History's Dumpster

Thursday, March 05, 2015

Japanese 8-Track Tapes

If there was one place on earth you probably never thought you would ever see the 8-Track tape, it's Japan.

What would a country as technologically advanced as Japan even do with this clunky, inefficient American import? Cassette tapes were dominant in Japan for pop music recordings long before America seriously caught on in the 1980s.

I'm not sure when these were released, but I'm guessing somewhere in the mid 1970s, yet there is literally nothing on Japanese 8-Tracks anywhere online. But when I found these at Goodwill today, I had to pounce on them. Not a bad deal either - 40 cents for all four of them.

I don't have an 8-Track player, but I'm not ruling out getting one, just out of curiosity of hearing what these sound like.

Monday, March 02, 2015

Gary Owens Aircheck KMPC September 19,1970

The late Gary Owens, who passed away February 12 was unquestionably one of the world's finest broadcasting voices. From his days at KMPC 710 AM in Los Angeles, which aired what was called a "Middle of The Road" music format.

Middle of The Road, (or MOR) was about as family safe a radio format as you could get. Those "family safe" Christian Adult Contemporary stations today sound downright raunchy compared to the slick, genteel sound of Middle of The Road. Lots of soft pop songs, with a few perky instrumentals. Musically, it was barely passable if you were in your '20s and something Grandma could put up with as well. In 1970.

But what held it all together was the personalities on these radio stations. The smooth, stylish voices on these MOR radio stations. In Seattle, we had Robert E. Lee Hardwick on KVI, Larry Nelson on KOMO, and Phil Harper (who appeared on many Seattle stations and many formats from country to jazz.)

And Gary Owens had no shortage of that. His phrasing, his enunciation, they were as stylish as they came. His panache unforgettable. And one TV came back to time and time again, like another recently departed radio star, Casey Kasem.

Who will replace them? I just don't know......