![]() ![]() Ampex and RCA Victor showed interest, as did automotive giants such as Motorola, Ford and GM. It was initially sold to the radio market, allowing for recordings at “broadcast speed.” By 1962, Earl “Madman” Muntz and George “Fidelipac” Eash began working on what they called a Stereo-Pak system, a four-track cartridge that could play in cars.Įventually William “Bill” Lear, a former used car salesman, saw a way in which he could improve upon the Stereo-Pak, eventually expanding it to a “Stereo 8” eight-track cartridge, which could provide up to 90 minutes of content. And we all know that cars do hit a few bumps in the road.įidelipac Cartridge then came to the table with what they referred to as “the cart.” It used an analogue magnetic tape format that was based on an endless loop system. The first significant ways in which we transmitted music were via vinyl players and eventually sending out songs over the radio airwaves and this was the standard for a long time, but as the vehicle industry continued to boom in the early 20th century, the question of how to translate the music experience to cars became the big question.Īccording to ARS Technica, Peter Goldmark’s Highway Hi-Fi was one of the initial attempts, but as anyone who has walked with a heavy foot near a turntable can tell you, a vinyl record option in a car was subject to skipping. and so it goes.Īs for myself – I’ve stuck with records and am quite happy.The Stereo 8, or 8-track, eventually became the first primary music player used in automobiles in the ‘60s and it grew in popularity into the early and mid-‘70s. Then the CD became overshadowed by iTunes and mp3s…. Indeed, the cassette’s reign of glory was short lived as well barely making it out of the eighties before the CD beat it into submission. Like all technologies, it got supplanted by something else. For a few years, it was awesome and we loved it. Perhaps an Atari-8-track combo would’ve given it just enough cool points to stay around a few years longer.īut let’s not be too hard on the eight-track. But since the eight-track was under-delivering, all it took was a competing product being just a couple dollars cheaper.įile under 8-tracks we’d love to have seen. In other words, the cassette wasn’t exactly a revelation the way CDs and mp3s seemed to be at first so, there was no reason to think a slightly lower price would matter so much. Ultimately isn’t this what it all boils down to? If the eight-track had been a pinch more reliable and worked out its kinks, perhaps the lower price wouldn’t have been such a death blow. Either way, it was a thoroughly miserable listening experience. Best case: a faint background of an altogether different track. Worst case scenario: two songs at equal pitch playing at the same time. I’ll just point out that, if the heads became misaligned even slightly (a VERY common occurrence) the one track would bleed-through into another track. I won’t go into the mechanics of the eight-track (there’s always Wikipedia for that). or at least a few hours before it busted. ![]() While the cassette and record would abruptly stop when it reached the end of a side, the eight-track would play for all eternity…. This negative wasn’t quite outweighed by a strong positive quality of the eight-track: it was on an infinite loop. It was a breath of fresh air to be able to roll backwards with the cassette tape. It may seem trivial, but not being able to rewind become a real downside to the eight-track. And so, unlike the source of pride which was your record collection, the filthy eight-track collection often became a thing of shame in the floorboard of your car. There was no real outer decorative case as with CDs and cassettes, just the cartridge. Thus, everyone’s collection consisted of sturdy cartridges with worn, peeling and stained stickers. As I mentioned, the case was basically bulletproof, but the sticker was not. FILTHY AND TRASHY MUSIC COLLECTION OF SHAMEĭespite the fact that eight-tracks began as techno-marvels, developed by Bill Lear (of Lear Jets no less), they soon earned a reputation as being not only unreliable, but also tacky. ![]() The music industry would learn to live with a degree of illegal copies on the market, but the eight-track absorbed the initial scorn.ĥ. Perhaps it wasn’t directly responsible, but the ability to easily make backyard bootlegs didn’t do the eight-track any favors in the reputation department. An 8-track bootleg.īut did the growing abundance of homemade eight-tracks really have anything to do with its downfall? After all, the cassette tape was geared toward making unlicensed recordings. ![]()
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