Thursday
Apr082021
If You Still Have A Cassette Player...
Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 03:13PM
Motley Crue will release a special cassette box-set for record store day this year. I actually still do have a double-cassette player but it is in storage. I do not keep a whole lot of "stuff" but this particular stereo is important to me. I spent so much time using it during middle and high school. It has a multi-CD changer, two cassette decks, radio and a remote. Yes, for the time it was super sweet. My high school best friend had the exact same stereo - so between the two of us, I think we probably listened to 60 hours of music a week on those things.
It will be interesting to see if this cassette box set is a success for Motley. Yes, it is limited run and a gimmick but not many folks have cassette decks anymore. Will you buy this?
Just Announced: Mötley Crüe 40th Anniversary Cassette Boxset RSD Drop for June 12th - participating indie stores.
— Mötley Crüe (@MotleyCrue) April 7, 2021
Head to https://t.co/iQPqkRxPXF for more RSD Drops Lists and to find a participating record store near you!@recordstoreday #RSDDrops #RSD21#mötleycrüe #motley40 pic.twitter.com/L30hogcrgA
Reader Comments (10)
I own over 500 tapes. Most, nowadays, are perfectly fine . . . on one side. The other side? Sounds as if Dio is performing a song in a horror movie, all slowwwwww. I also giggle when I find one that has a piece of old napkin taped in the place where that fuzzy thing was on the bottom, in the middle (note: I know that it is officially called a pressure pad). Memories.
I still own a pristine Sony two-tape deck. Used it rarely. But I still own it. And I also own a sweet boom-box (detachable speakers!!!) that has both a CD and tape player. It is in my office (other tent).
But I have memories similar to Allyson. I remember when a friend's girlfriend gave me a CD/2-tape all-in-one. She worked at McFrugal's (which eventually became Big Lots). I suspect she swiped it. But the options that it opened up to me!!! Now I could make mixed tapes . . . from tapes and CDs!!! I was in heaven. I even made my own liner notes and covers. Yeah, I guess I have had an odd life.
Fun fact: I still occasionally listen to my Motley Crue (1994) tape, just for the fun of it. Yes, Bkallday, it has a cut-out on the case. Of course it does! History discounts what the future will praise.
As much crap as we give good old Columbia House, they sure made it easy to get what you wanted. And, obviously, they knew about all of our shenanigans. It was baked into their plans I have to assume (sorta' like Netflix knowing that people share their accounts). Draw some in for a penny, keep some in for more. I, too, had multiple accounts. But I never was as creative as you all. Claude Bauls would have worked. Harry Paratestes too. And I even indulged in their DVD Club for awhile. A nice way to build one's collection . . . at a time when it seemed like that was necessary.
And, good God, do you remember (I am sure some of you do) the horror of getting those cheap knock-off cassettes when you also joined RCA?!?! No liner notes. Paper thin covers. But I will hand it to them: they figured out a way to beat Columbia House at their own game!!! You got the same music; they pocketed more money. Priceless.
Almost 2 years ago, I moved from Orlando to the peace and quiet of an undisclosed Midwestern town (well, except for the bars and many a mancave on farms where one can really crank it up!)
To make the move, I decided to sell EVERYTHING! ... Mid Century Modern furniture (i.e. Eames, Mies, Saarinen, Platner, Baughman, Sonnenberg, you name it!) including my 80’s Gaultier prototype Zebra Skin Coffee Table.
I also made the brutal decision to sell my music collection (every genre) of over 1,000 albums (i.e. 1st press Crüe on Leathür, Metallica “Ride The Lightning”, Bootlegs, Colored Vinyl, Picture Discs, etc.), 300+ picture sleeve 45’s (i.e. 1st press Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Pistols, Damned, Ramones, GenEx, Dickies, you name it!), 1000+ 8-Tracks (you name it!) and, get ready ... 7,000+ CDs ... plus Posters (i.e. a 7 footer of G’n’R’s banned album cover signed by artist Robert Williams) .. AND ... 800+ Cassettes (many of which are our beloved Glam Metal) ...
As time ran out and wanting to get the smallest storage unit that could still be called a storage unit, I made the brutal decision to throw out all the cassettes as I couldn’t find anyone to take them, not even for free! ...
When I walked away from the dumpster, I stopped, turned around, something compelling me to go back to the dumpster where I snatched out from the jaws of death, the two boxes which contained all the Hair Metal stuff, thinking if and when I ever get a triple black 1987 Eldorado Biarritz convertible, I’ll already have the tapes to play in the stock Delco cassette player!
Talk about how to Bring Back Glam! ... Viva BBG!
p.s. Of course, I’ve started collecting again! ... At the local Indy record store, for 3 bucks, I found a still sealed promo only Bruce Dickinson CD Single of “Tattooed Millionaire” with a different cover than that of the album, featuring tattoo artwork I assume is an illustration of what’s on Dickinson’s arm. And, though I would love to get the Crüe Cassette box, it doesn’t really fit my M.O. (as in budget, haha!!) anymore. But if anyone is tempted, go for it! ... In fact, buy two! ... One to vault away and one to play in your black ‘87 Eldo you’re going to be trying to outbid me on! ... Oh, and Google “Resurgence of Cassette Tapes Keeps Brooklyn Manufacturer Busy” for a fascinating story on the platform’s survival.