Over on Kristi Vogel’s blog people have been extolling the virtues of the Concept Album. This reminds me of the cassette tapes we used in my Ph.D. office/lab in Cambridge. We had a Commodore PET that used a cassette tape drive for its memory. The drive could also be used to play music. We had a small collection of compilation tapes, one of these was the Space Tape. I have just surprised myself by finding it in a drawer at home. So here it is, I admit it is not a compilation of songs about Science but it as near as I ever got. See if you can guess the year it was put together.
- Telstar: The Tornados
- Space Oddity: David Bowie
- Walking on the Moon: The Police
- Supersonic Rocket Ship: The Kinks
- Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?: Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship
- Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun: Pink Floyd
- Silver Machine: Hawkwind
- I’m the Urban Spaceman: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
- The Spacegirl’s Lament: Peggy Seeger and Ewan McColl
- Beautiful Zelda: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
- The Sirens of Titan: Al Stewart
- Starman: David Bowie
- Astronomy Domine: Pink Floyd
- Rocket Man: Elton John
- Another Girl, Another Planet: The Only Ones
- Science Fiction, Double Feature: Rocky Horror Show
- Hijack (the Starship): Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship
- Starchild: Bob Pegg and Nick Strutt
1980? Certainly no earlier…
Hey, I actually know a few of these – Starman, Rocketman and Silver Machine. That’s it though. Just so you know that some of your commenters, at least [Stephen!] are really fossilised.
These days, thanks to ipods, I have heard of the new wave, such as Talor Swift, but don’t have a clue what she sounds like. (I think it is pretty cool knowing she is a she, come to think of it.)
I think “Walking on the Moon” might be the latest song, so I’ll guess 1979. :-)
Some oldies but goodies. As far as the year, I am clueless.
What a selection you got there!!… Bowie, The Police, Pink Floyd, Elton John… I go for Kristi’s year, the greatest 1979! ;-)
I must admit that I can’t be absoloutely certain but I think the Space Tape compilation was made in 1980. We had another one “Child of the 60s” but I can’t find that one just now. All I can remember about that one is it had “I’m a Believer” and “Paint it Black” on it.
My nephews refuse to believe me when I tell them I used to load computer games from a cassette player. Actually, I’m not 100% sure that they know what cassettes are.
My car is so old it has a cassette player in its radio. Do people buy cassette players these days?
My car also has a cassette player (in addition to the CD player and the radio); it’s a 2001 Honda, so not very old, really. Occasionally I listen to one of my old cassette tapes, just for good times’ sake. I have lots of bootleg Grateful Dead tapes – usually an indication that one who has lived in Oregon or northern California.
I have a rather nice Technics double cassette deck I bought on eBay for a tenner, for the sole purpose of archiving my favourite tapes on the computer. I think the deck was last seen in the loft.
My nephews refuse to believe me when I tell them I used to load computer games from a cassette player
I remember the very moment I realized I was getting too old to be in a university and should go out and get a proper job. In the dying days of my Ph.D. I was in the college bar with a load of undergraduates who refused to believe me when I said that there had once been a twelve-sided coin called the threepenny bit. They thought I was winding them up, and were only swayed (grudgingly) when Clive the barman (a man of unimpeachable honesty, and also one of the best cocktail-makers in Cambridge, if not Britain) backed me up.
A threepenny piece, some time ago
@Henry – My memories of cocktails in Cambridge college bars was limited by the deadly nature of the cocktails. But owing to our lack of sophistication many “cocktails” were mixtures of beers.
Ever had that experience when the cassette deck starts spitting out the tape in a tangled, crinkled mess, and there’s nothing you can do because you’re driving on the expressway, or trying to exit from the interstate?
I hate when that happens. Grrr. I suppose that’s what I get for persisting in my use of an archaic technology and refusing to buy a new car every three years.
@ Brian – I guess that if you can remember it, you weren’t there.
@ Kristi – oh, yes. Caroline my 1996 eVolvo has a cassette deck as well as a CD player and a radio, all three of which have their little foibles.
The radio/CD player in my Honda (which just passed the 120K mile mark – Yay!) has this foible in which it becomes locked and non-operational whenever the battery is removed, replaced, or disconnected briefly. Then I have to dig out the owner’s manual, and try to find the page with the special code that allows me to use the radio/CD player again.
And remember folks, you’ll be able to watch Caroline “in action” (ooh er missus) in our
Caroline Does CromerCromer: Drawin’s Lost Weekend.@ Graham: any news on the release date of what posterity will judge to have beeen the greatest motion picture event of the decade?
@ Henry: in a word – not at the moment. Oops, I need a new abacus.
I’ll drop a line to Mr T H-P of Bromley for an update and send you a tweet when he replies.
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My last mission in the land of cassette tapes was only last weekend. My boss at work has one featuring a recording of them singing aged about 3.
Q Graham, can you convert tape to CD?
A Yeah, easy.
Q Great. Slight problem though, the tape’s broken (as in the tape itself is snapped), do you think you could fix it?
A Possibly, I’ve brought a couple of broken tapes back to life, but that was a long time ago.
Time passed as this was not a pressing matter for those concerned.
Before attempting to fix this tape of sentimental value, I thought I’d better attempt to perform my now corroded skills on a couple of blank tapes first. The experiment failed badly so I related the news back to my boss in an appropriate style.
“Hi XXXXX. I carried out the tape project over the weekend”. (They could tell from the look on my face that this was a failed experiment). "But I did a search for you and there is this guy not far from hererepairUK.htm who can and at £25, that’s not a bad price".
Even though my experiment failed, it could have been a lot worse, and I’m glad I sub-contracted to someone better equipped to get the required data back in working order….
Thank you
BicycleTape Repair Man !!!!