Vinyl and tapes

Simone told me that as prizes at a party she went to they handed out cassette tapes. As I was growing up, casettes seemed to be an in-between media. Music to me was records. I bought blank tapes to record records or songs of the radio or themes off of the tv (usually with a microphone pressed to the speaker). I almost never thought of buying casette tapes of pre-recorded music. I can probably count the tapes I've bought on one hand. Maybe two. Then CD's came along and I left the older formats behind. For a time.

A few days ago I listened to Michael Jackon's Thriller on mp3. I noticed things i never had before. (I had bought a copy on vinyl a few years ago; you can't beat a gatefold. For a few years I went on a record-buying spree; I'd still be buying them if I had the space to store them.)

The first copy of the album I had was on a cassette tape. I had recorded the album from a friend of mine. I didn't know how stereo cables worked at the time and so I played the tape over my dad's stereo and recorded the album with a small portable player stuck next to the speaker. That was the version of the album that carried me through that summer and into fall.

Still, while the music was crisp and clear, I missed the warmth of that worn out cassette tape. And I missed the action of putting a needle to the record. I've started mp3'ing my CD's in order to clear space in my apartment, but I don't think I'll ever give up my records and tapes. I've managed to form romantic attachments to those formats, something I've never formed with CD's. I don't know what it is about them. But the fewer clear plastic boxes I have littering my room, the happier I think I'll be.
Posted by eku at December 8, 2004 12:19 AM