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.



  

3 comments:

  1. I've read that karaoke started out with 8-tracks in the early '70s. In fact, my karaoke machine has an 8-track player in it...but it came with a bunch of cassettes!

    That second tape looks really intriguing with those familiar composers' names. I have a feeling you've got a real treat there.

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  2. Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea have a lot of foreign language 8-track tapes found in thrift stores and antiques shops! This is because they're highly collectible in those foreign regions! Reliable Taobao users sell them to avid C-pop fans (with prices that go really crazy!) because they're experienced!

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