Re: [ARSCLIST] On the beaten 8-track...

[Jeffrey Kane <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ah, memories of childhood. Quite a few 8 track recorders existed, both
standalone and as part of larger console and 'all-in-one' units. I made
quite a few compilation tapes for play at home and in the car (my poor
parents... Sesame Street Disco on endless loop).  

Radio Shack sold a ton under their 'Realistic' brand name as did Sears,
Panasonic and a host of other no-name folks (Soundesign, Craig, Juliette,
etc). A few higher-end decks had Dolby but most went without. Blanks were
everywhere at the time, Rat Shack sold 46, 60 and 80 min tapes IIRC. Visit
HTTP://www.jackbergsales.com if you want an eye opening view, look under 8
tracks. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David Lennick
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 2:02 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] On the beaten 8-track...

There were definitely standalone 8-track recorders and blanks available for
them, and didn't those turntable-AM/FM-8 track combo units (Candle etc) have
recording capability? As recently as the late 80s, someone needed to have a
commentary he was doing for an exhibit at the Canadian National Exhibition
recorded on 8-track so it would play continuously, and a collector friend
was able to oblige. A listener once sent me an 8-track of old recordings
he'd taken off the air (I don't think I ever did find a machine to play it
on).

dl

Rob Bamberger wrote:

> Is my recollection mostly correct that there were few, or essentially 
> no consumer market 8-track decks that permitted people to record their 
> own 8-track compilations for use in the car (or elsewhere)?
>
> When acquaintances remarked to me in the 1990s that they did not see 
> the cassette being displaced entirely by the CD, my response was that 
> the introduction of a recordable CD would be the end of the cassette 
> once the economics became comparable to cassette feedstock and 
> technology.
>
> Similarly, is it correct to surmise that the ability (eventually) to 
> make reasonably decent recordings of one's own LPs to cassette, or 
> custom compilations, was the major reason for the format's 
> disappearance in the early 1970s?
>
> (The 8-track format had a number of things going against it, and would 
> have passed from the scene at some point. The question here is why did 
> it disappear when it did.)