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Not really 8 Tracky but a nice addition to the genre is this super cool psychedelic Light Organ, these were avalible in the 70's at Radio Shack and when you turn them on the lights would follow the songs of the music playing for a home version of Lasarium. https://www.tripsavvy.com/laserium-retro-light-and-music-show-in-van-nuys-1586952
I suppose it was a precursor to the days when I use to play CDs in the CD Rom part of the computer and turn on the screen saver but even that sound quaint today
Last week reminded me of the early days of this blog when on any given weekend I'd come home with a mother load of tapes and spend most of the week with 20 tapes to listen to. It started at a sale with mostly household and car items but in the back of the garage were 8 medium boxes that said "8 tracks" on them and after a little negotiating I got them for a song that separated on to the next track ($23 actually) for 386 tapes, the guy who ran the sale said the tapes were there when he moved in and I think that will happen if I move on out of this house too. Of course I had to wade through about 90 country tapes and many copies of Carly Simon's Anticipation but found a few gems too like a unusual compilation titled Wild Thing on a label called Lakeshore Music, a few Duran Duran tapes I didn't have and two players hidden in one of the larger boxes.
It's been a dry spell and this year I'm discovering that vinyl records have become a hot commodity at yard sale and even 8 tracks are getting notice, the days of strolling into sales an hour before they end and getting all the tapes for a buck may still be here but by that time there are no tapes to be found other than so much country and easy listening. At this rate I might be able to retire with my mortgage paid by Leo Sayers’ Thunder In My Heart cart.
The sun was up this Saturday and this sale took advantage, most of it looked like one of those dank basement threw up in the backyard with most of the stuff looking like it wasn’t touched in decades and they even had a pretty decent sized electronic section, among the beta tapes, micro cassettes and ancient adapters. I found this caked it dirt and dust Lloyd’s 8 Track Player, after spending a half an hour with a toothpick removing the dirt from the nether regions it looked kind of sharp and futuristic. Then the tape test came and it had one of those cracklesque sound whenever you moved the volume control not being dissuaded I brought out an aerosol can of contact cleaner and now it sounds perfect. Never underestimate the power of toothpicks and sprays.
you may have noticed this page looks pretty crappy, the site has been down a few days and this is what happens, too bad this player is just amazing and looks like an ipod that plays tapes.
I found this hi tech Akai player a few weeks ago that was sitting on another similar one and got the pair for $60 which is pretty high for a player but then I flipped the other one for the same $60 I paid so I figure it's free now, great sound and lots of fun buttons to press that stop it after it runs the cycle and a FF button.
In creapy 8 track news someone listed a Charles Manson's Lie tape on ebay and the true crime buff that I am got estatic and was ready to go high on it but hours before Charlies passed away it vanished, who has it? Was it pulled, I'll never know, I hope another is listed but since I've never seen one for sale ever it might take another 20 years before one appears, I can wait.
Anyone catch The Antique Roadshow last night? Someone brought in a Weltron Spacehelmet to get appraised, they go for $200 in great condition. I've been hoping to see a spike in Ebay but you can still get them for around $150.00, Anyone remember the Weltron Robot that use to make rounds online in the early 2000s, who has it now?
I got this cool mid century player although I suppose all 8 track players are mid century. It's fun because you can be lazy and load up 5 carts at a time long before those rotating CD players did all that's missing is a remote but you can't have everything. One of the speakers is a little staticy so I trying to spray some compressed air into it and the straw adapter shot out into the circuits that are so intricate that I couldn't find it in there, I feel like a surgeon that left a sponge in a patient.
I didn't find it at Goodwill but that would have been a good segue, since I found this old Goodwill bag they use to distribute at Goodwill boxes around the country with their mascot Good Willy, they need to bring him back, or else I’m going to be him as a Halloween costume this year.
Just in time for summer is this grinchy Playtape 1200 player and 15 tapes in a handsome vinyl case, call me quaint but finally I can sit in the backyard with a Miller Lite on the rocks and catch up on the Laugh In 69 original cast album and the Theme from Flipper on the Various Artist tapes, and the best part of this system it is closes up and the vinyl case is designed for easy play with a slot for the tape on the side and volume and tape channel control. It’s fun but it looks like it was designed for Barbie but I don’t care I just may modify it with princesses and dolphin stickers to complete the illusion. 
This one is from the 2 halves make a whole collection I found last week, It’s a Craig 3403 player that was made for the listener on the go with its portability and it even sports a built in car jack that plugs into a cigarette lighter. This too is becoming obsolete, since I understand most cars don’t come with cigarette lighters anymore, I don’t have to worry since my car is from 1993, which I’m ok with since I’m not too crazy about most things made after the year 2000. Although one day when I’m bored I might stop in one of the remaining Radio Shacks left in the country and see if they have an adapter that fits into a car USB to turn it into a cigarette lighter so I can play it in the car.
