another a personal favourite of mine for music as a kid, Verbatim "Data Life" streamers. Used to record my saturday morning cartoons off channel 6 with my little Emerson boombox on them--

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verbatim_ST-600_XD_Streamer_Cassette.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verbatim_ST-600_XD_2.jpg

I still have a bunch of these, about 50 or so, some blank, and they run for about an hour both sides. A dollar store that used to be at Vancouver Mall in the early 1990s had gotten a whole bunch, and I used to buy them ten or a dozen at a time, at $1 each. Even 15-20 years later, you can literally run them hundreds of times before they start to show signs of degradation, and they're built like a tank! The cartridges are very stiff, thick plastic, so they really can take a pretty severe beating--important if recording tapes for your kids. Excellent fidelity, too.

[size=8pt]Edit add;
Okay, here's a more exact picture of the same tapes Grampa used to use all the time:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Compactcassette.jpg/800px-Compactcassette.jpg

 

[Bongwater]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwFLn9C_Rjc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7To_S3Ne_yo

 

[Kent T]

A note, Capitol owned Audiopak and AudioTape so they made their own tape. Columbia bought the old Reeves Soundcraft tape company which became Columbia Magnetics. RCA at one time had a tape division. Don't think they ever made cassettes.

 

[Darth_vader]

I seem to remember a company called "Audio Devices Inc." owning the Audiotape/Audiopack lines. Was that before or after Capitol? (Sidenote: My Grampa used "Audiotape" reel to reels [some have the Audio Devices Inc. branding in the middle near the spindle holes] sometimes in the 1970s-early 1980s when he couldn't get Scotch tapes. Actually weren't half-bad.)

Almost none of the old RCA "Red Seal" blank reels Gramps had purchased in the late 1960s have aged well, "squeaking" on the heads, developing stickyshed problems, and effectively turning to oxide soup. Meanwhile the few pre-recorded RCA reels of his (same era) are still completely playable to this day.

 

[Kent T]

Audio Devices was the umbrella company for AudioTape, AudioDiscs, AudioPak, and related products, they became Capitol Magnetics later on after the merger with Capitol Records.

 

[willdav713]

A note, Capitol owned Audiopak and AudioTape so they made their own tape. Columbia bought the old Reeves Soundcraft tape company which became Columbia Magnetics. RCA at one time had a tape division. Don't think they ever made cassettes.

RCA did make cassettes, a lot of Elvis cassettes were made on RCA tapes, if I recall correctly. With the RCA logo on the side. Also on 8 Track. (I have one) Elvis Presley Our Memories of Elvis Vol. 2 AQS1-3448

http://www.mabroselvisworld.com/MC/8-tracks-rca-seite4.htm

also,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blank-Audio-Cassette-RCA-90-min-lot-3-/320802763811

 

[Bongwater]

RCA did make blank tape products (in fact, in the late '50s they made the original "cassette" tape, a forerunner to the Phillips Compact Cassette which came out in 1963 and became the standard.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE0-dLPKcvk

RCA also made reel tapes, blank 8-Tracks and blank cassettes (the Phillips type) into the '70s. They restarted their blank cassette manufacturing in the late '80s (possibly name-licensed to another manufacturer.)

In the '50s and '60s, many major record labels were actively involved with electronics firms with developing tape formulas. Some branched off into consumer blank tape markets while others (Decca/MCA) didn't.

And some labels "outsourced" their tape products manufacturing to companies like GRT and Ampex. But these were not blank products, they were all pre-recorded.

 

[Darth_vader]

........And the RCA Cart format eventually made its way across the Pacific some 20 years later, evolving somewhat along the way:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elcaset

And what was the story behind GRT? I have a bunch of 8-tracks with GRT branding in my collection (who doesn't? ;o) and I've even come across a couple LPs from them; both were Chuck Berry albums, since GRT had acquired Chess Records.

So were they simply a manufacturing contractor for record labels (like Audio Devices used to be for Capitol) or a record club (some of my GRT tapes have a disclaimer printed on the label, directly beneath the album cover picture, saying they were manufactured for RCA Music Service, for example) or what? I suspect I might be answering my own questions here, but oh well. Wikipaedia, unsurprisingly, turns up almost nothing.

 

[fybush]

I suspect I might be answering my own questions here, but oh well. Wikipaedia, unsurprisingly, turns up almost nothing.

What is this "wikipaedia" of which you speak?

The connection has timed out
The server at wikipaedia.org is taking too long to respond.

Even the Brits spell it "Wikipedia."

 

[Kent T]

GRT (General Recorded Tape) Corporation was a tape duplication company who licensed masters from various record companies in open reel, 8 track, and cassette formats. Later on, they purchased Chess Records. They went out of business in 1978. Back in the day, only the biggest companies duplicated their own tapes and some outsourced some formats at various times. Other big tape companies were ITCC (4 and 8 track cartridges), Ampex (they did all formats), and Stereotape/Magtec (mainly did open reel tapes only)

 

[raccoonradio]

I still have lots of cassettes and some cass. decks incl. Sony component dubbing deck; a Sony walkman
AM-FM-Cass-Rec (in bad shape); an RCA/Audiovox player-recorder with "piano key" controls* (Walmart
sells for about $21) and a Sony portable stereo-or-mono cass. only recorder (aging)

Can get bricks of Type I cass. at places like Rite Aid (grabbed some up in Maine). Some catalog companies will sell C-120s, etc.

*- http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/04/44/76/07/0004447607894_500X500.jpg

Some places still have Sony (or off-brand) Walkman AM-FM-Cass Walkmen (only one model) or
various brands of mini boombox, AM-FM-Cass.

 

[Bongwater]

........And the RCA Cart format eventually made its way across the Pacific some 20 years later, evolving somewhat along the way:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elcaset

And what was the story behind GRT? I have a bunch of 8-tracks with GRT branding in my collection (who doesn't? ;o) and I've even come across a couple LPs from them; both were Chuck Berry albums, since GRT had acquired Chess Records.

So were they simply a manufacturing contractor for record labels (like Audio Devices used to be for Capitol) or a record club (some of my GRT tapes have a disclaimer printed on the label, directly beneath the album cover picture, saying they were manufactured for RCA Music Service, for example) or what? I suspect I might be answering my own questions here, but oh well. Wikipaedia, unsurprisingly, turns up almost nothing.

Elcaset was a new compact tape format introduced around 1976 geared towards audiophiles. Sony really pushed it, but surprisingly, the major labels pushed back. First, it was an audiophile format (the better to make highest quality bootleg dubs of vinyl, reel tapes or other Elcasets) and second, they didn't want to have to start making tapes in ANOTHER tape format (most were already making 8-Track, standard cassette and reel tape.) The reel tape disappeared in the late '70s along with the 8-Track in most stores,

However, record clubs (Columbia House and RCA) still made reel tapes until 1981 and even the 8-Track until 1988.....

Some final 8-Track titles:

Bad Michael Jackson
Whiplash Smile Billy Idol
Hysteria Def Leppard
Tunnel Of Love Bruce Springsteen
Cocktail Soundtrack
Greatest Hits Fleetwood Mac
Money For Nothing Dire Straits (Compilation) (This was the VERY LAST commercial release on 8-Track from a major label and was only available from RCA Music Club, then freshly rechristened as BMG Music Club)

 

[Bongwater]

WHICH of us did NOT absolutely IMMEDIATELY switch to Maxell blank cassette tapes after viewing THIS classic TV ad back in the day?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJzLfxWooo&NR=1&feature=endscreen

But eventually found with our limited budgets - even back in the day. Sometimes we had to put up with those lousy, crappy sounding Intermagnetics, Certron or Laser 3-packs of 90 minute tapes to record something off the radio with? (Or copy an Ozzy tape off your buddy's Sanyo dual-cassette, miniature ghetto blaster?.....)

File sharing. Old school......

 

[Darth_vader]

Nah, I was never a big fan of Maxell. I'd use them if that's all there was available, but rarely any other time. I was always pretty partial to Verbatims or TDKs.

(Of course, that's a moot point since it's pretty much a Sony world now. That's just about all you can find around here for tapes these days. Even the two local Fred Meyers don't have TDKs any more, just Sony!)

Michael Jackson on 8-track! Now there's a clash of generations.......

 

[willdav713]

Nah, I was never a big fan of Maxell. I'd use them if that's all there was available, but rarely any other time. I was always pretty partial to Verbatims or TDKs.

(Of course, that's a moot point since it's pretty much a Sony world now. That's just about all you can find around here for tapes these days. Even the two local Fred Meyers don't have TDKs any more, just Sony!)

Michael Jackson on 8-track! Now there's a clash of generations.......

Dollar General sells TDK audio and video cassettes (under Imation formally Scotch/3M). HEBs sell Polaroid DVD blanks, and VHS tapes.

 

[Bongwater]

Michael Jackson on 8-track! Now there's a clash of generations.......

NO! Billy Idol! And Def Leppard. Michael Jackson's Motown label solo stuff from the '70s you could find on 8-Track pretty easy back in the day....