Vale the cassette tape

Sadly an era is about to end as it seems that the humble cassette tape is headed the way of the dodo. Today’s iPodded whippersnappers may not realize but for those of a certain age, we did not have the internet or mp3 players to share music. It was via cassette tapes.

There were tapes of varying lengths (all designated by the number of minutes a tape could hold). However the 90 minute tape ruled supreme. The beauty of the 90 minute tape was that it usually would hold two albums or one double album. Back then, most records were around 40 odd minutes (there were the occasional inconsiderate bands that would release 50 or 60 minute albums - but you could find a tape for those).

In high school tapes were almost a currency. It paid to know who had the cooler older brother who would happily tape some Hendrix for you or some other older artist. And then there was radio where you would make your own mix tapes. You’d sit there, finger on the record button waiting for that song and hope that there would be minimal voice over. Then the rewind and careful positioning of the tape at the end ready for the next that song.

A double cassette deck was a prized possession because then you could make even more tapes. Just grab the cassette of that artists off a mate, take it home and make a copy.

The recording industry back then even found cassettes threatening. “It will ruin us all!’ they cried. But it didn’t. Trading cassettes inoculated the love of music into teenagers. One they had some disposable income where did you think a lot of the money went? Back to purchasing the vinyl or tape to replace those lovingly worn cassettes. To hear the music first generation, not some copy.

The purpose of the nostalgia is not to say it was better in my day. These days, I have access to more music than I ever dreamed of. And in an easy form to carry. Even a lossy format such as mp3 is better sounding than many of the cassettes I had when in high school.

But those cassettes were prized possessions back then which is why I remember them so well. The cluttered scribbling of my handwriting on the insert, the careful precise listing of tracks on others done by a friend. It was my introduction to all sorts of sounds rarely heard in country NSW.