Question: Trivia Time!!!

[Dennis Texas]

Still have a componant 8 track from years ago stashed in my closet and many of you over 40 crowd may remember the cassette player that you slid into an 8 track (looks like a 8 track tape sorta) in car to listen to cassettes have two of those old items hanging around my shop...not sure on first 8 track may of been carpenters..

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by deaner Harold, did you wear double knit slacks and disco shirts too? Maybe if I drank a bunch of my Tn. Moonshine.

They were purple and my Mommy made them for me, first ones in my high school. Along with my medallion that my sister bought for me. I was COOL.

Harold

[69opelgtfvr]

Ironically, my first 8-track was the same as Wrench 459's- Led Zeppelin I !! I clearly remember getting that tape and listening to it through my "2-XL", a toy robot/computer which I had discovered was actually an 8-track tape player. I later got a Pioneer unit with a stereo system my dad bought me for Christmas and was then able to truly experience Zep in high decibels. But I never forgot the thrill of hearing music through my 2-XL and actually, just a couple of years ago, I bought one on e-bay and had a local electronics pro fix it up. In fact, I'm listening to an 8-track tape on 2-XL right now: Led Zeppelin- "The Song Remains The Same".

I think I'm going to listen to all my tapes now... thanks for getting me started! Here's my playlist:

Elvis Presley- "Gold Collection"
Led Zeppelin- "In Through The Out Door"
David Bowie- "Alladin Sane"
The Doors- "Greatest Hits"
Neil Young- "Zuma"
Peter Frampton- "Frampton Comes Alive"
Van Halen- "II"
Simon and Garfunkel- "Greatest Hits"
The Band- "The Last Waltz" (Tapes 1+2)

[wayne70gt]

First 8 track was a Craig floor mount that I put between the seats on the rear deck of my GT. I looked at a GT this summer that had the same player in the same place. Not sure of the first tape but the favorite was Steely Dan. First album was Steppenwolf.

[manta73wi]

Originally Posted by chilly_75 My first LP I ever bought with my own money, was Michael Jackson's Thriller. Please, someone recommend a good therapist that can help me eliminate that from my memory!

If you think Jackson is bad, check this out. No 8 tracks for me - just vinyl and cassettes. However, first album I bought was back in around 2nd grade when I taped a nickel to one of those record club offers and sent away for a Partridge Family album. I got into so much trouble when it arrived as Mom and Dad hit the roof and made me send it back. Lost the nickel and it hurt to sit down for awhile as I recall! Fast forward several years and early albums I recall buying include John Denver, Head East Flat as a Pancake, Supertramp Breakfast in America, Journey, The Cars, Styx, Springsteen, and for a little diversity, Maynard Ferguson and Deutsche Grammophon's 9 Beethoven Symphonies. Now that I'm feeling all nostalgic, where is that Partridge Family CD... You know, I think I Love You, so I'll Meet You Halfway, just Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque because I Can Feel Your Hearbeat so now We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
-Jeff W

[yellaopelgt]

I remember 8 tracks....for some reason I remember the portable hand held deally..the one with the button on top that would go to the next track. Think they came in all sorts of loud colors as well. But, I do remember being really young and mom in her 66 Mustang convertable driving along to three dog night and Neil Diamond!!
Joe

[oldopelguy]

Originally Posted by Dennis Texas many of you over 40 crowd may remember the cassette player that you slid into an 8 track (looks like a 8 track tape sorta) in car to listen to cassettes .

I still very much remember driving around a '63 Ford Econoline in high school, 300 straight-6 with a three-on-the-tree, listening to Faith No More and Nirvana on CD playing through a CD-to-casette adapter and a casette-to-8-Track adapter in 4-channel "Quadrophonic" sound.

Most of the time the 8-tracks played in that van were Kiss, Iron Maiden, and ABBA.

Ah, the memories. Nothing wuite like paying $350 for one of the very first portable CD players and still having an 8-track. I think I only ever had 3, maybe 4 casettes, went straight to CD.

I wonder now if I could take one of those Casette to 8-track adapters apart and build an MP3 player into it? It's big enough you could load it up with thumb drives and store a decade's worth of music...

[jlthunder]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt I remember the portable hand held deally..the one with the button on top that would go to the next track. Think they came in all sorts of loud colors as well.

Do you mean this one?

[Gordy]

Just replaced the drive belt on the 8 track player in my 75 Manta and put in a Moody Blues tape. Works like a charm! I also had replaced the drive belt on a AM/FM/Cass in one of my GTs. It's great that a simple Google search can bring up exactly what you're looking for in a matter of minutes and have it on your doorstep in a matter of days. Remember the old days of driving around trying to find something like that or going thru the yellow pages hoping to find what you were looking for by calling all over town? In fact, the shipping was free on the 2 (always need a spare!) 9 1/2 inch flat belt that the player takes. Now to spend countless hours on E Bay searching for some vintage tunes on 8 Track!

[michaedo]

You young whipper-snappers! My 56 Chevy had a record player that
played 45s. Thinking now, the stylus must have had the force of about
100 pounds to play while going down the road. And vibra-sonic (pre-
stereo), for that really swell echo sound. Yeah, those were the days.
And who are all these new groups you speak of? Black Sabbath, Led
Zepplin? First 45 was "land of a thousand dances" can't remember
the group though, but hey, I'm old! Finally did replace it with a
Munz 4 track. Seem to remember it costing something like $110.
Holy crap! That was what the whole dang car cost. Gee, thanks
Gene, now I'm depressed.

[michaedo]

Land of a Thousand Dances -
1965
Cannibal and the Headhunters.
Oh yeah, now there was music.

[charlie1966]

What sort of shiny disk does an 8 track take?

[Opelmel]

Originally Posted by BQS4 Just adding my own here, My first player was in my 73 Manta Luxus, and yes it was a "Blue Max", the unit was a J.I.L. unit, and my first 8-track was Boston "Don't look Back" slap wore that tape out!!!!

How in the world did you manage to play a tape so much that it wore out? My 8 track players always managed to eat the tape long before it was worn out!

Pull the cartridge out, then spend the next 5-20 minutes trying to get the tape unwound from around the capstan and the playback head. And then if it did come out in one piece, more wasted time trying to figure out how to rewind all of the slack.

[BDD]

Some Ringo Starr album.

[Dale .D]

Originally Posted by BQS4 OK; We have all these folks entering the "latter" half of life. Here's something to have a little fun with: What was the first 8-track you bought? Be honest now.....

BTO or Bachman turner,overdrive

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by michaedo thanks Gene, now I'm depressed.

Don;
That was not my intensions. I know we have a very deversified group here, and I thought it would be interesting to see what's what

[Gordy]

Ok, it's amazing how 1 thing leads to another on E Bay. Bought several 8 track tapes (Moody Blues, Jackson Browne, Beatles, Bee Gees (for the wife)), and then came across the famous cassett adapter that allows you to play cassetts thru the 8 track (had to get that so I can play my cassetts too!) and then came across the black alligator look 8 Track carrying case- had to get that as well, just for grins
What was the last year 8 tracks were made/ sold? Wonder what the last ever 8 track tape recorded/ sold was?

[namba209]

All you youngsters had it made. We had to handle our 78 RPM records with kid gloves. Drop 'em and they were broke and gone forever. The real bad thing about those record players, you had to turn a crank for a long time to get the turntable up to speed and hold it or the turntable would slow down and just mess up the song, big time. Then came the advent of the 45 RPM records, finally, a record that wouldn't break so easily. I can remember we had a little turntable sitting on top of the radio and we could sctually stack 6 records on the spindle and hear all of them without taking them off the turntable after each song. Fantastic. I remember the Original Platters "Only You, and you alone" on a 78 record with "Bark, Battle and Bawl" on the flip side. Yeah, man those were the days. Then again, you'd have to hear Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hoo0ker, Amos Milburn, Nappy Brown, Etta James, LaVerne Baker, Dr. Longhair, Piano Red, Joe Turner, Joe Houston, and a myriad of other R & B folks that were the start of it all.

[Gordy]

I bought and restored a Victrola (Actually a "Wizard Talking Machine") 20 years ago. It's a floor model in a mahogany cabinet and it only took a little WD 40 to get it playing pretty good. (I think that's where the phrase-"Crank it up!") came from. These machines were made from the early 1900's thru the mid teens. Expensive entertainment when you see that most of the old 78 rpm RCA Victrola records were pre-priced at $1.00. That was in 1910 when $1 was like $30 today. For all that you got 2 songs (1 per side)! Today you spend $14 and get 20 songs on a cd.

[neuropel]

Anyone remember the cardboard "records" on the back of cereal boxes? You could cut out the back of the box and put it on your record player to listen.

[jeff denton]

The ones I remember were "The Archies", was it on the back of "Sugar Smacks" maybe?
How about the thin plastic records that came in National Geographic magazines every now and then?
Last time I visited the farm, my junk shelf in Grandpa's barn still had a couple of automotive 8-track players on them. I think every car I bought as a teenager came with one, but I had to upgrade to cassette of course...
I know you could still buy a new one at Radio shack as late as about 1980; my Navy friend put one in his new Dodge pickup about then.
In about 1993 my wife and I were moving from an apartment to our new house, the teenage kid that worked for me was helping, and he saw a box of 8-track tapes and was checking them out. He was fascinated, asked what they were. He had never seen or heard of one...
Yeah I still have lots of them. There was a music outlet in town when I was a kid that sold 8-tracks "three for five dollars". Some of them can't be had in vinyl or CD form that I know of. Like, The Mothers' Just Another Band From LA. What a classic.