Blogfinger

I got this cassette  unit with built-in radio and surprisingly good recorded sound for about $30.00 on Amazon. The cassette is about 50 years old. Radio Shack is gone, but cassette tapes are back.

Kids can move their music from their computer to cassette tapes. It is an inexpensive way to make new music known.

By Paul Goldfinger, Professor of Nostalgia at the Blogfinger School of Fine Arts in Ocean Grove, NJ, USA

When I moved to Washington, DC for medical school,  I used to communicate with my parents by sending cassette tapes back and forth.  It was a convenient system, and we kept those tapes for many years.

Here I am at GW Hospital 1967. This undoubtedly was described on one of those tapes. Bill Adams photo.

Those who saved important music tapes can tap into them again now, and even sell some.  Groups like AC/DC were peaking in the ’80’s.

A few years ago I wanted to play some of the old tapes, but it was difficult to find a player or tapes.  But now there is a literal explosion of interest and a wide variety of new cassette  players and makers of tapes.

You may recall that after vinyl for music, there were 8 tracks and then cassettes. (which peaked in 1980’s ) and then VCR’s .   Cassettes  were no longer made after about 1990, and SONY stopped making Walkmen in 2010.  Some refurbished machines are available now.   I don’t know what will happen to CD’s.

Over time it was hard to find blank tapes, but a few makers still had their original manufacturing equipment which they have now dusted off. and they can’t keep up with demand.

Many of us still have collections of music that we no longer listen to because of format issues.   Vinyl has made a comeback and now  cassettes.   Young people like to seek nostalgia and vintage experiences, and  many are falling in love with cassettes.   Some tapes can be found  at yard sales.

Certain current performers like Billy Eilish and Taylor Swift are issuing cassettes with their new releases.  Other less known artists find this a good way to provide something tangible and inexpensive for their fans and for disc jockeys to experience their music with.

Cassette tapes have personalities and you often get snaps, crackles and other delightful imperfections  which kids love.  You can use cassettes to make mixtapes from any source such as digital or even radio.    It reminds me of how I use blur and motion in some of my black and white photos.

The players have microphones so just hold your recorder up to the radio or the computer.  Some have built in radios which you can record directly from.    You can make mixtapes with a mixture of sources such as  voices, digital music, radio as well as live music.

And if you are the type who likes to keep diaries, record your feelings and ideas on cassette tapes and date and label them.  On playback you will find your ideas and the expressiveness of your voice as you record them—revealing who you are.

Companies are manufacturing cassette tapes in increasing numbers.  And if you have a band in your garage, this is superior to giving folks a web site address or an email file.

Here you can actually hand out your tapes, and it is so much more endearing and tangible then sending an email, and it can be kept forever in a drawer or pass them around to friends to exchange.

Or, if romance is on their mind, kids can make personalized mixtapes and present them to someone.—it is a personal approach unlike digital.  Keith Richards   (Rolling Stones). made mixtapes for his wife/girlfriend of 40 years.

The tapes may gradually deteriorate over time, but they may  last for up to 30 years, but who cares?   Over time the sound may change in delightful ways.    It is nostalgia which you can slip into your pocket.  Players sell for as little as $20.00,but this sound is not for those “hi-fi” stereo aficionados. But my new recorder has a surprisingly good sound quality.

I just got a player (see photo) online  and I listened to my med school tape (above). I heard myself tell  my parents that I only had two  pairs of pants and a couple of shirts.  I complained that I took Eileen out for a movie and a pizza and that it cost $7.00 over at Dupont Circle.  I said that it was too expensive to do too often.

Eileen was at the undergraduate school (GWU) and she lived in a dorm. I shared an apartment with another guy, and she would come over once a week and make us chicken.   She speaks on the cassettes, and we can still hear her now.  I think she was experiencing  frat parties while I mostly studied, but that isn’t on the tapes.

So play Bruno Mars on your computer and then record onto tape and hand it to somebody..and maybe recite a poem which you wrote.