I Miss 8 Tracks

I know, I know.

I'm dating myself with this one.

Do you remember 8-tracks? If you're over the age of 40, you should. If you're over 44, you probably had some, or at least your parents or siblings did.

I loved 8-tracks. I loved vinyl as well, and I had both, but there was something so appealing about putting in a tape and letting it play on and on and on. Those of you who have only had music on CD or ipod can't understand the thrill of that concept. During the heyday of the 8-track, cassette decks weren't self repeating, which meant you had to turn the tape over to hear the other side. Same thing with an LP. 8-tracks on the other hand, would play all night long without any attention. Of course, sometimes the tape would start to squeal a little (over tensioned - goes with the technology of the mobius strip), and you would have to pull it out and slap it on your leg a few times to loosen it up. How many of you had a little book of matches in your car to wedge under the tape when it started to drag? (If you smiled at that memory you are old btw.)

I'm listening to my ipod right now, and I'm listening to an album I first owned on 8-track. To this day, I still expect to hear the click in the middle of La Fiesta when it changes tracks.

Are there albums you still remember as strictly an "8-track album? Along with the previously mentioned Maynard Ferguson, there are several I remember from high school that were constant companions in the car; Journey : Evolution comes to mind. Remember how there was no break between Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' and City Of The Angels? It's not the same hearing it on CD. REO Speedwagon's High Infidelity is another one I remember as an 8-track.

Supposedly, Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits (1988) was the last major label release on 8-track. I had let them go by then and moved on to CD's. I pretty much skipped cassettes altogether. I kept buying vinyl until CD's came out, and taped them myself for the car. The last 8-track I ever bought was Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming.

My kids have never owned a tape or an LP of any kind. They look at my LP collection as something from the dinosaur age. I wonder, will their kids look at today's ipods with the same bemusement?

Yeah, probably.