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"Just the sound of James Taylor's voice carries me back to campus days.
My brother Roger had let me have his old cassette player - I think it easily weighed two kilos - and I would play over and over again a cassette of James Taylor's first album that someone had copied for me.
It wasn't till 1980 or thereabouts that I spent the princely sum of $390 (yes I was THAT music mad) to acquire what was then called the **Sony Soundabout (as marketed in the USA and a few other places) and would later be renamed the Walkman (the original Japanese name) that I bought my first "original" music cassette. It was, of course, James Taylor's first album.
I sold the Soundabout to an "air hostess" (yup, that was what we called them then) on my way home from a trip and I had enough money only to make a telephone call and ask if someone could come and give me a ride home.I was bereft of portable music till I had earned enough money to buy another. But this time, it was called a Walkman. And I still have it somewhere, though not the original headset. The sponge tended to disintegrate rather quickly. As someone who works in an office sometimes and takes planes every so often, headphones are a must.
The quality of some of those old cassette tapes was really good. My Walkman still holds The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett."
*Ms. Hoe was research officer in our Civil Service, leader / feature writer at New Nation, one of 7 editors who launched The New Paper and is copy editor for Digital Life.
** The original Walkman was marketed in Japan in 1979. From 1980, the Soundabout was sold in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK.
Article inspired by:
James Taylor - A Big Part of my Story is Recovery from Addiction.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11679104/James-Taylor-A-big-part-of-my-story-is-recovery-from-addiction.html
James Taylor - Carolina in My Mind - Video - Rusty Brewer
Images from Google: James Taylor. Keith Jarrett.
Video: You Tube.
My first red walkman was from my lovely late grandma after i pestered it for long. Didnt use it often bcos of it was a treasure to me and of course the consumption of batteries usage was high and costly. Played eng lang tape, canto and eng pop 80s songs. Might still have the cassettes somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI remember the last walkman i had was white, not sure if i still have it.
Yen
Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Yen. It's true; battery usage was high but it was such a novelty then. Sound wasn't that great. I always use a term with others, 'so muffled'. Not enough highs or not enough lows, depending on the cassette recording.
ReplyDeleteI bought a National mini-recorder instead and had fun using it, playing simple chords on the guitar and singing the latest hits. The best or worst part was listening to your own voice... arrgh!
A very good part of musical setup in progression from these very humble components during our growing up days.
ReplyDeleteI listened to a demo Walkman set which my brother-in-law brought back from his shop Greentown Audio where he was working as a salesman then. I must say I was really impressed by the sound quality coming from such a miniature set. And in stereo too. It was much better than radio or TV sound quality. But of course, our tastes were quite simple then and we were quite easily satisfied.
ReplyDeleteLuckily I bought my Walkman in Singapore before I went to Japan; was surprised that it was so much more expensive sold locally there... That was in the 80s.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories of the cassettes and player. I had Sony Walkman, Portable hand carried cassette/radio player/recorder [Sony].
ReplyDeleteCassettes are still with me brother Andy. During rehearsals it was something to get our music done, rewind forward. That was the way back then, Andy.
My last piece [SONY VOR] now not functioning very well.
Thank you all for this very nostalgic piece by Irene.
ReplyDeleteI used to do at home; recordings of my own songs on guitar, playing 5 chords.
Hi Andy and all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memories on cassette tapes. My first encounter was in Japan where karaoke music was played on a transistor radio with microphones attached.
I was sent for sales training [some 40 years ago] and we stayed in a family run Japanese inn. However there were only 2 songs in English: TENNESSE WALTZ and DANNY BOY. The rest were in Japanese. At the bar there were A4 size song sheets from page 1 to perhaps 50.
I had very good sales results selling odd-sized Polyester films that BASF Germany didn't want to producers of pirated karaoke cassette tapes made in JTC flatted factories in Jalan Bukit Merah!
The German chemicals company I worked for produces polyester films in rolls of one meter width. Customers slit them into the size required.
My company car a Volkswagen came with a cassette player. These players in the cars were invented by Philips Netherlands.
Those were truly cassette days.
Colin Colin
ReplyDeleteOhhh .. cassettes!
Andy Young
Colin Colin yes! You still have some?
Colin Colin
Andy Young have..in a carton stashed in cupboard. Can't bear to throw as some shd still be in working condition.
Even have those cassettes with Supreme Music logo which I bought quite a handful from the bosses at Holland Village shopping centre then. Think lady boss was Linda..
Andy Young
Colin Colin oh man! Same with me; quite a space the cassettes are taking in the cupboard. You started another memory Colin. Any more stories about cassettes my dear readers? Tell us your experience.
Andy Young
Thanks Stephen and Angela for the visit; an early one indeed.
My comment on cassettes will be negative bro coz they get stuck n the winding with a pen is so tedious...
ReplyDeleteWe were cassettes casualties' "surgeon" once upon a time.
ReplyDeleteColin Colin
ReplyDeleteAndy Young I as a teenager then like hang out at the cassette stall nearest entrance in old Bugis Street. That time is early 80s? Pirated cassettes were aplenty but sound quality OK lei. N nobody buys original cassettes then due to pricing difference. Haha.
Andy Young
Colin Colin yes, I think the pirated ones created this price difference and spoiled the market. Thanks again Colin. Interesting topic indeed.
1ma few seconds ago
Reply
Freda Hanum
ReplyDeleteOh my Andy you sure work fast with the comments in the blog hehe...These Sony Walkman are wonders during those days and I must have it with me everywhere I go. I could do recordings too in my practices and performances. I am a crazy collector of cassettes and have boxes and boxes of all kind genre of songs too, sadly kept for too long it gather moss have to get rid all and some given away when my Walkman give way after some years.....nice to think back after reading your article Andy
Andy Young
Freda Hanum hi, thanks for your comment. Yes, the sad thing about cassettes; they do gather moss and with our kind of climate, they spoil quickly. But cassettes were useful those years. Today we have the smart phone recording system. Technology, in so many ways, has changed our lives.
My Walkman was such a wonderful companion on my long bus rides especially during my army days. Remember listening closely to albums from Duran Duran to the Beatles and analysing their arrangements through the stereophonic sound of the headphones. I still remember it vividly. That was eventually followed up with the Discman!
ReplyDeleteAndy Young
ReplyDeleteSpecial thanks to JOHN KLASS for ❤ this post.
Andy,
ReplyDeleteRegarding d cassette tape I first saw in a Karaoke Club in Japan they call it Minus One tape where d customers will sing back by d minus one cassette n d Boss Mr Ono wanted to open a Karaoke Club in Singapore, the first of its kind in Jurong next to d skating rink.
I discouraged him because I was in the music bands agency and if he was successful the clubs would only employ my singers. It was such a relief that the Club only catered to Japanese customers and also the Minus One Tape machine was also in Japanese and my singers could not sing in the language.
Later my company, the 10th Storey Musical Agency, together with my partner, managed to talk to the KL Merlin Hotel where we serviced them with shows and a band to open the first Japanese lounge at the basement of the Hotel where Tomorrow Disco was, and we completely renovated it into a high class Japanese lounge with pretty hostesses. It was packed nightly. .
Ramon Rahmat [Blackjacks] and the Rollers were the first band to perform here because Ramon could speak and sing in Japanese. I cut off the Minus One Cassette Tape machine and insisted to have Ramon's band. Mr Ono also liked Ramon; that was important.
Fred Ching
ReplyDeleteThank you Irene for this interesting article and to you Brother Andy for posting! I could still remember saving up quite a bit to buy my very first Teresa Teng’s cassette tape and that was her compilation album and I could played it over and over again on my black Sony Walkman.in the mid eighties.
From her cassette tapes to CD to digital downloads, Teresa Teng songs have walked me through many decades. So fortunate to have watched her live at the now defunct Singapore National Theatre. Great performance!!!! Love all the songs, but this classic indefinitely pierced my heart with love. You surely have the sweetest voice.
Thank you, Teresa
❤️🌹❤️…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-_nyBXHfYs
Andy Young
ReplyDeleteFred Ching hi! Didn't see your comment till now. Yes, she had many recorded songs on cassettes. But the pirates won the day with cheaper versions. Thanks for the lovely connection Fred.
Freda Hanum
ReplyDeleteFred Ching
Patrick Teng
Stephen Han
Angela Leow
John Klass
Colin Colin
Yip Dick
James Kwok
Rose Khoo
Somkid Lakhawat
Ser Kiong Tan
Andy Young
Thanks to the above friends who like the post
and JOHN KLASS and FRED CHING who love it.