The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

General music discussion.
Low Down Low
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Low Down Low »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:51am
Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:39am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:24am
Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:02am
Was just reading a review of an interesting looking new book by David Hepworth about the golden age of the LP which he claims was between 1967 and 1982. He suggests that by ‘82 vinyl was being usurped by the cassette and that bit I am curious about. My own experience was listening to cassettes for many years before graduating to vinyl so it was the other way round for me. Nor did the advent of the Walkman change that dynamic, because I tended to buy the LP in almost every case and then transfer to tape for the walkman. Maybe I am an anomaly in this regard, but that’s the way I always assumed it.
Yup, by the early 80s the Phillips cassette dominated sales for a lot of reasons. The Walkman and car stereos let people take their music with them. It was also easier for retailers to stock them because they didn't take up as much room. One constant about our relationship with music in the consumer era is that portability and individuality drives the technology. We want to pick what we want and we want to do be able to do it where we want. Whatever the superiority of vinyl over magnetic tape, it wasn't superior to portability.
Ah ok, fair enough. It’s just my own experience then. I don’t think I ever bought another cassette after I got my first record player, apart from clash ones for mere completist reasons. I bought blank tapes and often spent hours each day recording. But I guess that was analogous to the overall trend.
That was mostly what I did, too. Best of both worlds—records at home, blank cassettes with my albums outside. Even better, you could put two albums on most cassettes, so you were really maxing portability and efficiency. Kids today with their streaming and playlists—in our day, dammit, we had to plan and make real choices!
I think that’s what caught me out on this, assumed it was a slam dunk that everybody simply did the same. But as the sales show, they didn’t. The whole recording thing was a hell of a lot of fun and, sure, I did feel like I was making big decisions, especially when you had an album 35 minutes long and faced the critical choice whether to chop a song off to squeeze it into a BASF 30 or just work it someway onto a 60. I guess you can have just as much fun with the digital, as I bet marky d would aver, but it’s about a million grand canyons beyond my competency levels.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 10:16am
I think that’s what caught me out on this, assumed it was a slam dunk that everybody simply did the same. But as the sales show, they didn’t.
I wonder how many people back then just didn't own a turntable. They saw it easier to just have something to play cassettes and stopped there.
The whole recording thing was a hell of a lot of fun and, sure, I did feel like I was making big decisions, especially when you had an album 35 minutes long and faced the critical choice whether to chop a song off to squeeze it into a BASF 30 or just work it someway onto a 60. I guess you can have just as much fun with the digital, as I bet marky d would aver, but it’s about a million grand canyons beyond my competency levels.
Ha! Coincidentally, last week I was copy editing a MS about music and technology, and this issue about cassettes came up. I made a comment to the author that 45 mins a side (i.e., 90 min cassettes) was great most of the time, but for longer records it meant sacrificing something, and even if it was a song you didn't really like, it still felt desperately wrong. Sophie's choice for 14 year old music weirdos.
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Silent Majority
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Silent Majority »

I must be the of the last generation to make mixed tapes. It was a fucking artform. I once mixed four different versions of Out of Time (Stones, Ramones, Farlowe, 101ers) into the same track, each taking up on the beat where the last took off. It took ages and was pointless, about 30 seconds from each song.
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Low Down Low
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Low Down Low »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 10:37am
Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 10:16am
I think that’s what caught me out on this, assumed it was a slam dunk that everybody simply did the same. But as the sales show, they didn’t.
I wonder how many people back then just didn't own a turntable. They saw it easier to just have something to play cassettes and stopped there.
The whole recording thing was a hell of a lot of fun and, sure, I did feel like I was making big decisions, especially when you had an album 35 minutes long and faced the critical choice whether to chop a song off to squeeze it into a BASF 30 or just work it someway onto a 60. I guess you can have just as much fun with the digital, as I bet marky d would aver, but it’s about a million grand canyons beyond my competency levels.
Ha! Coincidentally, last week I was copy editing a MS about music and technology, and this issue about cassettes came up. I made a comment to the author that 45 mins a side (i.e., 90 min cassettes) was great most of the time, but for longer records it meant sacrificing something, and even if it was a song you didn't really like, it still felt desperately wrong. Sophie's choice for 14 year old music weirdos.
It seemed a solemn business to me at least. And I can still recall the utter frustration at LPs that didn’t specify the running time of each track. On a slightly different note, one quirky story of those primitive times i recall was first listening to GEER via a tape rental service i assume i must have accessed through the nme or melody maker classifieds.

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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Marky Dread »

Silent Majority wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 11:34am
I must be the of the last generation to make mixed tapes. It was a fucking artform. I once mixed four different versions of Out of Time (Stones, Ramones, Farlowe, 101ers) into the same track, each taking up on the beat where the last took off. It took ages and was pointless, about 30 seconds from each song.
Not really pointless mate. Just fun at the time. ;)
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Marky Dread »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 10:37am
Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 10:16am
I think that’s what caught me out on this, assumed it was a slam dunk that everybody simply did the same. But as the sales show, they didn’t.
I wonder how many people back then just didn't own a turntable. They saw it easier to just have something to play cassettes and stopped there.
The whole recording thing was a hell of a lot of fun and, sure, I did feel like I was making big decisions, especially when you had an album 35 minutes long and faced the critical choice whether to chop a song off to squeeze it into a BASF 30 or just work it someway onto a 60. I guess you can have just as much fun with the digital, as I bet marky d would aver, but it’s about a million grand canyons beyond my competency levels.
Ha! Coincidentally, last week I was copy editing a MS about music and technology, and this issue about cassettes came up. I made a comment to the author that 45 mins a side (i.e., 90 min cassettes) was great most of the time, but for longer records it meant sacrificing something, and even if it was a song you didn't really like, it still felt desperately wrong. Sophie's choice for 14 year old music weirdos.
Making mix tapes for friends just to show them what you listen to and what (in your own head) maybe they should be listening to also. To show how sussed you were/are or to influence the taste of others or to simply hear stuff you wouldn't have bought yourself.

The key for me regards the length of the recordable cassette was to put the one album on and then add the singles B-sides/12'' mixes etc. Much the same as CD reissues are done now.
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Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

revbob
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by revbob »

Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:02am
Was just reading a review of an interesting looking new book by David Hepworth about the golden age of the LP which he claims was between 1967 and 1982. He suggests that by ‘82 vinyl was being usurped by the cassette and that bit I am curious about. My own experience was listening to cassettes for many years before graduating to vinyl so it was the other way round for me. Nor did the advent of the Walkman change that dynamic, because I tended to buy the LP in almost every case and then transfer to tape for the walkman. Maybe I am an anomaly in this regard, but that’s the way I always assumed it.
So my older brother had a stereo with everything integrated tuner/cassette/turntable. He used to steal cassettes from Caldors so we initially had cassettes. Then the cassette player stopped working and we switched to vinyl. Eventually I bought a boombox that a turntable could connect to. I continued to buy albums and then made mix tapes from my records. Eventually records fell out of favor with CDs taking their place in the stores I had ready access to. I did a lot of driving at some point and didnt bbc have a CD player so I bought cassettes for a few years until I broke down and got a CD player

Kory
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Kory »

revbob wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 1:19pm
Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:02am
Was just reading a review of an interesting looking new book by David Hepworth about the golden age of the LP which he claims was between 1967 and 1982. He suggests that by ‘82 vinyl was being usurped by the cassette and that bit I am curious about. My own experience was listening to cassettes for many years before graduating to vinyl so it was the other way round for me. Nor did the advent of the Walkman change that dynamic, because I tended to buy the LP in almost every case and then transfer to tape for the walkman. Maybe I am an anomaly in this regard, but that’s the way I always assumed it.
So my older brother had a stereo with everything integrated tuner/cassette/turntable. He used to steal cassettes from Caldors so we initially had cassettes. Then the cassette player stopped working and we switched to vinyl. Eventually I bought a boombox that a turntable could connect to. I continued to buy albums and then made mix tapes from my records. Eventually records fell out of favor with CDs taking their place in the stores I had ready access to. I did a lot of driving at some point and didnt bbc have a CD player so I bought cassettes for a few years until I broke down and got a CD player
CDs are the zenith of recorded music delivery systems.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by revbob »

Kory wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 1:29pm
revbob wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 1:19pm
Low Down Low wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 9:02am
Was just reading a review of an interesting looking new book by David Hepworth about the golden age of the LP which he claims was between 1967 and 1982. He suggests that by ‘82 vinyl was being usurped by the cassette and that bit I am curious about. My own experience was listening to cassettes for many years before graduating to vinyl so it was the other way round for me. Nor did the advent of the Walkman change that dynamic, because I tended to buy the LP in almost every case and then transfer to tape for the walkman. Maybe I am an anomaly in this regard, but that’s the way I always assumed it.
So my older brother had a stereo with everything integrated tuner/cassette/turntable. He used to steal cassettes from Caldors so we initially had cassettes. Then the cassette player stopped working and we switched to vinyl. Eventually I bought a boombox that a turntable could connect to. I continued to buy albums and then made mix tapes from my records. Eventually records fell out of favor with CDs taking their place in the stores I had ready access to. I did a lot of driving at some point and didnt bbc have a CD player so I bought cassettes for a few years until I broke down and got a CD player
CDs are the zenith of recorded music delivery systems.
MD or GTFO.

Silent Majority
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Silent Majority »

Marky Dread wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 12:08pm
Silent Majority wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 11:34am
I must be the of the last generation to make mixed tapes. It was a fucking artform. I once mixed four different versions of Out of Time (Stones, Ramones, Farlowe, 101ers) into the same track, each taking up on the beat where the last took off. It took ages and was pointless, about 30 seconds from each song.
Not really pointless mate. Just fun at the time. ;)
There are some primitive skills that I learnt there that I would later apply to editing podcasts, to be fair.
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Is ten times worse than prison


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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by 101Walterton »

I worked in a record shop early 80’s. We had racks and racks of empty album covers (god help me if I had misfiled the actual vinyl behind the counter). But we started stocking more and more cassettes that we’re on the walls in like stacking display shelves.
We sold less and less vinyl and shelf space was reduced but when I left in 81/82 they still hadn’t stocked CDs.
I got my first CD in Oxford Street in 1986ish

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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Dr. Medulla »

101Walterton wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:49pm
I worked in a record shop early 80’s. We had racks and racks of empty album covers (god help me if I had misfiled the actual vinyl behind the counter). But we started stocking more and more cassettes that we’re on the walls in like stacking display shelves.
We sold less and less vinyl and shelf space was reduced but when I left in 81/82 they still hadn’t stocked CDs.
I got my first CD in Oxford Street in 1986ish
I don't think I saw a cd until around ‘84 or '85. My backwater town was way too small for our couple record stores to sell cd's until it was clear that this was the medium of the future.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

101Walterton
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by 101Walterton »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:58pm
101Walterton wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:49pm
I worked in a record shop early 80’s. We had racks and racks of empty album covers (god help me if I had misfiled the actual vinyl behind the counter). But we started stocking more and more cassettes that we’re on the walls in like stacking display shelves.
We sold less and less vinyl and shelf space was reduced but when I left in 81/82 they still hadn’t stocked CDs.
I got my first CD in Oxford Street in 1986ish
I don't think I saw a cd until around ‘84 or '85. My backwater town was way too small for our couple record stores to sell cd's until it was clear that this was the medium of the future.
Probably before me then!! I bought a stereo from Edgwsre Road, one of those huge lumps of plastic with shit loads of buttons and dials. The last vinyl I bought to play on it was CTC which I bought in the Brunswick Centre (not relevant to the story but interesting place back then). After listening to CTC I realised it was time to find some new music. I can’t remember what shop in Oxford Street it was but they didn’t have much selection as they only had new releases from album charts as reissues hadn’t been done then. From my very vague memory my first purchase may have been Howard Jones 😳

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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by Marky Dread »

101Walterton wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 3:13pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:58pm
101Walterton wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:49pm
I worked in a record shop early 80’s. We had racks and racks of empty album covers (god help me if I had misfiled the actual vinyl behind the counter). But we started stocking more and more cassettes that we’re on the walls in like stacking display shelves.
We sold less and less vinyl and shelf space was reduced but when I left in 81/82 they still hadn’t stocked CDs.
I got my first CD in Oxford Street in 1986ish
I don't think I saw a cd until around ‘84 or '85. My backwater town was way too small for our couple record stores to sell cd's until it was clear that this was the medium of the future.
Probably before me then!! I bought a stereo from Edgwsre Road, one of those huge lumps of plastic with shit loads of buttons and dials. The last vinyl I bought to play on it was CTC which I bought in the Brunswick Centre (not relevant to the story but interesting place back then). After listening to CTC I realised it was time to find some new music. I can’t remember what shop in Oxford Street it was but they didn’t have much selection as they only had new releases from album charts as reissues hadn’t been done then. From my very vague memory my first purchase may have been Howard Jones 😳
Not exactly ''new music'' but at least you had a New Song. ;)
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Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

101Walterton
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Re: The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

Post by 101Walterton »

Marky Dread wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 3:17pm
101Walterton wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 3:13pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:58pm
101Walterton wrote:
20 Mar 2019, 2:49pm
I worked in a record shop early 80’s. We had racks and racks of empty album covers (god help me if I had misfiled the actual vinyl behind the counter). But we started stocking more and more cassettes that we’re on the walls in like stacking display shelves.
We sold less and less vinyl and shelf space was reduced but when I left in 81/82 they still hadn’t stocked CDs.
I got my first CD in Oxford Street in 1986ish
I don't think I saw a cd until around ‘84 or '85. My backwater town was way too small for our couple record stores to sell cd's until it was clear that this was the medium of the future.
Probably before me then!! I bought a stereo from Edgwsre Road, one of those huge lumps of plastic with shit loads of buttons and dials. The last vinyl I bought to play on it was CTC which I bought in the Brunswick Centre (not relevant to the story but interesting place back then). After listening to CTC I realised it was time to find some new music. I can’t remember what shop in Oxford Street it was but they didn’t have much selection as they only had new releases from album charts as reissues hadn’t been done then. From my very vague memory my first purchase may have been Howard Jones 😳
Not exactly ''new music'' but at least you had a New Song. ;)
You’ve got to get to know it well

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