Gernot Vonhoegen wrote:
>> can sombody enlighten me on what an 8-track is and if this is of any
>> use? I believe its some form of old fashioned cassette thingy.
Andy replied:
>>This was the brainchild of Bill Lear (of Lear Jet fame), and was a sort of
"cassette tape", circa 1965. The cartridges were about the size of a
"Walkman" type radio. They were more or less a "continuous-loop" tape,
with four "programs" on each tape (and, being stereo, two channels, so
4x2=8 -- the 8-track). The "format" was pretty rigid in terms of length;
some prerecorded music on 8-track was arranged in a different order than
one would be used to finding on the vinyl album or cassette tape to fit
the time constraints. Either that, or a song might be interrupted by
clicks and such while the player changed from one program to the next. One
could easily move through programs 1,2,3,4, but rewinding was not
possible. Recording your own 8-track was possible, but nowhere near as
commonplace as with cassettes.
It was interesting, and it was quite popular for some time, until cassette
tapes really came into their own. 8-track format pretty much disappeared
in the 1980s. It's primarily a novelty artifact now, IMHO, although it's
undoubtedly considered collectible by some.>>
Excellent summary! But you forgot the pinnacle of
8-track achievement: the Quadraphonic 8-track.
Took a special machine and tapes. Had two tape
heads: one read Program1 (l&r) and the other
Program 3 (l&r) (or on Track 2: Programs 2 and 4)
simultaneously!
This gave four individual channels of sound, but
only two usable tracks, meaning the tape was twice
as long. I still have an unopened John Lennon "Walls
and Bridges" Quad 8-track... but alas no player. (On a
normal player, you only get 2 of the 4 channels at a time....
essentially like a stereo turned completely to one channel.)
I do, however, have an 8-track recorder ....with Dolby!
Since these were technology paths crossing in the night,
I'm told it's rare. Still plays my 200+ tapes well. Would
record well, too if I could find new blanks. (No erase head,
(I think) so recording over old tapes is not great.)
Of course, one other problem you missed
was that the tapes wear out quickly and cannot
be repaired. I finally lost an irreplaceable bootleg
of a live ELO concert circa 1972!
One last thought.... at a flea market last week I found
a piece of history: a cassette adapter for an 8-track...
new in the box! This allowed you to play those new-
fangled cassette thingies in your 8-track. Had one.
Was horrible! I passed on it, even at $0.25!
Oh, for the record, I'm 33 and no longer have 8-tracks
in any of my vehicles. I do still have 400+ LP's and a
programmable turntable (reads the tracks with a laser).
My 14-yr-old stepson finds them all very amusing.
Bill Elliott
Lake Mills, WI
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