Friday, September 18, 2020

Pastime: Those 8-Track memories


By Maylon Rice:

Some of the youngsters on the popular TV show Jeopardy brought this Pastime to my memory.

None of the three contestants, all seemingly well-read, studious and tech savvy sorts, it seemed, had not a clue to what an 8-Track Tape was.

Could that have been so long ago, and thus the Pastime wheels began to spin, as fast, well as fast as the faithful 8-Track Tapes we loved so much.

I loved 8-Track Tapes.

Already I had a rag-tag collection of 45 rpm records, (one song per side) a starting collection of 33 1/3 LPs (as many as five songs per side) to play on my small single-turntable hi-fi set.

And then came 8 Track Tapes. 

Well, even in my 1960 Gold Chevy Malibu, a 10 year old car in 1971, when I began to drive, I had an 8-track system installed – who in the day didn’t?

The tape unit was hung just under the dash by two U shaped braces; the wires ran up into the AM radio in the car and the power source for the same.


Some of my pals, helped me install the second hand 8-Track Tape unit, I managed to bargain off an older friend for a $20 bill, if memory serves.

And then instead of tuning into class AM radio while cruising, I had an unlimited selection of music to the exact volume I liked – with no, and I mean – no commercial interruptions.

The 8-Track Tape was just the thing for those quiet times on a date when music made the mood.  If the girl didn’t like the guys 8-Track Tapes, she could bring her own music on the date.

Even the constant and loud clicking from one tape segment to the next, was pure bliss while deep in the youthful arms of romance.

Also if the couples time sensitive way to meet a “curfew” and get back home in time, the long-playing 8-Track Tape was better than a wristwatch.

Everybody, it seemed, knew how long it the tape would play before clicking off.

Ah, there was also the great 8-Track Tape variety.

Many were of one group or band or genre, but there were those “Pops” 8-Tracks – like “Hits of the ‘60s” – songs from different bands, but all on one 8-Track Tape. And later on, someone figured out how to record and make our own “mixed” 8-Track Tape of your own personal favorites.

Today’s I-Pods Blue-Tooth, and even I-phone devices can’t hold a candle to a good old 8-Track Tape and its accompanying tape deck device. But time as moved on and the smaller more compact cassette tape and later on direct satellite radio and CD’s came into vogue for the motoring public.

The popularity of the 8-Track Tape cartridges grew from the booming automobile industry.

And for most of us, yes the ability to pile into an old used car, few of us drove new cars back then, was favored musical preference was a good 8-Track Tape.


Now there were even, if you remember, boom-boxes that played 8-Track Tapes back in the day.

Most of the 8-Track units and all the installation supplies were from the manufacturer Tandy Corporation (remember its Radio Shack electronics stores).

But locally nearly all the Warren stores that sold televisions, Hankins & Sons, Hurley’s, Reynolds Radio, Young’s TV and Norton’s TV and Appliances, and others, sold the wildly popular 8-Track play decks and all the wiring and installation gear.

Most stores sold 8-Track Tapes from a glass-enclosed case for security reasons.

Even more stores began to sell 8-Track Tapes. Stores like the Wag-A-Bag, most small grocery stores and of course, the Columbia Records mail order carried a very wide selection of 8-Track Tapes.

We bought the tapes whenever we could get to a big city Mall or larger department or music store.

And nearly also prerecorded releases on the 8-track tape format began to arrive within a month of the vinyl release. The 8-track format became by far the most popular and offered the largest music library of all the tape systems.

Here are some of  the era Best-Selling 8-Track Tapes, according to Billboard Magazine:

1. ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’ – Blood, Sweat & Tears

2. ‘In-A-Gadd-Da-Vida’ – Iron Butterfly

3. ‘Johnny Cash At San Quentin’ – Johnny Cash

4. Hair

5. ‘Bayou Country’ – Credence Clearwater Revival

6. Blind Faith

7. ‘Nashville Skyline’ – Bob Dylan

8. ‘Age Of Aquarius’ – Fifth Dimension

9. Three Dog Night

And 10. Led Zepplin

What was your favorite 8-Track Tape? I sure remember mine.

But I can close my eyes and hear that old music system play – such a Pastime - especially as it jumps from one track to the next…chah klunk, chah klunk.

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