#590: Hipster Moustache Cassette Player

GETTING MORE TALE #590: Hipster Moustache Cassette Player

As expressed in Getting More Tale #423: The Tyranny of Cassette in the 80s, I am not a fan (at all) of the cassette tape format.  As cassettes have picked up traction this year, it is an opinion that I have been sharing more frequently on social media.  I feel we need a refresher.

Some fans (such as fellow writer and tech-head Boppin) have made good arguments for tapes in the past, explaining that if you have the right equipment, you can make a tape sound so good that you won’t know it’s a cassette.  That may be so, but I:

  1. don’t have said equipment nor any desire to get a new tape deck.
  2. no longer have the need to play cassettes, having upgraded 99% of my collection to more permanent formats like CD and LP.

The subject of cassette tapes was recently revived with the announcement that the hit Netflix series Stranger Things will be receiving a deluxe cassette soundtrack.  The cassettes will be packaged to look like miniature VHS tapes…just like the 1980s.

I’m a fan of the show, so I get it.  Stranger Things celebrates so much about the 80s:  the culture, the style, the music, and yes, even the technology.  If you are also a fan, owning a cassette soundtrack version in retro packaging would be quite a collectible treat.  Not as cool as the 80s-style Stranger Things action figures, but still neat.

Fans of the music of Stranger Things would be well advised to get the excellent soundtrack, but if you get it on cassette, why bother to play it?  It won’t even sound as good as a Youtube stream.  Unless you’re one of the few who has great cassette equipment, why not just buy the CD, or the absolutely gorgeous LP editions, and play those?  They’ll last longer while the cassette will wear out the fastest.

Would you open it?  Would you play it?

This brings us back to a short bit that I recorded for Sausagefest 2017, which was received with agreement by those in attendance.  Here’s the relevant portion below.  I call it “Hipster Moustache Cassette Player”.  What do you think?

 

HIPSTER MOUSTACHE CASSETTE PLAYER

61 comments

  3. Didn’t Metallica just release something on cassette? Or maybe not. I know some RSD stuff has been on cassettes. Currently I have nothing to play them on. No, I take that back I’m sure I have my old Walkman stored somewhere. What about minidiscs? I recall having those as well.

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  5. Agreed! We tolerated cassettes in the 80’s. They were portable, you could make copies, and at times get a recording off of the radio. But I don’t think we every truly like them. I remember thinking every time I used one, “There must be a better way!”

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    3. Yes. It is expensive. I agree. Somewhat due to the willingness of hipsters to pay it.
      However, considering inflation still less than what we paid for cassettes in 80/90’s.
      Cassettes were around the same price as vinyl then, but we will pay $25-60 for vinyl now.

      Just for discussion. Most new cassettes are $5-10. Actually much less than back in the day.

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        1. I buy used ones too. I often see them from 10 cents to 1 buck.
          You can’t even buy a gumball for that now.
          As for new, they are often lesser known bands that can not afford, or can not wait 6 months or a year to get vinyl pressed (I can go on about vinyl pressing issues all day).
          Cd’s are often seen as passe to young people and vinyl is expensive. That leaves digital (which I am not a part of) or cassettes.
          Go and Bandcamp if you want proof.

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        1. Ahh shit, sometimes you make a typo and don’t see it. And then someone makes a good joke about the typo, making me have to leave it there, so the joke makes sense! ;)

          Well of course I wanted to acknowledge your more experienced take on tapes. I know it’s valid. It’s not for me, but it’s absolutely valid.

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  8. I loved cassettes back in the day. Loved taping all my friends albums. Still remember trying to tape that one Kiss album with intro of someone walkin in high heels and turning a car key. Had to really turn the volume up(like up to 11) and then turn it down superfast as not to blow my speakers when the music started.

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    1. That is the intro to Detroit Rock City!

      Back in the day, cassettes were my whole musical existence, and at my peak I had about 2000 tapes. But in 2017 it just doesn’t suit me anymore.

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      1. I looked into those, but they are big money. I contemplated the vinyl earlier, but they are also too expensive.

        Part of the reason I buy cassettes is that they are often the least expensive option, both in terms of the product, and the shipping.

        Unfortunately, money grabbing execs find out that hipster douchebags will pay huge prices for popular items (such as the Stranger Things soundtracks), and we all suffer.

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  15. I believe I’ve said in the past that I don’t have a problem with cassettes stretching or crapping out. I usually let albums play through top to bottom anyway, so play control isn’t really an issue for me. To me, they’re just another way to get tunes into my ears! But I get it, they’re not as convenient as other formats. And that said, I don’t see a need for a resurgence in cassette in 2017. Still, they’re a cheap way for me to hear a lot of music when I find cool old ones!

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        3. See that’s the way to do it. You know how I felt about that release…like Brian I’m starting to worry that a CD release isn’t on the horizon…

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        6. I recall a conversation in which I was called a weirdo for having unplayed music(ahem).
          That got me to go and open up some rare sealed stuff.
          I am still on the fence about others, but I think I will listen to them all.
          I gu3ss the value may go down,but I never sell my stuff, so it becomes a pretty brick basically.

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        8. Certain things I don’t mind being “bricks”. The Metallica cassette is a small brick so not a big deal to me. If it was, say a sealed Metallica box set…forget it. I’d open it.

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        9. Funny how as I am reading this, my dog decides it would be a good time to take a cassette off of my stereo stand.

          I may have to call up Ricky and Julian.

          ;)

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        10. Who called you a weirdo? Was that me? I dunno, I think weirdo would be meant in the best possible way there, in any case. But yeah, most stuff needs to be opened and played!

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  16. boppinsblog your dog story reminded how my firstborn destroyed my tapedeck. He was curious how the tape deck opened and ended up ripping out the the part of the deck that opens and hold s the tape. I had forgotten about that. I must have been over playing tapes then. Do recall mostly playing cd’s even back then

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  18. Hey Mike, K and I just bought a tape deck for 10 bucks…I am not one to collect cassettes (even though there are those in our blogging community who’ve been generous sending me some tunes on cassette). I like CDs, far more permanent. K is trying to turn me on to LPs and I am slow on that medium, mostly because you can’t take a record into the car with you lol

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    1. Far more permanent. You just said 50% of the reason that I go for CDs. The other 50% is the sound quality.

      You cannot take the record in the car with you. But you can rip the record to LP with just a little work and put it on a flash drive.

      Gotta tell you it’s a little surreal listening to the scratch of an old record in the car…but friggin’ fun!

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  19. Pingback: Cassette Tapes: Hot or Not? – The Diversity of Classic Rock

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