I started getting cassette tapes when I was given a portable cassette recorder for my 7th birthday in 1974. Obviously I used to record the charts of the radio on Sundays (still have some of those tapes with the budgie chirping away in the background!) and then my parents would sometimes treat me to a pre-recorded cassette from Dixons or similar if I was lucky. I can even remember where some of them came from. Slade In Flame and the British Gold compilation definitely came from a ‘bargain bin’ in Dixons, Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack from Woolworths on the Clifton Estate in Nottingham, while Rainbow On Stage and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations were picked up at a market on the Isle of Wight where we had a family holiday in 1977!
Later in my teens my tape collection would swell as I would record albums borrowed from my mates and the local library. Clearly TDK D90’s were my cassette of choice although I would occasionally splash out on an AD90 or (god forbid) an SDX90 if I was feeling ‘flush’! I would keep my tapes in a case under the passenger seat of my Austin Allegro after passing my driving test in 1987. I had various cars broken into and stereo’s or speakers stolen over the years. Oddly the thieves never touched my tape collection – no idea why?!
I’ve also no idea why I’m still hanging onto these old things! Emotional attachment and a permanent reminder of my happy childhood I guess…
Here’s a short video I recently posted on TikTok (please follow me for more if you are of the TikTok persuasion!)
OLD TAPES REVEAL HIDDEN TREASURES