November 2, 2000

It’s long enough after Labor Day so I suppose I can have a white background this month.

Only Reader’s Digest tapes at The Salvation Army this week but it wasn’t a total loss because I found this modern day masterpiece rendering by a painter of the soul named Kana Fix with her stunning portrayal of Barry Manilow.

If this was done on black velvet it would scream kitsch but it’s on a canvas panel in acrylic and takes on an iconic quality. The back of it has the artist’s address and I may look her up and ask her why she took so long donating this work. Barry was a joke over 10 years ago and trust me he won’t be rediscovered. According to the date on the price tag this painting was sitting in this thrift since July. What’s wrong with these people?

Now if you’ll pardon me I’m going to hunt for my Barry Manilow Live tape, and keep your comments to yourselves thank you.

November 8, 2000

How's this for irony, on the same day I get my 1000 hit on this site I find this note in my mailbag

The RingMaster for the The 8 Track WebRing Ring has decided to delete his Ring.  You have been sent this message because you are member of that Ring. 

If you wish to join another Ring, you can go to the WebRing Directory at http://dir.webring.yahoo.com/rw and search for another Ring to join or you can start your own Ring by going to http://edit.webring.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/wrnewring.

We hope that you will continue to a part of WebRing.

Is it time to celebrate or put my foot through the TV?

November 10, 2000

According to our almighty ring master he accidentally deleted the whole group and what was once 33 members is now up to 4 as we slowly reenlist on the ring. On the positive side since there is only a hand full of sites running now I've gotten 15 hits in less than 24 hours. Yes, I know BFD but this ain't Yahoo. I took almost 12 months for a 1000 hits and it this rate I could get that much in... well who has a calculator?  . One day I hope to get one of those "click on the banner" sponsors  where I get like 3 cents every time you visit them. It may pay for that expensive Velvet Underground tape I bought on eBay this week

November 15, 2000

I got that Velvet Underground tape in the mail and it seems Mr. Seller forgot to mention that the pinch roller was deteriorated and the inner tape was caked with 8 track Ampex tar. After major surgery and disemboweling a similar cart by The Poppy Family I can hear track 1 before it binds and gets too tight to play. Then I break it open and resplice again. After 2 hours of this mess I gave up and filed it with the "One day I'll find the right pinch roller " stack. 

That's what I get for abandoning the thrifts when they begin to run dry. I sell a lot on ebay but every time I buy something I'm always somehow disappointed with it. And If I don't find any tapes soon you'll be hearing the tragic tale of the mod ball chair nightmare I had earlier this year.

November 20, 2000

The big thrift news here is that blistering Holy thrift -St. Vincent DePaul (Was this saint of second hand merchandise? That's one holiday I'd celebrate.)  Moved two blocks down to the old Salvation Army building . That's all everyone has been talking about for the last week successfully putting the elections on the back burner. The building lacks the charm of the old one and going inside is like setting foot in one of those "Thrift TM" stores with names like Savers. At least the old layout has all these mazelike partitions where a wrong turn might score you a Simpson's bedspread. I'm cautiously holding my breath on this place.

This week Goodwill has 30 new 8 tracks separated and sealed in plastic bags marked $5.99. The good news is you just have to rip open the bags and take the good ones to the front and pay the regular $,39 a piece. I wonder what corporative genius thinks up this packaging? I can't imagine anyone picking up a bag and seeing 2 Supertramp tapes, 3 John Denvers and a copy of Organ Classics and saying "Wow all my favorite groups how did they know?"

November 26, 2000

Yesterday between blue pina colatas at Port Angeles' only non redneck bar The Landings, one of members of our party mentioned an obscure thrift store in Haddock (40 miles away) that she said had a huge wall of 8 tracks. Guess where I'm going next week. 

This silly X-mas holiday has turned my standby thrifts into these green and red abominations. So I've been hermiting a lot more than I should. I found a few tapes not worth mentioning other that it's my opinion that Boz Scaggs' Silk Degree has got to be the most common 8 track in Washington. It seems every time I sell one in a lot online two more replace it. It's a good tape but just like that Lp by Herb Alpert Called Whipped Cream and Other Delights you just can't escape it. Once I figure out this phenomena I think all the mysteries of life will unfold. 

November 27, 2000

What do you know, today is the first happy birthday to you, you smell like a zoo anniversary of this webpage. I'm suppose to say it seems like it was just yesterday that I uploaded this site but actually it feels a lot longer than a year. Must be the general lack of not living in the moment and always adding to it. Time drags when you've got something on the backburner, but I could never let this page grow stagnant.

As for 8 tracks, I still collect them with a furry but now I'm disciplined enough not to have every tape and have no regrets about leaving Elton Johns Goodbye Yellow Brick Road at a thrift. A year ago I'd have 5 of those in my collection without a problem. I guess I finally realized that I'll never own every single 8 track. Players of course are another story.

I'm also happy with the fact that I've avoided turning this site in to an audio classified section (Not a single transaction) I challenge you to find two 8 track pages that aren't exclusively that. 

 I've met some pretty interesting people and the odd thing is the majority of them aren't into 8 track tapes in any capacity. Most people who write just mention some reference to having tapes when they were young or a strange uncle with them. No comment. 

And now we get a new president (or do we?), on a side note I've noticed that The Simpsons were more well written when George HW Bush was in The White House and when Bubba got in the quality slowly fell off so I'm hoping a new Bush (Dubba) may change all that, if nothing else.

December 3, 2000

I went to that 8 track store with the wall of tapes and it was just grand. I'll give you the blow by blow later since it's been an obsessive no time for anything week. I've noticed that none of the graphics on this page have anything to do 8 tracks. What's going on here? Anyway in keeping up with the theme here's a few pix from the anniversary of the WTO riots in Seattle, no tear gas here, that happened a few hours later. But you don't want to hear about that, it's an 8 track page damn it.

December 5 2000

I have seen the future of 8 track thrifts and it’s Dekes Deals in Port Haddock (360) 379-1179. This place looked like any antique store and wasn’t "pop" enough for me but as I explored the joint and went down the spiral staircase found a room that was obviously set up by an audiophile. This music room was filled with obscure vinyl (meticulously alphabetized), equipment and had a huge wall filled with 8 track tapes. My only peeve was the general unheated nature of this walkin freezer (Ever thumb through a 1000 lps in 30 degree weather?

Before I tell you what tapes I got let me put in this disclaimer- I have the worst taste in music and I’m almost arrogant about it too. So if you’re stuck in my car on a road trip you’d best bring earplugs or it’s going to be a long ride.

Now that that out of the way I got loads of cheesy 70’s heartthrob tapes by such guilty pleasures as Shawn Cassidy, Bobby Sherman and the late Andy Gibb (Or as Dennis Leary said "One down 3 to go"). Also fun K-tel and Ronco tapes that have kept me company all week. Cheerful stuff, but I nabbed a tape by a composer named Isao Tomita called "Snowflakes are Dancing". Funny how you can listen to hours of hookie tunes and when something fresh and innovated goes on it raises your general aesthetics to a new level. I once read somewhere that the reason Nazi music was so effective was before it caught on most of the songs were of the tick tock omphpapa tuba variety and that power of booming kettle drum nationalism was contagious for the time. Kind of like being weaned on Ernest films and then discovering Russ Meyer.

December 14, 2000

Today I got an intimidating yet functional Sears 8-track alarm clock that looks like an office intercom.

8 Track appliances are fun and I wonder why CDs never took the initiative to make these curious audio hybrids. They’re a subtle way of preserving players since you know that the only reason they weren’t tossed out is someone kept it around for the clock. I’m sure most 70’s wood grain 8 track component stereos are still around for the FM radio built in. I still see these in auto repair shops all the time.

I’ve seen home bars with built in players, a bed with a player and even once an old car (all right bad example).

I use to carve tiki totem poles and once considered putting a player in the mouth (Maybe I still will). This is an area that needs to be exploited and since things work better with a twist of irony there’s no time like the present. So if there are any industrialists out there with deep pockets who need a tax write off I’d be glad to draw out some plans for an 8 track chia pet.

December 19, 2000

There maybe a god after all, yesterdays tape lot at Goodwill was 15 of those who gives a rats ass, unlistenable, into the furnace, religious music tapes. I was bummed since the tape bin gets stocked once a week and this time my heart beat in anticipation as I neared the bin and I felt cheated staring at stuff like "Jimmy Swaggart and Voices of Inspiration". When I think about it this isn't the first time this sort of trick has been played on me by those crazy Christians. I remember when I was a kid coming home from school I saw what I thought was a twenty dollar bill on the road but turned out to be counterfeit and on one side had some scripture written on it. I mean what if I turned the tables and went to a Christian book store and replaced the pages of the bible with the text of "Michael Jackson Was My Lover?" Would that be fair? I want my twenty.  Anyway,  today, the bin was empty! Where did they go? and why? Must be a sign.

And to make thing sweeter my tiki book arrived today. Aren't I the lucky one.

December 20. 2000

The bin is back with a vengeance! Today I found Johnny Rivers, Golden Hits, The Spy Who Loved Me ST, Donna Summer On the Radio, and Queen's Greatest Hits. Although, I guess my real Christmas presents came early at a bar last Saturday night. I may tell you the whole sorted story one day if I get to know you better.

Anyone for a X-mas?

December 31, 2000

Another year goes by and people and events move through my life like bus boys in a crowded restaurant. So it must be time for the end of the year 8-Track Best & Worst list.

Best 8 Track Player The Westbury Portable. I got this baby a while back and finally got it fixed and wish I did it sooner. It features a retro contempo design with multicolored track lights and great sound. For the tactile types who like to play it has speakers that can be removed and a built in cigarette light adapter.

In the 80’s at your average yuppie bar you’d see these faddish new money phonies sitting at a bar with a Corona beer resting on the bar next to a portable car CD player trolling for action. This Westbury player gives me the same option. When I’m in a non 8 track car it always goes with me. It takes up a lot of space on the bar though.

Worst 8 Track Player 90’s styling with 70 technology, two great tastes that don’t taste great together. This quad JVC Nivico is butt ugly and to worsen things has the inferior track bleeding that even the guy at the electronic shop couldn’t fix. Why is quad never worth the hassle?

Best Tape of The Year My favorite road tape, K-tel's Pure Power. Why didn’t this tape come with the car instead of those cationic car cores tapes is beyond me. A few of the kicking artists are Golden Earring, Kiss, Alice Cooper ELO, and Dr Buzzard’s Original Buzzard Band Cherechez La Femme. It never gets old and someone gave me a videotape of the original K-tel commercial of the album on video (8-Track Tape $7.99). That sort of pushed the envelope

Worst Tape of the Year I don’t know who was in charge of Elvis’ tape distribution but it seems like they were all the same tape with the only change being the cover art. I am so sick of Elvis and these similar tapes I own have bled his talent to death. I’m sad to say after 10000 listenings Jail House Rock doesn’t. My only interest in the King now is on the kitsch level. Anyone for a peanut butter and banana sandwich?

Best Ebay Sale $80.00 for a Blood Sweat & Tears Quad. I think that there is something psychological about snipe bidders that goes beyond wanting the item. Why else would people keep volleying bids back and fourth for a Greatest Hits tape? Thanks for the loot boys.

Worst Ebay Sale Only $4.25 for a Cyndi Lauper tape! You guys don’t know Bopp.

Worst 8 Track Quote I heard this at a thrift store. First Person: "8 track tapes, they haven’t made these in years." Second Person "Thank God"

Best Reason to Keep Buying 8 Tracks At Dekes Deals they have a wall of 8 tracks and bins of vinyl. When I check out, all the records are scrutinized and cataloged with a price guide before I get my inflated grand total. But, every 8 track is $.50 often for the same artist.

See you in 2001, if I’m lucky

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