Sunday, November 16, 2008

Photo Blog #6: Cassette Tapes


Click on the image for a larger image to zoom into the individual titles

I took this shot this afternoon and now looking at it, it has a lot of history in it. In addition to personal memories, for past roommates and close friends, every tape has the potential to tell a story and recall a special moment in time. For the more pedestrian
reader, perhaps the photo marks a moment in time when audio cassettes were common place and a you'd find a collection like this at any friend's apartment. I also have to give a little credit for the composition to a photo collection I saw at the Contact and Luminato festivals this year.

For the record, this collection is of the tapes that were close at hand. I've thrown out a lot of tapes over the years and kept many cassette inserts to remind me of the old content. At one point in time I counted the number of "mixed" tapes I'd made - over 100. I'm pretty sure my entire tape collection was double this number at one point in time. The tapes I've kept are mostly compilations of tracks that perhaps are a little hard to come by these days. Like records, I also feel that these compilations also mark a moment in time, maybe like a
"mlog" ! Just handling these tapes this afternoon triggered a nostalgic reflex so I played a few old records for the family, incl. New Order, The Shuffle Demons, Thomas Dolby The (English) Beat. And yes, I do still have a tape player connected to my stereo. You never know when you'll get the urge to hear Men Without Hats.

8 comments:

  1. Ummm, i would love a closeup photo of all your mixtapes...love the different "titles" and handlettering.

    ReplyDelete
  2. how about our practice of putting movie lines from vhs tapes in between the songs - how many of those do you have?

    Remember - "lunch is for wimps"

    Stv

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those were way too much work, I think I only have one or two or those - lots of Woody Allen if I recall.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the "lunch is for wimps" line, remember Steve saying it and adopted it without ever realizing it was from Wall Street. I think Steve delivered it better!

    Love the PIc Phil.. I think I still have a few tapes of your work, couldn't remember what the color coded circle was for... Dolby maybe?

    -Dick

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Rich

    I even had the slicked back hair in those days.

    Stv

    ReplyDelete
  6. I, too, have very fond memories of mixed tapes, not only listening to them, but also making them! A great movie for those of a similar bent is "High Fidelity", with John Cusack.

    I no longer have a tape deck hooked up to my stereo, but I do have one connected to my iMac. I have been, over time, ripping the cassettes and now have quite a selection of iTunes playlists that match my mixed tapes.

    Scott

    ReplyDelete
  7. What's that iMac connection like - RCA-to-? or is it a USB tape deck ?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Scott,

    Like if he needed another reason to want a Mac...lol

    It's getting harder and harder to resist. ;-)

    ReplyDelete