8-Tracks Remembered

The following is an essay I wrote in June 2004, which I originally posted to the RS.com Castaways community boards. I figured I'd re-post it here, since I don't have anything new to say.. It's a bit rambling...

It's been almost 20 years since the demise of the 8-Track tape, and boy do I miss 'em!

Actually, no...I don't.In fact, having been spoiled by the pristine audio fidelity of the compact disc, I often wonder how in the world I ever tolerated the murky sound of 8-Tracks, not to mention the "bleed-over factor"...in case you're too young to remember, inevitably you could faintly hear music from, track 2 during soft passages or between songs on track 1 or 3 (depending on whether the head on your player was misaligned to the north or the south). Music from track 3 could very well be heard on tracks 2 & 4. And so forth and so on... Classical music, with it's dynamic range, was virtually impossible to enjoy on 8-Track for this very reason.

If that weren't bad enough, the very nature of the way music had to be sequenced on 8-Track tapes left you with no choice but to listen to at least 10 minutes of other tunes until you could hear your favourite song again. If you wanted to hear "Tomorrow Never Knows" twice you were required to listen to "Yellow Submarine" and "Got To Get You Into My Life" on the same track before the tape loop returned to "Tomorrow Never Knows". Now that particular example is not so bad, since there's not really a "bad" song on Revolver (with the possible exception of "Yellow Submarine", that is), but what about an album with 2 or 3 good songs plus a bunch of filler? Albums like that were a dime a dozen in the era of 8-Tracks (or at least it seemed that way). Tough. You just HAD to suffer through the songs that came before or after the ones you liked. Even that was not the worst thing about 8-Tracks. Inevitably, due to time restrictions, many songs recorded on 8-Tracks faded out in the middle to be continued on the following program (for those unfamiliar with the 8-Track medium, they contained 4 "Tracks" or "Programs", which contained about 15 minutes worth of music each and played in a successive loop). This was especially frustrating if you were really getting into a song, rockin' out and singing along when all of a sudden the volume starts to dwindle. Then you'd have to wait for the loud "click" that let you know the programs had changed (and if your player was old and worn out there was always the chance that it wouldn't "click", and instead would just repeat the program). By the time the song resumed you'd most likely lost the spirit of the whole thing.

I listened to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here so many times on 8-Track that I can tell you exactly where the first program-change fade-out was...the volume began fading right in the middle of the baritone saxophone solo about 16 minutes into "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". By the time the volume was back to normal on the 2nd program the tenor sax solo had taken over. Even now, when I hear that passage on CD, I half expect it to start fading out around that time.
Another feature of the 8-Track tape which was facilitated by time restrictions was the "repeated song(s)". On some 8-Tracks, in an attempt to avoid the hated "fade-out", they would just duplicate a couple of songs spread out on multiple tracks. If you were lucky, the repeated songs would be the good ones you wanted to hear again, and if you timed it right you could switch programs and replay the song having only to hear a short portion of the one that preceded it. Which was fine and dandy, unless you were playing an album straight through, and then the repetition would inspire deja vu.

When 8-Tracks were at the height of popularity (a phenomenon proving that even total crap can catch on and spread like wildfire) you could buy what we used to call "bootlegs". 8-Track bootlegs weren't the same thing as vinyl LP bootlegs, but they were just as illegal and a bane to the record companies whose revenue was tapped into by the inexpensive, inferior copies. Bootlegs were sold mainly in truck stops and 5 & dime stores (though I used to purchase them in a restaurant my family dined in often). The people who made them would simply record a vinyl album to 8-Track, make a few hundred copies, paste an amateurish looking song list on the front or back and then sell 'em for a fraction of the cost the "better sounding" originals were going for.I confess that I owned a TON of bootlegs, and my favorite ones were the compilations, where the guys who made them would choose what they considered to be "The Best of British Rock" or "Acid Rock Monsters of the 70's" or "Super Hits Volume 35", etc. (some less imaginative bootleggers simply titled their compilations after the genre of music contained on it...for instance, you might find a bootleg with the one word moniker "Rock"). I used to LOVE my copy of "The Best of British Rock Volume 2", but now whenever I hear the closing chords of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" I get all pumped up and ready to hear the opening riffage of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" (which followed hot on the trail of the Who song on the compilation). Nowadays I get somewhat confused when "Bargain" starts up on my CD of Who's Next because I'd become accustomed to the song order on the "Best of British Rock" collection. Oh well, it was a crash course in some great music...

Another thing about bootleg distributors...they weren't above selling half of a 2-record set as an individual product. I remember seeing The Beatles (White Album) Volume 1 sold seperately from Volume 2. And I vividly recall listening to the second half of Jesus Christ Superstar, even knowing it by heart before hearing the first half many months later. While vacationing with an aunt and uncle in Missouri I happened upon their copy of the entire rock opera and I spent several hours getting familiar with the part I'd never heard before. But ya know, I never really minded only having "Part 2"...There's STILL a "freshness" to the first half that I hear which sort of fades away when "The Last Supper" begins...
Still, if it had not been for cheap bootlegs I might never have heard Frank Zappa's We're Only In It For The Money, The Moody Blues' In Search Of The Lost Chord or Alice Cooper's early works, Easy Action and Pretties For You. Not only was I financially strapped, too much so to buy the "originals", but we didn't have a record/tape store in our small town that sold 'em. What we DID have was a revolving supply of bootleg 8-Tracks that rack jobbers would supply to the 99'er restaurant...

I did, however, have my share of "original" 8-tracks, most of which were purchased in the clearance racks at Sound Warehouse in OKC (which I always made a point to visit whenever we were up that way), all bought for between a quarter and a dollar. I got some pretty doggone good stuff in those bargain bins, if I say so myself. A short list would include bands like Nektar, Magma, Sparks, the Pretty Things, the Faces, P.F.M., Focus...a real prog-rockers wet dream. At one point I had at least 30 8-Tracks on the Beserkley label, including a COMPLETE Jonathon Richman & the Modern Lovers collection.

As my family's personal economy improved I was able to buy more "original" label 8-Tracks, facillitated by the grand opening of the much missed "Record Parlour" in a nearby city. My pride and joy was a complete Led Zeppelin catalogue on 8-Track. Yep, I was actually very proud of that, believe it or not. My brother, inspired by my completist tendencies, wound up collecting all of the KISS albums on 8-Track, and he seemed to be as fond of them as I was my Zeppelin tapes. At least the KISS songs were usually too short to require fade-outs...the same could not be said of "Achille's Last Stand"...

The only thing I ever had that probably sounded just as good on 8-Track as it did on vinyl was Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. Each selection on that album was exactly the same length anyway (13:01, I think), so there were no fade-outs or song repeats, and with this album you could randomly switch between the four programs and not be able to tell that you were listening to something different (the bleed-over factor probably even worked to this tape's advantage, making it even more densely noisy than it already was). I always thought Metal Machine Music sounded like someone fiddling around with a short wave radio during a bad electrical storm...

I hear that copies of Metal Machine Music on 8-Track sell for hundreds of dollars to 8-Track collectors these days. I've read an article where Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore was singing the praises of it's 8-Track incarnation, so maybe that's helped spike the interest amongst collectors. Can't imagine why anyone would want one, though...Yes, the glory days of 8-Track tapes are long gone history. Anyone who complains about the sound quality of even a non-remastered CD was most likely not around during the 8-Track age, or (as is the case with me) has become spoiled by digital audio's superior fidelity.

If this essay has brought back nostalgic memories of the bygone 8-Track era or whetted your appetite to know more about those neat little cartridges we used to shove into the player...usually also requiring a matchbook inserted between the tape and the player's receptacle to prevent wobbly sound or excessive bleed-through...I suggest you check out 8-Track Heaven. These guys seem to hope the 8-Track will one day make a grand comeback...

Playlist 4.25-26.05

Last night I worked 8 training hours with the individual I will be providing service for and so he was the one who chose the music we listened to.
First he played a compilation CD of really old rap hits, like "You Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer, "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc, "Bust-a-Move" by Young MC, "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot...you get the picture.
Crazy thing is, I actually found myself sorta enjoying it.
Can't say the same for the Grease soundtrack he played next. Ugh. What a wretched collection of dreck that is.
He also played a select few songs on the soundtrack from The Matrix, and it was the first really hard rock I've listened to in quite awhile.
Inspired me to pull out Tool's Undertow this morning as I cleaned house. Overall, I have always liked Undertow quite a bit, but there are a couple of songs that take me back to some negative emotions I used to associate and nurture with them ("Swamp", mainly). Don't like to go there, if you know what I mean, but can't deny that the album seriously rocks.

But an old geezer like me can only take so much of the hard stuff...
So I followed it up with Ultra-Vivid Scene's Joy 1967-1990 and am currently listening to UVS's self-titled debut.

OT: Random Thoughts 4.20.05 Edition

Random Thought #1: It's been over three weeks since the agency I work for split up the individuals in the house I was staffed in. I'm a bit miffed about it because as far as I'm concerned I should have been given the choice of continuing to work with MM, who I've been with since January 04 and was the first HTS he had. Did the area director know, when she made the staffing assignments, that the HTS who wound up working with him had repeatedly broken policy by basically letting MM stay at his (the HTS's) house EVERY SINGLE TIME he was scheduled to work with him? In other words, this HTS never spent a single night at MM's own house, which is what he's paid to do...instead, he just stayed at his OWN house and let MM stay with him.
It's no use complaining...what's done is done.

It was my own choice to leave the house after MM and DC were moved out, with TM being the only one of the three left...and I made that choice partly because I didn't want to work with TM anymore, but mainly because I knew that the other two individuals who were being moved into the house were 10 times more volatile and difficult than even TM. I'll never understand the logic in putting these three guys together. I had occassion to speak to one of the HTSs who still work in that house a week ago...he told me it was a madhouse, with windows being broken, holes being punched into the walls, and non-stop chaos. He showed me a vicious looking abrasion on his arm that he explained was the result of one of the individuals biting him while he attempted to restrain the guy from fighting with another individual.

I knew this was going to happen, and I also knew that I wanted none of it. When
I talked to the area director I made it perfectly clear that my bottom line from now on is that I WILL NOT WORK WITH "FIGHTERS". I'm just too old and I don't enjoy the adrenaline rush that is part and parcel of successfully dealing with these situations.

It took them long enough to reassign me to another individual, but today I spend 8 training hours with BL, who I will be staffed with full time beginning next week.

Or maybe not...

BL has 3 cats in his house and I am allergic to their dander to the point where I cannot be around them for even an hour without severe reactions. When I was first introduced to BL in his house I was there for about 45 minutes and I paid for it the next two days with itchy, watery eyes and sinus congestion.

I have been taking Claritin for the past 6 days, hoping for a preventative when I go in today...I don't mind taking the stuff on a regular basis if it will protect me from the allergies, but here's the deal...if it DOESN'T work there is no way I can work in that house. Period.

We shall find out today.

As much as I dread the thought of having to go out and hustle up a new job, there is a part of me that would MUCH rather take on something new and different. I've been in this field (working with the developmentally disabled in their homes) for 2 years now, with 3 years previous experience working in a group home situation. I just don't know if this is where I want or need to be. I have strong doubts that I have the patience required to do this job the way it needs to be done (the last 2 years notwithstanding).

Random Thought #2: Why does my computer make such funny noises?

Random Thought #3: I finished up Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. Wow, what a depressing play it is! I checked in my copy of the Video & DVD Guide 2003 and found that the movie version that features Katherine Hepburn received the full 5 star rating. I'm anxious to see that, but I doubt any of the video stores in town have it.

Random Thought #4: I don't know the population figures for the town where I live...suffice to say that it is the textbook definition of "small town"...but it amazes me that we have 3, count 'em, THREE video rental stores here. Is the video rental business really that good? Is this town so hard-up for entertainment that it can support all three of 'em? You'd think ONE would be enough. And of all three video stores, I'd bet they have at least 75% of the exact same titles in stock between them. AT LEAST and probably up into the 85-90% mark. Sigh.
Random Thought #5: Mainly listening to XM the last few days, especially Audio Visions and The System. Here are the last 3 CDs I've listened to in their entirety:


Anoushka Shankar Live at Carnegie Hall

King Crimson Larks Tongues in Aspic

King Crimson The ContruKction of Light

Niteshade...Stupid Name, Great Band

Niteshade 1991. Left to right: James Casey (bass, vocals), Mark Bronson (vocals, guitar), Gregg Dobbs (lead guitar), Alan Spicer (drums, vocals)

This is a publicity photo of a country band I played in way back in 1990-1991. At the time this shot was taken we called ourselves NITESHADE. Dumb name, I realize. It was the drummer's brainchild. The drummer was also the weakest link in the musical chain...nice guy, don't get me wrong, nothing personal, he just was not a very good drummer. Eventually we replaced him and, figuring he would be upset if we kept playing as Niteshade, we gladly changed our name to MARK BRONSON & THE BROOKLINE BROTHERS BAND. There is a story behind the "Brookline Bros.", having to do with how so many people thought Gregg and I were brothers, but that's really about as much as I'd want to share regarding it's origin.

We played on a regular basis at the Diamond Ballroom in OKC, back when they had huge country music dances every weekend. We were also much beloved at the Watering Hole in Edmond, Ann's Club in Sulphur, the 200 Club (where the Village Inn used to be at the 200 Mile exit of Interstate 40) and were always a big hit at the Continental Club, which was also in Sulphur. There were a few other dives we got booked in periodically, but those were our mainstays.

Niteshade/MB &the BB Band were your typical Okie money-making honky tonk band. We played everything from Merle Haggard and George Jones to Clint Black and George Strait. Our ace in the hole was an ability to play rock songs with authenticity, as we had all played in strictly rock bands at different stages in our "careers". Most C&W acts around these parts sounded like honky tonk bands TRYING to play rock when the inevitable request for a rock song was made. Trust me, there's nothing quite like a honky tonk band playing rock and roll to make you stop requesting rock songs and be content with the country tunes. But we were different, and so everybody was happy regardless of the kind of music they wanted to dance to.

Made a ton of money with these guys and had a great time, for the most part.
Here's to 'em.

Welcome to the Ring

Now that my Listening Room is officially a member of the Music of All Kinds webring, I've been surfing the ring to get an idea of what kind of company I'm hanging with. Here are a few of the sites I happened to stumble upon.

If you read my recent post about the "against pop" website, you know I'm not a classical music snob. Still, there's a part of me that recoils in horror at this headline I found at the Alicia Keys-Siren of the Streets website, "MOVE OVER BEETHOVEN...ALICIA KEYS HAS ARRIVED".

Neil Young, in his song "Union Man", stood up for the working musician and gave us a slogan we could call our own: "Live Music Is Best". Somehow, I don't think this guy qualifies...Ladies and Gentlemen, all the way from Parkland, Florida I bring you GARY LAWRENCE AND HIS VIRTUAL QUINTET!!!

Can't say I've ever heard of GREY, but now that I've stumbled across his website I admit to being a tad curious. Especially after reading this: "Grey blends the psychedelic, progressive, acoustic, and alternative stylings of Rush, Yes, the Beatles, the Doors, and Pink Floyd to create a unique rock and pop sound sometimes compared to that of Dave Matthews Band, Phish, and David Bowie".
If it were me blending those band's stylings to create my own unique sound and someone compared it to the Dave Matthews Band, I think I'd take that as a.) a greivous insult and/or b.) a firm indication that I need to put down my guitar and concentrate on another hobby...
But that's just me...

"We have a technical...
...normal service will resume shortly"
Sounds like a Gary Numan lyric, doesn't it?
Apparently Night Talk, a Numan fan site is having some difficulties of the technical kind.

JILLIAN SANTELLA WANTS TO ROCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!
Well, if I weren't so old and so married I think my socks would indeed enjoy being rocked off by this melodious vixen. Maybe your socks are in the mood for being rocked off and you don't have the same restrictions I've imposed upon myself...sample Jillian's wares at Steve Hammontree's personal website.

Okay, enough already. I feel as if I have wasted much precious time this afternoon. Click on the Music of All Kinds banner below if you, too, have some time to waste. It's a real eye-opener, lemme tell you.

Joy Division Obsession Remembered

Ian Curtis of JOY DIVISION

There was a time in the very early 80's when I listened to the music of Joy Division obsessively. I'd read a review in Creem magazine of their album Still, which was released about a year after frontman Ian Curtis had hanged himself, and the review had piqued my interest, to say the least. It spoke of the music as being haunted, psychotic glimpses into the mind of a man on the edge of life, threatening to jump...or at least, that's how I remember it...'s been over 20 years, but that was the gist of the over-all positive review.

I immediately went to Shadowplay Records in Norman, the only record store in the state that I knew would be cool enough to have a copy in stock, and laid down about 30 bucks for the import 2 record set (which came with a neat little Joy Division stick-pin button). At the time my depression periodically manifested itself in an extreme interest in dead rock stars and I had to hear these messages from beyond from a guy who looked the grim reaper straight in the eyes and said, "I won't wait, let's get outta here NOW!"

A bit strange, I admit, but that's who I was after I had tasted freedom immediately after graduating high school, trying to figure out what I would do with my life. It was a difficult period, fighting back the demons inside that hoped to convince me that I was wasting my time.

I listened to anything and everything I could find by Joy Division. For a time their music was practically all I would listen to.

I still have the Heart and Soul box set (which includes remastered versions of both classic JD albums, Unknown PLeasures and Still, along with much more), a few rarities discs, and a copy of Still on CD, but truth be told I rarely listen to them anymore. I still acknowledge that they are essential recordings of the post-punk era and they have lost none of their power. But hearing those songs now takes me back to a time in my life that I'm not fond of remembering, for various reasons..not all bad.

Anyhoo, I only bring it up because I'd found the swell photo of Ian Curtis above that I don't recall having seen before and I wanted to share a link to a Guardian interview with his ex-wife, Deborah.

Happy (early) Birthday To Me!

Nothing fancy, mind you, but it's exactly what I've wanted and needed for the bedroom. This is the RCA Model 2041 compact audio system (photo removed). 100 watts of power (plenty for it's intended purpose), 5-disc CD changer, tuner and a line-in for another component...well, that's all I need, in the stereo itself, at least...I'm still gonna have to spring for another XM Home Stereo adaptor to run into the auxilary, but I can find one of those for around $25. It shouldn't take me too long to get it all set up.
Anyhoo, it fits nicely on my bedside table with the speakers perched on either end of the bedposts. Sounds mighty good.
The only down side of the whole deal is that in accepting this as an early birthday gift, I may have to wait a while to get that new Autechre CD.

FOLLOW-UP: This stereo turned out to be a complete piece of shit. I replaced it with another RCA product which also turned out to be a piece of shit. I no longer purchase RCA products and am quite happy with the Sony I use now.---March 2008