Home Taping killed Music

In December 1975, it appeared that the big "in" thing was the compact cassette tape, the run up to Christmas spent either buying them, recording on them or giving/receiving them as presents.

In a time when money was never around, or it was and I just threw it to the wind, the entertainment value of the cassette recorder was almost as big a novelty as my girlfriend, the difference being that my cassette tapes could be transported down to London with me, to be enjoyed nightly on weekdays, unfortunately, the girlfriend stayed in the North of England and unfortunately could not be enjoyed nightly, by me anyways...

The progressive disc jockey, John Peel, was a godsend. His late night show, probably on Radio 2, was the catalyst for musical interest, Genesis, Queen, Supertramp, Oldfield all appeared on a regular basis.

John Peel did something back then, he would play new albums, live. Introducing them in such a way that you could hit the record and play buttons on your cassette machine at the exact time the needle was placed on the record.

This was the prize of the week and I'd often stay up late to record such albums as Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield or compile tapes with fantastic tracks like Seven Seas of Rhye from Queen, I know what I like in your wardrobe from Genesis or Lady, from the Crisis what Crisis album by Supertramp.

The recording was then played, over and over for the following month and either retained, with the tabs out, as a keeper, or redubbed with new stuff. Often, small pieces of tape covered the empty tab slots while new wonders would replace the old jaded tracks.

All basic stuff, but back then in the times when music seemed a lot more important and albums cost a fortune, the humble cassette tape held the stuff of magic.