8-Tracks
On 15th September 1965, the Ford Motor Company became the first automaker to offer an eight-track tape player as an option for their entire line of vehicles on sale in the US. Tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores, as home eight-track equipment was still a year away.
I wish it had stayed away! Well, not really, but if there was ever a rubbish, unreliable, and difficult format on which to listen to music, then the eight-track tape wins all the awards.
Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation, along with Ampex, Ford, Motorola, and RCA Victor Records.
Don’t get me wrong; they did work, but only sometimes. Maybe my judgment is clouded, it probably is, but I have first-hand experience with this useless invention.
What is an eight-track I hear some of you ask? Well, if you were born, say, after 1974, you won’t remember; you don’t know how lucky you were. By the time you’d hit your teens, Mr Sony had invented the Walkman. Now that was a good invention, which as we know revolutionized the way we all listen to music. All of a sudden we had music on the move without having to cart around a huge boom-box on your shoulder. Just slip the long-play cassette in and you could listen to your favourite tunes while you were jogging, on the bus/train, back of Dad’s car, schoolyard.
It was the forerunner to the iPod – you were mobile with your music. Just that the batteries didn’t last very long, and they were expensive.
Anyway, enough, back to the eight tracks. My first job was working in a very large record shop, (before the invention of the compact disc). We sold music in three formats: vinyl, cassettes, and eight-tracks. It was my misfortune to often man the eight-track counter during the busiest part of the day – lunch.
Men in suits would queue to buy the latest releases by the Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc., knowing full well they would be returning to the store within the next few days with a very long trail of tape wrapped around the plastic case.
Yes, the tape always came out of these things. Not only were they very temperamental, but the music would pause as the tape changed from its spool. So halfway through rocking out in your car to “Stairway To Heaven” the music would stop. Silence for three seconds, then back to Jimmy Page‘s guitar solo.
Here is the technical explanation for this: The cartridges had an audible pause due to the presence of a length of metallic foil, which a sensor detected and signaled the end of the tape and acted as a splice for the loop. The foil passed across a pair of electrical contacts, which were in the tape path. Contact of the foil closed an electrical circuit that engages a solenoid which mechanically shifts the tape head to the level of the next track.
Still here?
Eight-track tapes were rubbish. They would jam as the tape got dirty, the lubricant wore away, and if the tape was exposed to heat when you left it on the rear shelf in the car, it would flatten the pitch and, over time, would wow and flutter, and then spool the tape all over the floor of your motor.
In the US eight-track cartridges were phased out of retail stores by late 1982. Some titles were still available until late 1988. Many of these late-period releases are now highly collectable because of the low numbers that were produced! Among the rarest is Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood. Another is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Live/1975-85, which was one of the very few boxed sets to be released on vinyl, cassette, compact disc, and eight-track tape.
There is a debate among collectors about the last commercial eight-track released by a major label, but many agree it was Fleetwood Mac‘s Greatest Hits in November 1988. Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest.
By today’s standards, where the world is filled with portable music, the eight-track tape seems rather (click) antiquated: big and bulky, the endlessly looping tape, the annoying habit of (click) interrupting songs midway through with an audible click as they moved through each of their quadrants. Furthermore, the intended order of songs was often disrupted (click) resulting in those long periods of silence between tracks.
I’m off to charge up my iPad.
Sophie
August 22, 2020 at 3:15 am
You don’t have to love them. You can hate them. Please send my your Led Zeplin and Moody Blues 8track tapes. I have 8track players and tapes, and I can fix them when they break. They are rich, fuzzy, round, warped, and living–every play is the only time you will hear that song exactly that way. Johnny Cash’s “At Folsom Prison” shouldn’t be played on any other format. It’s true, they are temporary, but I don’t hate cats for living shorter lives.
Jimmy Lewis
October 14, 2020 at 2:27 am
I don’t know why you are so angry about 8 tracks. My brother in law had one in his 57 Chevy. I listened to a lot of classic rock on 8 tracks. The first time I heard Highway to hell, it was on 8 track. They were crude, but they did work. And BTW, Mr. Sony didn’t invent the Walkman. Tom Shulz did. Know your history.
Michael
October 24, 2020 at 12:40 am
I have owned hundreds of 8 tracks since the 1970’s. Your description of the problems inherent to 8 track is something I have yet to experience. I have a 1969 Doors 8 track that still plays perfect along with many 1980s Columbia House tapes that still play and have never been serviced. I have played my Madonna 8 tracks to death for 35 years and they still play. Maybe I just got lucky??
Me
January 28, 2021 at 2:35 pm
Most people that spout off about how terrible 8 tracks are have never even owned a single tape. The kind of people that think a diamond tip riding on piece of plastic will have more longevity, lol
Me
February 7, 2021 at 2:29 am
The author of this article is an idiot, you just have to be smarter than the tape.
JimJ53
August 7, 2021 at 8:18 pm
The advantage of the 8 track over the cassette, was selecting a song. The cassettes you had to rewind the whole tape, the 8 track you pushed a button through the tracks to get to your song you wanted.
WC
October 7, 2021 at 12:13 am
8-Track Tapes were NOT rubbish! As with everything in life it was mostly “people” who were responsible for them not working right or correctly. Not keeping your player clean, storing/leaving them in super Hot environments (cars at 100’s of degrees), mishandling them, etc. As others have said, properly maintained & cared for, these Tapes STILL sound & play great today… They were invented by very knowledgeable, super smart engineer type people. (George Eash & Bill Lear with Earl “Madman” Muntz thrown in for measure). People who dismiss them or say they were terrible – have no idea!
Trent Anderson
December 9, 2021 at 7:58 pm
I just grabbed some post-Beatles solo stuff for my collection. Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, Lennon’s Imagine, Ringo, and McCartney’s Band on the Run.
If you had the correct tape player, some tapes were mixed in quadraphonic. I had Lennon’s Walls and Bridges in quad. Never should have gotten rid of it, as they are EXPENSIVE on eBay these days.
I doubt that I will ever get another 8 track player. I will most likely put the tapes on display on a shelf next to my rotary telephones.
What are those?
That’s for another discussion.
shantiq
December 24, 2021 at 11:19 am
makes u wanna weep he is going to charge his ipad so he can listen to metallic silky tunes with nothing left in them
Stereo 8/ 8-Track indeed any analog medium had meat and bones underneath the skin … the digital con only leaves the skin no substance no bass no drums seriously you need to have wax in your ears and not on your turntable to not hear the difference … fat-free music like fat-free food sad reflection on where we have got to collectively ….. it is 2021 and i use only 8-Track and cassettes but the sound is thinner …. I never use CDs and would only use an mp3 player to walk around …. but dude do us a favour talk about what you understand or better even get new ears
Geno
March 1, 2022 at 3:17 am
It really wasn’t a tape issue so much as there were a lot of problematic players.
Redvette2
April 16, 2022 at 4:51 pm
Count me as another user that had no problems with my 8-Tracks. Installed an aftermarket one in my car and loved it.
Adrian Shingler
June 11, 2022 at 10:34 am
Harsh but true. I have just repaired a Sharp 8 track player and the main issue I have had to deal with has not been the player, but the degradation of the components in the cartridge itself. The case, roller, pressure pad plus debris on the tape….all very time consuming to repair. Great fun when it works but trying to buy decent quality old carts off E Bay has proved challenging!
Rodney Yerkes
October 4, 2022 at 5:59 pm
I’ve never had an issue with 8-track tapes. Never. Been playing them in various players for 40 years. Audio quality is much better than their cassette counterparts as speed is 3 3/4 ips over 1 7/8 for cassette. I trust you will disregard editors’ comments in this article.
Gene Takovik
October 29, 2022 at 9:14 pm
I could always hear other songs bleed through in the quiet between songs because of head alignment, which was a problem because the head was bouncing around the different “tracks” of the 8 track, but if the tape came out, I’d just grab one side of the loop and give it a quick tug and watch it suck back up into the cartridge. I never looked back when cassettes came out and then CDs but now my car plays MP3s from usb drives and shows the covers on the screen in the dash. 8 tracks time has come and gone.
Brian Mulhearn UK.
November 1, 2022 at 6:54 pm
I used to Have all my Music Colection on 8 Track Sterio. Listened to all my music in Car.As parents wernt to keen on my musical taste at the time ! And back in the 70s 8 Track was far superior to any other format..With great reproduction.And You could change any song with a touch of a button.just like a CD Player..And thay were not as Big as a CD .! I Used to service mine myself.just pop the case open.Lift tape out carefully..remove the jocky wheels and lubricate with vacating as most cartridges were assembled dry..Ounce You did that..Cartridges would never fail.played hundreds of hours. And still play perfectly Now.!!.. Clever piece of kit.
Sergio
January 22, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Dutch company Philips in 1963 invent the cassete tape, without Phillips the walkman cant be developed.
Dave
January 21, 2024 at 8:59 pm
They weren’t that bad. The thing I hated most was that pause in the middle of a song, otherwise they worked pretty well if you took care of them properly.
DAVESOUNDS UK
March 13, 2024 at 3:21 pm
Have just got into 8 Tracks again after having them in my first car in 1975. The quality of these things in a good deck connected to a good hi fi system is amazing! . Am currently enjoying “Tommy James & The Shondells” Crimson and clover on an American Cartridge . The Mix is a special one for 8 Tracks and its sounds so Rich , Warm & Round . Compared to my cd player its way nicer to listen to. Only downside now is after 50 or so years the Metal Track Change Splice neweds to be changed . (2″ Minute job dont even have to open the Cart) and most would benefit a new Pressure Pad ( Cheaply available online ) The Player i bought Well Used online a serviced it with a new belt and clean.I,m still enjoying the 8 Tracks …tastes are Beach Boys , 50s 60s 70s Rock . Mor . Cheers DAVESOUNDS UK
Gloria
April 5, 2024 at 11:43 am
Gloria Ibarra and Mike la dike you have been and are still exploiting my privacy and decimating my character all while you are still on the “kill Bill ” motive! I have lost my room relationships with my precious nieces and my daughter is eventually going to be old enough to one day see her mom’s disgusting and masochistic sick new project to completely exploit the person who she was known for saying that the very person who she had completely broken into pieces and then continued to toy with his emotions including using there daughter and alienating the 2 intentionally to hurt Mr 8 tracks..She was a little saddened at the news of his finding out about the betrayal from his first love and the woman he was desperately trying to make proud of him unsuccessfully that day finished this message and then at the age of 41 decided to take his life. He had been through and was constantly scrutinized in public for the leaked and sold videos of him. The last straw was the constant difficulty he had to endure just to spend time with his daughter. He was a good man and he was finally exhausted from the constant pain of his own ” once” soon to be proposed to ” love and favorite person to be with doing this to him and continued even after he had applied quite the change of character and was being respectful to the incubus who was the complete opposite always disrespectful verbally and spreading lies while she was not so sneakily cheating on 8 tracks who was in denial until she had finally made the decision to once again threaten him by refusing to let him see his daughter. He left behind his mother and his father, his daughter and his 2 nieces a nephew from his younger only sister.
Chris
April 8, 2024 at 11:27 pm
Embrace ALL formats of music. Poo-pooing certain formats does nothing for anyone.
philip schaefer
September 25, 2024 at 9:00 pm
blow me!