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Eight-track, the official device of avoiding potholes and bumps while driving to prevent your jam from becoming interrupted by distortion and static. Eight-tracks once dominated in the car and home market, up to them even being used in radios stations for jiggles and such, now remain a distant memory which only a few would recollect. What did happen to the mighty eight-track and why did it vanish for popularity as fast as it came in?


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Before we can answer that here is some quick history. Although tape media existed as early as the 1940s, in the way of reel-to-reel, it failed to capture the casual market as the machines were expensive and a lot more complicated than vinyl records. It was not until 1964 Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation and other corporations like Ford Motor Company, GM, and Motorola helped to develop the 8-track. The reason for the backing of motor companies for 8-tracks is because the desire to get high quality audio removable media in cars, as FM radios were relatively expensive still and AM radios did not produce that great of audio quality for music. As Ford being a major backer of the format, many of their cars such as the Mustang, Thunderbird, etc came with a removable 8-track player that can be plugged in the car. As the format became popular built-in dash 8-track and AM/FM radios started to arise in many cars during the 70s. The support of car manufactures helped to push 8-track into the home popular which it also did well in. It wasn’t until the late 1970s and early 1980s 8-tracks started to decline because of the superior compact cassette. Cassettes were superior in every way due to the size, design, and the ability to rewind and have players that can record.

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The 8-track is named after the 8 tracks on the tape (obviously). The reason for the 8 tracks is because it takes two tracks to get a stereo audio, so technically it has 4 audio tracks if that makes any sense. The tape runs around 3 ¼ inches per second from a reel in the middle of the cartridge. It is pulled up and runs along the side until it gets to the top where it meets the reader head. There is a pressure pad behind the tape in front of the head to help make proper connection with the head. The tape then goes to a tensioner and travels to the reel. This means that the tracks loop infinitely unlike a cassette.

Eight-track is a very interesting and revolutionary format. It combined a reel-to-reel tape to something that is portable and easy to use. Even though the compact cassette may be able to rewind and is able to read the tape a lot better, 8-track still has the superior sound without the need of dolby sound like cassette. And if you want to experience the full experience of 8-track, I recommend getting into a 1966 Mustang and travel down the back roads right before sunset listening to I’m Free by Kenny Loggins.

FUN FACT: 8-tack players were taken to Vietnam by soldiers due to their portability compared to phonographs at the time.


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Sources:http://www.8trackheaven.com/archive/work.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_tape



Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2018 at 4:44 PM

    I remember being so confused the first time I saw an 8-track in a thrift store. I thought it was some old video game cartridge but my mom explained it to me, not as in depth as you of course.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2018 at 5:15 PM

    I never really had much experience with 8-tracks, but rather only joked about or referenced them. I’ve definitely used and handled cassettes before. I’ll probably find them in a flea market someday if I look hard enough.

    ReplyDelete

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