It's 1985...

[gjones]

Tears for fears - songs from the big chair

Prefab sprout - steve mcqueen

Sade - promise

[Velarian]

2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

Ah the Matsui . I remember getting one for my 14th birthday and having to lug around a shedload of cassettes in my backpack.

That reminds me that I used to keep my Aiwa Walkman in an empty ice cream tub. It had enough space for around half a dozen tapes as well.

 

It would have been a couple of years or so earlier, probably 1982, that I took this on holiday to the south of France and it was quite handy on the beach. The main tape on the go at that time was Men at Work - Business As Usual, which had a bouncy holiday vibe. Great music to run along the beach to early in the morning. Happy Days 😎

[toneknob]

Mark King was on BBC Breakfast this morning for a 40th anniversary of Level 42 chat. About 1h50m in:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001qgnd/breakfast-11092023

 

I like how Sally is twirling her hair during the gherkins bit.

 

[Misdee]

Sally Nugent and a gherkin. I'm living the dream.

[Old Man Riva]

19 hours ago, Velarian said:

If I’m not mistaken, I think the C120s were made from thinner tape so they could fit more on the spool, which is why they frequently got chewed up. 

… which is why they were never allowed to go anywhere near a car radio/cassette player!

 

Cleaning tape heads was a near-religious experience for me. Cotton buds (not too fluffy, so reducing the minute chance of bits of fibre actually finding their way into the inner workings) and isopropyl alcohol. Press play, and then carefully clean each head with one end of the cotton bud, and then lightly clean/finish off with the other. Once done, onto the roller and tiny steel part that came into contact with the actual tape. Use the tape counter to ensure each part of the process was afforded equal time to get the job done properly.

The satisfaction when viewing the dirty cotton bud and seeing all the residue made the whole thing worth it!

 

My dad walked in on me once, and when I excitedly told him what I was doing and showed him the cotton bud evidence I genuinely think he would have preferred that I was out on the town taking drugs… 

[PaulThePlug]

Not one of those single spool of sandpaper jobbies?...

[Alien]

22 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

 

 

Made me actually laugh out loud, for real!

 

[Velarian]

4 hours ago, Old Man Riva said:

… which is why they were never allowed to go anywhere near a car radio/cassette player!

 

Cleaning tape heads was a near-religious experience for me. Cotton buds (not too fluffy, so reducing the minute chance of bits of fibre actually finding their way into the inner workings) and isopropyl alcohol. Press play, and then carefully clean each head with one end of the cotton bud, and then lightly clean/finish off with the other. Once done, onto the roller and tiny steel part that came into contact with the actual tape. Use the tape counter to ensure each part of the process was afforded equal time to get the job done properly.

The satisfaction when viewing the dirty cotton bud and seeing all the residue made the whole thing worth it!

 

My dad walked in on me once, and when I excitedly told him what I was doing and showed him the cotton bud evidence I genuinely think he would have preferred that I was out on the town taking drugs… 

Ah yes, a process I was also very familiar with. I remember going into a pharmacy and asking for a litre of isopropyl alcohol. I was questioned about what I was going to use it for. I explained is was for a 8-track, 1/4” Revox and a few cassette decks and they must have believed me because they let me have it in the end. 

[Alien]

On 10/09/2023 at 18:00, MacDaddy said:

 

 

 

I had a felt tip pen with a hexagonal lid that was a perfect fit.  Poke the lid in, and spin the tape around like a lasso, and you'd be rewound all the way in under a minute!

 

A

[Delberthot]

On 13th July 1985 I had heard Queen for the very first time so on this day in 1985 I would have been getting on the bus with my mum and heading to the record shop to buy the next Queen album on my list.

 

My first album was Greatest Hits which I bought for £7.01 from Woolworths on my 10th birthday in 1985 before heading to the cinema. I can't remember what it was. I'm sure it was A View To A Kill but I could be wrong. Then after that I worked my way through their back catalogue from Queen all the way up to The Works which was the newest release at the time. They were £3.95 each if I remember rightly. At the time I was getting £11 a week doing a paper round so I bought an album and a copy of the Beano every week.

 

I still have them all but didn't look after them so I ended up having to buy the whole lot again a few years ago

[baa]

For me its simple:

Rick Springfield's Tao album.

I was so heavily into RS that I still listened almost daily to his Human Touch-album from 83.

[Mickyk]

On 08/09/2023 at 12:45, Paul S said:

Tears for Fears 'Songs From The Big Chair' and Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' for me.

That was me as well especially the Dire Straits, Oh and i had another tape that i  played to death  ,,, Phil Collins...No Jacket  Required in my MK2 VW Golf GTi.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Mickyk

[ezbass]

Springsteen, Elvis Costello (because my gf at the time liked him, me not o much - things change), Simple Minds, Big Country, Dire Straits. I’m driving around in a series of nasty secondhand cars, but having a great time.

[snorkie635]

12 hours ago, Mickyk said:

That was me as well especially the Dire Straits, Oh and i had another tape that i  played to death  ,,, Phil Collins...No Jacket  Required in my MK2 VW Golf GTi.

VW Golf Mk2 GTi - lubbly-jubbly! 🚗

[Mickyk]

On 08/09/2023 at 14:40, Rich said:

1. It's as good a year as any.
2. It was halfway through my personal favourite decade.
3. I was 20 that year. 

Try 27 ,38 years have passed since ,how i have no idea.

[miles'tone]

On 17/09/2023 at 11:37, snorkie635 said:

VW Golf Mk2 GTi - lubbly-jubbly! 🚗

Ah yes, the thinking man's 80s ride...

Unlike the boy racers in their escorts who used to scream through puddles trying to soak me as I strolled along listening to Ghostbusters on my Walkman (I was only 12 btw!)

I remember some tit trying it in a mini and the engine cut out, as they did 😂

Edited September 18, 2023 by miles'tone
12

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 08/09/2023 at 20:14, Velarian said:

Andreas Vollenweider - Caverna Magica, White Winds

 

That's not a name I ever expected to see on BC.

Caverna Magica is a great album.

[NigeJ]

Rush's Signals and Moving Pictures

[diskwave]

Very nice bassy tape system in a Mk1 Scirrocco (beautiful stubby little thing, shifted too) and at the time doing hotel lounge/club residency stuff. Twas all Al Jarreau, George Benson, Sting (Set Them Free...loved doing that one) and Quincy Jones....and playin a flippin grt heavy Mk1 Stingray which I eventually grew to loathe.  

[SteveXFR]

In 1985 I was listening to my dad's old punk tapes (New York Dolls was my favourite). If it were 1985 now, I'd probably be listening to

Raw Power by The Stooges and Masters Of Reality Black Sabbath