How The Car 8-Track Player Revolutionized Music Listening

Today we take for granted we can listen to our favorite music in our cars, SUVs, and trucks. This wasn't always the case, for many years drivers and car occupants were forced to listen to a local radio station. This all changed starting in the 1960s with the introduction of the car 8-track player. This is the story of how the car 8-Track player forever changed music listening in our cars, SUVs, and trucks.

[@paulrogers6037]

Years ago, I bought a 1974 Formula 455 with an 8-track. The seller left Van Halen II and Aerosmith Live Bootleg in the glove box. Score!

[@Livereater]

I remember not wearing a seat belt, sitting in the front bench seat as a kid, without air bags in 1976 listening to an 8-track tape of Freddy Fender's 'Wasted Days And Wasted Nights'... good times!

[@andytaylor5476]

Great song!

[@geraldscott4302]

3 of my 4 cars do not have airbags, one does not have seatbelts, another one only has lap belts. No seat belt laws in my state for cars 1970n and older. 2 have 8 track players and manual transmissions.

[@1962pjb]

And when it was cold outside, the music played slowly until the interior of the car and the tape warmed up. 😂

[@delano62]

I remember that. LOL.

[@Lightblue2222]

My car cd player needs to warm up to play at all. :) .. itl say disc error if I try it below zero ha. The dash warms it up pretty quick tho. The cd player is the last mechanical music device with moving parts. And since Data Discs hold ALOT more than regular CDs I tend to use it more than the ipod.

[@Pro1er]

@@Lightblue2222 The early car CD players were just awful. Even after they warmed up they would skip just running over a bottle cap.

[@Raul-yg5oz]

Bro i was about to open my player up to see if something was wrong with the belt 😅 but i didn’t know that was a thing , well now I know thanks

[@Onteo1]

And let’s not forget the “fix” for when the tape and head didn’t quite align, stuffing a matchbook under the tape to make it sound better. Still have one in my old car. I wouldn’t swap it for anything.

[@Scalihoo]

I remember having to wedge a book of matches between the tape & bezel to make them play right sometimes, cassettes were an improvement i believe ..

[@johnlabau80]

Highland Green Fla. US Or when you went to pull the tape out on the tape was wrapped around the spoon on the inside of the player that was always fun

[@UsefulEntertainment]

They also used to cross track when the players got old too. You would hear 85% of the program you were intending on listening to and 15% of the next program at the same time because the head would get out of alignment.

[@rich_edwards79]

For some reason they used to make the head brackets out of a particularly cheap white plastic which would shrink with age, dry out and crack. They can usually be repaired with a good epoxy however. Just involves dismantling the deck.

[@mikeaubrey6058]

The heads were generally easy to adjust.

[@Siren851]

My '75 Cadillac Coupe de Ville came with the 8-track player. The best quality sound I ever heard was from the included Caddy demo tape. Only draw-back I felt from the 8-tracks was the bulkiness of the cartridges: you couldn't store very many handy for swap-outs.

[@irishkeif7791]

Yes indeed. Like you said, a key feature was that an 8-Track tape just kept on playing. I remember having the Fleetwood Mac Rumours 8-Track playing for several months straight in my '67 Galaxy. Until I finally changed it.

[@OspreyFlyer]

Still remember when a buddy showed me how to install and wire an 8 track player in my car. Then we added after market speakers. I immediately went cruising playing my music. Cooler than cool, lol.

[@jaygill5582]

Rock on!

[@ThatOneStankyNigga]

So you’re like 90yo?

[@dace938]

@@ThatOneStankyNigga probably mid-60s.

[@oldiron77]

My first car had factory 8-track with quadriphonic sound. 1969 Ford LTD from Dad in '78. 8-tracks recorded with quadriphonic sound brought a hole new world, at the time, to listening to music. The same as todays 4.0 surround sound.

[@marcscordato4385]

Ahh back in the day I was on top of the latest technology. 8- tracks, FM radio, calculators and pong. Today I only know the basics of new technology I was hip in 74 but nearly clueless today.

[@Jonky98]

Did you have a cassette player? i think you were clueless in well before 1980

[@Lousybarber]

I installed an 8-Track in my Impala in the mid 70's. First song that came thru the speakers was More Than a Feeling by Boston. Still have that 8-Track tape. Am too sentimental to throw it away.

[@muznick]

You say "cart-ridge", I say "car-tridge". My '74 Duster had an aftermarket 8 track player and a few of my sister's cartridges. The Cars first album was my favorite.

[@brangelospanks2927]

wow. yeah that is messed up

[@zulumagoo1]

He must have never watched the Partridge family, or sang the 12 days of Christmas. Wait, Maybe the hesitation in 12 days... on that word, might have been where he picked it up. Anyway, still a cool video.

[@ludovicoc7046]

Yes, odd pronunciation, never heard it that way before. Is it a regionalism-?

[@blipco5]

The Cars first album was EVERYBODY'S favorite.

[@rogermurph101]

ludovicoC I don’t recall the specifics, but he says other words strangely in some other videos. Wondering if English is a second language for him?

[@frankelmer8055]

I got mine when Simon & Garfunkel were hot. "Like a bridge over 'click-clack' troubled waters..."

[@romansroad2007]

That was cool. My brothers grew up with 8 track and then cassette came out and they had a 8 track with a cassette adapter to play them on. Wow how times have changed in the years.

[@mynameis9057]

chick-chick! right in the middle of the song was always a great feature i enjoyed immensely, much like when you had an album with a scratch or a skip on it. lol! you hear the same song but from a perfect copy and think, oh,that's what the line they sang there. lol, although even to this day 40+years later,i still may remember that spot where I hear that skip was ,or that interrupting chick-chick, lol! memories, like a s-chick-chick! it's amazing how much advancement in technology has happened in such a relatively short time. it seems like the reel to reel was the pinnacle of sound just yesterday, then 8 tracks,then cassette tapes,then cd's, then poof! now what once was rooms full of wall to wall shelves of incredible album collections ,easily fits in your pocket on your phone. imagine what Einstein would've thought seeing this now. thanks again. ▪☆☆☆▪

[@cazgerald9471]

For many audiophiles reel to reel is still the pinnacle of sound, but digital is the current pinnacle of storage and portability.

[@shawnpa]

Those 8 track cartridges were played on school buses in the 70's. They were durable, being tossed around haphazardly...and still played.

[@timcoker4685]

I have a top of the line Craig 8-track player in my 1974 Charger, listen to it all the time. I bought it off EBAY in 2002 and it was brand new unopened box. Really sets the 70s vibe tone for my Charger.

[@davidignatiusbalestreri1737]

NICE!!

[@forestlawrencegrading9154]

Those were pretty good for their time does anyone remember the cassette adapter you put the cassette in the adapter and plugged it into the 8-track

[@Bartonovich52]

Yep.

[@forestlawrencegrading9154]

@@voltare2amstereo I'm going to look those were cool and the SM adapter it went on the am radios I had them too

[@deliveryguyrx]

Yes,I still have one in my basement somewhere along with my Sanyo and 'Big Joe' stereo 8-track players.

[@Pro1er]

@@forestlawrencegrading9154 *FM adapter.

[@romansroad2007]

Yes my brother has it lol

[@969thewhip]

My dad had a ton of 8tracks when I was a kid. I also remember my mom's old 74 Maverick had a factory 8track deck. She had an adapter that would allow a cassette to be played through the 8track deck.

[@Raul-yg5oz]

My dad had an adapter too but it was a radio adapter

[@__hjg__2123]

8-Track RULES!!!

[@georgvonrauch5014]

No the cassette is the better system.

[@CertifiedShadetree]

As a child, my parents had a home console stereo (Soundesign, IIRC) with an 8 track player along with a stack of 8 track cartridges to accompany their vast vinyl record collection. My old man was ecstatic upon purchasing a 76 Pontiac Catalina that had a stock Delco 8 track stereo. I fondly remember road trips that involved The Blues Brothers "Briefcase Full of Blues" 8 track in the rotation (for some reason I also remember the "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" song amongst others that we listened to.) The old man used to throw a Slim Whitman 8 track tape up on the dash in said Catalina whenever we were in the "hood", as he seemed to think that would be a theft deterrent. Guess it worked, as we never had our car broken into...

[@ShadoHHR]

ahhh, yes ... the good old K-tel collections on both 8-track and then on cassette tapes

[@KenVic02]

I'm 57 years old and somehow I missed out entirely on the 8-track experience, sadly. Neither me or my folks ever had a car with one, and we didn't have one for home use either. Kind of went from vinyl straight to cassette tapes. Plenty of friends had 8-tracks, though...very much associated with the mid-60's to mid-70's era. Imagine the shock of telling someone from back then that "satellite radio" will allow you to listen to your favorite station uninterrupted from NY to LA!

[@johnscanlan6337]

Buddy don't sweat it at all - 8 Tracks sucked!!!

[@Bartonovich52]

Yes... 8 tracks definitely sucked. My dad was the other way. Had an 8 track player at home, and even had a cassette adapter for 8-track well into the 90s.

[@missingremote4388]

I had a 1984 Cadillac Eldorado with factory 8track stereo. Sold the car in 1992 and still have some tapes. ; Dr hook, Bob Seager, the Eagles greatest hits, others.🎼

[@shawnpa]

You could see the album art though and they took abuse.

[@KenVic02]

@C Hoc Same here... rarely bought recorded cassette tapes from the music store. But made a lot of my own mixes on tape, including keeping one in the deck at the ready to capture my favorite songs as they played on the radio. Tapes made that way were quite eclectic lol.

[@stevesus3295]

The hiss of 3 3/4 IPS 8-tracks - the 12 KHz frequency response. Those were the days.

[@jamespn]

I remember the pioneer super tuner fm stereo-cassette player combo that mounted under the dash. It had great sound in the late 1970s.

[@vmat1000]

i had one. good deck.

[@samiam5557]

I had its competitor; the CRAIG Powerplay!

[@vmat1000]

@@samiam5557 Very cool. I had a Craig 212 3'' reel to reel when i was a kid in '70. My Super Tuner eventually had a power amp bolted on to it. Marantz??, anyways i think vol and tone knobs were there. man, going back to '81 isn't easy.

[@Jonky98]

Also in the eighties fantastic sound

[@louvendran7273]

Alpine was premium, followed by Kenwood and Pioneer. There was a huge difference between oem and aftermarket in those days.

[@ProducerLare]

📻 Yes Sir! Remember them well! Also, most vehicles (if even equipped with a stereo) only had AM band. You had to get a separate FM converter that also mounted under your dash.

[@ornumjc]

I got my love for the music of the Carpenters on 8 track tapes. Great memories.

[@satinwhip]

Remember the slide gizmo that allowed you to remove the player from the car to prevent theft? We used those for our CB radios, too. Also, the ubiquitous FM converter for cars equipped with only an AM radio.

[@BartRicky]

I worked for Mr. Lear in the late 70's and knew about his contributions to the auto industry, I also had a carousel 8-track player in my home the would hold eight tapes and would change them by itself... nice for date night.. Thanks

[@Jonky98]

Awesome

[@Genshi]

Excellent video! Brings back so many memories... growing up in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, my Dad was a Radio DJ and Program Director at his Station, so not only did we have a ton of commercial 8-Track tapes (most of which were sent to him by the Record Labels) but I also learned how to record onto them at his Radio Station's recording studios; where they made their commercials. It was a great education for my future music career!

[@garyedwards3269]

I had a KRACO in-dash 8-track player in both my 1962 Chevy Impala and my 1970 Plymouth Duster back in the 70's. I never stopped collecting. I have over 5000 tapes and over 30 stereos and portable players. I get the tapes autographed now and then. I've gotten Mel Brooks, Peter Frampton, Peter Noone and Marvin Hamlisch autographs on their tapes. I almost had Ben Vereen's autograph on a 'Roots' 8-track tape but he said he'd never seen one before...so I gave it to him for his collection.

[@scootergeorge9576]

My first car stereo was a Muntz 4 track. A standard 4 track cartridge held an entire single disk LP. My second was a Craig unit played both 4 and 8 track tapes. With tape speed double the cassette, until the advent of Dolby noise reduction, the 4 and 8 track system supplied superior sound quality.

[@captmack007]

yep pink floyd dark side of the moon on 8 track. good times

[@stringalongmike1953]

Oh yeah. You got that right!

[@JDistheone]

I still collect these...for certain bands, tapes can go for hundreds of dollars even thousands. Pre-recorded cassette tapes were also introduced in the late 60's, but the real key for 8-tracks was the contract Lear Jet made with RCA & Ford to get them in their cars.

[@heavenstomurgatroyd7033]

If you really knew.... eventually in your high dollar Kraco deck the tape would get caught in the drive mechanism inside the player and when you pulled it out it was this long loop of tape. After digging it out of the drive, you could straighten out the loop and pull on one side really fast, it would rewind tightly in the cartridge sucking up the excess tape...good as new with a few wrinkles......

[@circlepfarm9729]

I had forgotten about that! Used to do it all the time! Then run the 8 track head cleaner cartridge. LOL

[@jwelchon2416]

Kraco!! WOW!! That's a name I had forgotten all about. That was a big brand in the 8 track days.

[@KenVic02]

Oh, yes... the old "eating the tape" problem! I had the problem with regular cassette tapes at home on ocassion. Never really quite figured out why it happened...seemed totally random. The thinner 120 minute tapes were more fragile and difficult to salvage when that happened.

[@markfellows7246]

@@circlepfarm9729 totally forgot about the 8 tract cleaning cartridge great memories

[@davidignatiusbalestreri1737]

How bout MindBlower 6X9 speakers with the built in amps. Sounded ok till they blew. LOL.

[@georgestreicher252]

In 1972 I went out of my way to find a cassette player for my van. It worked great for many years and two vehicles. No annoying click in the middle of songs, no jumping tracks when it went over a bump. Always played in freezing or hot weather. Glad I hunted down, a then rare car cassette player.

[@Moonlava722]

I remember the 8 track my parents had in our white Pinto station wagon. My sister and I listened to Leon Russell loved him and Heart ! When you could sit in the back back and not worry about seatbelts!!

[@garethsmyth6593]

I don’t think eight tracks were as popular over here in the UK but I do remember them and I am 42 years of age. My great grandmother had an old system in her living room and I think perhaps my grandfather had one away years ago before I was born. I think he had one in his car. I remember listening to my great grandmothers of the old familiar clunking of the changing of tracks. Thank you for the memories.

[@RyanSchweitzer77]

I'm 42 myself and I've been collecting 8-track tapes and players since 2001. Having grown up in the 80s, both my grandparents and my uncle still had their 8-track tapes and players then. My uncle had a Panasonic 8-track recorder and several blank tapes, although he didn't use it much by then (I fiddled around with it one day and listened to a dub of a Tom Jones album :) ). And my grandfolks had a massive collection of prerecorded tapes, mostly country from the 70s, along with a Soundesign stereo that had 8-track and cassette recorders (as well as a radio and turntable). They also kept some of their tapes in their Vogue motorhome, which had a Blaupunkt AM/FM/8-track deck in the dash! My grandma later gave me that old Soundesign stereo of theirs and all of their tapes (and LPs) about 12-15 years ago, shortly before she passed away. I still have the whole bunch, and still use the stereo to listen to my tapes.

[@chrisbuck1695]

I used to have a Pioneer 8 track with a Craig power pack and Pioneer speakers in my 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible and once got pulled over by the cops for playing my music too loud! Unfortunately they smelled liquor on my breath and gave me the option to park the car for the night or come down to the station for a breathalyzer. I decided a nice 5 mile walk home was in order. Lots of great memories with the 8 track but when a buddy bought a cassette deck I could see that it was the future with its convenient rewind capabilities.

[@OspreyFlyer]

First 8 track tapes I bought were bootleg tapes at the State Fair - The Doors, LA Woman, and Three Dog Night, Golden Biscuits. Wore them out until I could expand my collection, lol.

[@pontiacgrandprix733]

I remember like yesterday, my brother bought a new 67 Plymouth Fury III, and under the dash was this 8 track tape player, I was 6, my father couldn't believe the sound, Frankie Valli and the 4 seasons, I still have an in dash unit in my 73 Grand Prix, when I go to car shows, people love it, my car has AM/FM 8 track, and hidden away is a Pioneer CD, XM satellite radio with Bluetooth, it's got amps hidden in the trunk w subwoofers and the 8 track plays thru that system too, via the Equalizer, it's hysterical

[@austinfrazier7325]

The most surprising thing to me was that it took nearly 20 years to improve upon with the cassette tape. Wow. That would never happen today. Tech moves much faster.

[@scottglennen2186]

In 1979 I put a Cobra am fm cassette in my 1972 Opel GT when I was 17 years old. It sounded pretty good. If I remember correctly, at that time the cassette decks were a bit more expensive than the 8 track ones. The thing that really improved the cassette sound a little later was when more of the car cassette decks had Dolby Noise Reduction. You're right about the tech moving faster. The stock indash CD changer in my 2002 Blazer seems old and clunky today.

[@JETZcorp]

An interesting thing to consider though, is that the CD audio standard was based on the physical limits of human hearing, plus a margin on top of it. All the advancement since that point has been in convenience and portability. Ironically most music that most people listen to most of the time in 2021 is lower quality than a CD in the 80s. Even a really good cassette can just out-run an MP3 for quality, and reel-to-reel was there when the cars still had tail fins. Compared to the advancement in video during that time (think 4k vs Betamax) it's remarkable how early audio got good!

[@mikemarr333]

Had one in my first car, '72 Cutlass Supreme. Decades later in the 90s I got a '77 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe that still had the original 8-track so I got an 8-track recorder at Goodwill and recorded my favorite CDs to 8-track and cruised in style.

[@jeffersongraves5295]

My 79 lemans had an 8 track in it. I was 17 when my dad gave me the car, hard to believe that was 15 years ago. I miss that car dearly. It was a white coupe with vinyl top.

[@kmt01]

I had a Motorola 8-track in my '56 Ford truck in the mid-60's, and for a while, the only tape player in my High School. Stuck with the format for years. Got a job at a local car stereo shop installing units after school, and took payment in tapes. Thanks for the video!

[@billthompson5644]

That was really a great video, very interesting and informative,thank you. This is another on, in a long line of your excellent videos.

[@Greenelectra78]

In 1970 my parents bought a Panasonic Tuner with a built in 8 track player. I began buying 8 track tapes. Then in 1975 I came upon a stand alone 8 track player component for my stereo and I wired it into my car radio in both my '63 Fairlane and '67 Malibu. I had a 12" full range speaker in a wood box in the back seat and drove around with music blaring. But my friend had just bought a "cassette" player and I told him "It would never catch on". Not long after I bought AM/FM tuners with a cassette deck and swapped out whatever radio was in the car I was driving. By 1983 I was recording my own tapes. In 1992 I bought my neighbor's '78 Electra with a built in 8 track but by then I was listening to CDs. At home it was still albums.

[@davebarron5939]

Yep, remember them well, had an aftermarket player in my 68 Ford Galaxie 500.

[@Jonky98]

Awesome car

[@sirloin4372]

I’m 40, my parents gave me an 8track receiver and tapes when I was a kid. I remember listening to queen a lot. It was late 80’s when they gave me that stuff.

[@olmose]

Got one for my '66 Mustang in '67. LOVED the stereo music it provided. My record player wasn't used near as much then, went out to the car to listen to tapes....

[@arnepianocanada]

Superb program. I lived through that era (born 1956) but took 8-tracks for granted - in fact people used to sneer at them as cassettes rose to prominence. Like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, they "don't get no respect!"

[@williamburnett6616]

I have a 8 track in my barn I love putting a pack of match under a tape.

[@blipco5]

I remember.

[@chrisj197438]

What would that do?

[@fletcherlucas7908]

@@chrisj197438 The tape gets out of line after a while and plays two tracks at once. Putting the match pack under it would put it back into line.

[@lindaeasley4336]

These were all the rage in the 70s . My mom had one in her car , and my dad had one in his . A lot of hissing came from the tapes while they were playing

[@chargermopar]

I never knew the :ear Jet Stereo 8-traxk was the original. Have had 8 tracks in my vehicles since I started driving in 1986. Have rebuilt many 8 track cartridges and use them to this day in my classic cars. In my 1990 truck when the original radio finally failed I went to an Android based touchscreen radio. The 8-track players still work in my Chargers and will never be replaced,

[@gunsbeersmemes]

I was born in 1987, but listened to my Dad's 8 track on his workshop, in my childhood. I remember Boston and Blue Oyster Cult

[@Ka9radio_Mobile9]

I watch all of your videos! Thanks for all the hard work!

[@noahpartic7586]

I remember. I've owned at least 1 8-track as a kid, Go West by The Village People. It was worth it. Endless play forever & ever, give ou r take wear & tear. They were in homes as well as in cars. Cassettes were an improvement but not as endless as 8-track unless you had an auto reverse deck, rare feature. Good luck trying to find a working 1 today😤.

[@m3rdpwr]

When I was a kid working at Radio Shack in the mid-80's, I remember selling those 8-Track to cassette adapters for peoples cars. They use to break really easy, so I would always sell a TSP/ESP (Extended warranty) with it for a few dollars more. My father always claimed a conspiracy when they got rid of 8-track, saying they were superior to CD. Luciano Pavarotti was his favorite. :) A company I also worked for in the 80's (MIL Electronics) had an 8-Track recorder that they tossed. I took it, but never used it. I'm guessing my dad tossed it out.

[@bartricky5894]

Excellent video. A young Bill Leer developed the first practical car radio and called the company Motorola...

[@daniellack3559]

The thing of it is, radio was fabulous in the 50s and 60s...you had such a wonderful wide variety of programming, including talk, news, music, sports, etc, much of it live and local, that tapes were not really necessary....

[@billionsandbillions1010]

In 1986 (yes, 1986), when I was only 16 years old, I was driving a well used 1970 Plymouth Valiant that had an 8-track tape player in it. I was cruising down this road, listening to some classic "Led Zepplin" when all of a sudden, the tape player started to spew/spit out the tape everywhere, and the music stopped playing. I was so pissed, I remember grabbing the player with my right hand, while I was driving, and yanked the player out from the dash and threw the whole player out the already opened passenger side window. That's how mad I got at this thing, and it gave me super strength to be able to yank it from the dash like I did. After that, I replaced it with a very expensive "Pioneer" CD player. I never had a problem then.

[@3505walter]

Very cool episode, thanks for uploading this 😊

[@terryrodbourn2793]

Man I remember my Brother is young age bought a Mustang that had Eight Track player installed! He bought his favorite 70s music all the time and had many tapes in years or two until cassettes took over in cars by the mid-late 80s!

[@SirLoinofBeef235]

Ah the tape blowing in the wind, streets, sidewalks.

[@jakleo337]

Tape blowing across the road getting hung up in barbwire fences.

[@frankenzion0001]

So...THAT'S what that Bob Dylan song is really about.

[@keithdmaust1854]

Started out with a Muntz 4 and 8 track player in my 67 RS Camaro convertible. Wired it with 4 speakers plus 4 headphones which we only worn when when cruising late at night on back country roads. :)

[@gelmann2]

We had a 4 track in our Van which we took on vacations. My parents played lots of Tijuana Brass and Sergio Mendes and 5th Dimension on that machine. (1966-67)

[@srercrcr]

1965...purchased an RCA 45 rpm record changer. It played through 13 records automatically. This was the first technology to give us the option of what we wanted to hear IN THE CAR. Great for that Saturday night date...….

[@patrickpuhak9516]

Had an 8 track recorder and made tapes from my favorite music. There was for a short period of time, Quad 8 tapes which had incredible sound, where you would hear music from all 4 speakers and it was like being at a live concert

[@patcurrie9888]

Technology moves so fast my iPod Classic with my entire music library is old school to most. I never had or listened to an 8 track. It was vinyl at home or AM radio in the car, a 73 Duster.

[@TheTiacat]

I love your video’s always informative and interesting. Car record players wow. Thanks

[@michaelbaumgardner2530]

Very interesting bit of history I have played many 8 tracks,however cassette was my favorite.Thanks for posting.!!!

[@paulkirkland1535]

Yes,I remember that era of the 8trk tape. Had many players,cassette is my favorite as well. Happy memories good times.

[@McRocket]

Very interesting and well presented, IMO. Thank you.

[@chrislemaster2695]

I was born in 1980 and still have an 8 track collection. I even know what 4 track tapes were and I also knew what a Beta Max VCR ands a record player have them all.

[@kenh9097]

I still have a stock working 8 track player in my 1978 Corvette. Great video!

[@LChem1]

my sympathy.... 😹

[@billgee02]

i beg to differ with one point...cassettes were popular WAY before the "early 80's"....my friends had both car and home cassette equipment in the late 60's/early 70's

[@markfellows7246]

Had one im my 68 olds still remember my favorite 8 track Iron Butterfly Inagadavita

[@mikegehre570]

Yeah, me too. As the song was so long, it would click right in the middle to continue in the next track.

[@markfellows7246]

@Squirmin Herman the one eyed German and it made it sooo much better and then had to get a honey bun and chocolate milk

[@lektwik]

Most folks don't know that the 8-track format was the only one that also offered players and tapes that had four separate and distinct channels and not just stereo. Those car and home units are very rare now and few bands/musicians took advantage of it. If you see an 8-track cartridge in gray plastic it is likely a discrete 4 channel one.

[@rpgiuliani]

Another wonderful video.

[@deonreddy8661]

Great video, very informative!!

[@andytaylor5476]

I still recall a few tapes I had... Cat Stevens, Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Procol Harem- this was 1971 I think. I had a VW Bug, my first car. Wish I still had them all.

[@owlnswan4016]

The most interesting to me are the quadraphonic 8 tracks, which are still truly special, and even older people don't necessarily know about or understand, even when they know of 8 track tapes in general. As others have mentioned in the comments, they are true discrete 4 channel surround (as long as it wasn't faked on the tape). I am 45, and earlier this summer when I had my '77 Lincoln out I was talking with someone about the car who came up to me and said how much he liked the car. He was in his 50s. When I explained how the tape player in the car had surround sound, he thought it was something I improved (I put in better speakers, amplification, etc.). He was very surprised when I said, no, that is the original technology available in the car when it was new, that along with playing stereo tape, it also would give surround sound with the special quad tapes. It was an almost $400 option.

[@ragintaurusmusclemercury7023]

I have that Pioneer radio in my car right now. 😆😆😆

[@williamsinger4124]

I also have the same one in my 82 K20. Simple, effective, and even in that truck that rides like a lumber wagon, CDs don't skip.

[@johnd5805]

Wow. Didn't know Lear started this. Man brought back some memories their.

[@WeSRT4]

I'm 41 and remember 8 tracks. They were gone when I started listening to music but I do remember my parents having 8 tracks. Cassette Tapes are going to be the one that very few people remember due to their short run as the media of choice. They only had about ten years or so before they were replaced by CDs.

[@billmorrigan386]

Actually, cassettes/tapes had the longest run of all audio and video formats (LP's been a scam for the last 40 years but it was legit in 1950-1980 as were legit older phonographs. Reel-to-reel analog audio records (almost CD quality) were also available in 1950-1985 but most people could not afford them and used crappy vinyl).The compact cassette (audio) arrived in 1960s and was used in stereos, voice recorders, walkmans, cars, etc. for over 35 years. Its advantage over the CD was you could assemble your play list by recording onto a blank tape. Only MP3 and iTunes dealt a death blow to the compact cassette format. The same holds for VHS. It lasted for 30 years and until DVD recorders arrived people used VHS to record their favorite shows or sports matches. Pro formats were all tape-based too: DAT (audio), Digital Betacam or SX (video), DV (video) and prior to that there were analog (=inferior) cassettes and reel-to-reel bobbins. Unfortunately, digital video tape VCRs were not really available to the public except for camcorders. As to digital audio, DAT was too expensive. So, DAT didn't gain popularity among consumers as they don't care about quality after all. I can say that by seeing all the frenzy sheeple have with LPs and turntables. It's just like watches. Sheeple don't measure time. They just need a proverbial Rolex. The same holds for LPs. They don't need music. They need an expensive item to flaunt. Centuries from now people might only remember 35mm film, and VHS (consumer) cassettes, Blu-Rays, DVDs, CDs, crappy vinyl records, compact cassettes, and reel-to-reel machines and bobbins without much knowledge about reel-to-reel formats. *The rest might get forgotten: MiniDisk, DV, video-8, Laser Disk, 8-track, DAT, D-VHS, microcassette, Betacam (pro) Betamax (consumer), etc. In my opinion specific reel-to-reel formats are already forgotten. People just remember those things as blurry as it can be.*

[@tommyb.6064]

Yeah! I’m 33 and I love 8 track! :-)

[@jakespeed63]

Waxing nostalgia. Now I want one to install in my 1964 Oldsmobile 98 Luxury Coupe'Thanks for sharing and good job.JTOrlando , Fl

[@indridcold8433]

I still have the combination 8-track player and CB transceiver that came with my first vehicle, a 1980 Dodge Ram ute. There was an accident and I pulled the radio out before the hook truck took the ute to the salvage yard. The radio is in a box. It worked back in 1989 when the ute was hit.

[@SegaSaturnGamer48]

Awesome video! :)

[@JVLIVSPhoto]

Well, thankfully for me, I’m well OVER 40, and I remember these dinosaurs well (I grew up in the 80s), my parents were married at the time, that’s how I remember them!😊😂 And they were phasing out like you said. 1982 was the last production year (the same year the Compact Disc was introduced). According to Wikipedia some record labels kept the 8 tracks in production until 1988. But it had run its course prior to that.

[@hawk00055]

Great videos

[@CrowdControl123]

8-Tracks gave us a reason to keep used up matchbooks.

[@thedarkener]

Why?

[@r3d5ive87]

thedarkener to keep it in place. Think blowing into Nintendo cartridges. It’s a hack

[@richardtouch4893]

@@r3d5ive87 We used cardboard pieces folded to fit in the gap. LOL.

[@douglasgreenough147]

Yes for cassette players also, I have needed to put it on there as I close the cassette door.

[@351WINCHESTER]

My brother had an 8 track installed in my Mom's 68 Mercury. Oh man - speakers to boot.

[@garbage854]

Cool I enjoyed 8-Tracks a lot growing up in 1980's :)

[@frankenzion0001]

I still have a boombox, that I got in around 1982. It had an AM/FM radio, dual cassette players(one of which, could also record), and an 8-track player. One of the first cassettes I played on it was Def Leppard's Pyromania album.

[@suj241]

Love ur video. I was born in the late 80s. I have used only the smaller cassettes

[@boweandrew3]

wow my grandparents had one in their dining room but it would be awsome to own one great video keep the nastagel coming

[@maddpeanut6313]

I wasn't allowed a stereo when I was a kid. The first piece of audio gear I bought was an 8 track for my '68 442. The Who's Who's Next and Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy were my first tapes. Bought them through the Columbia Record Club.

[@frankelmer8055]

"Columbia Record Club" - That could be a whole 'nother video. I fell for it.

[@MrZdvy]

My ‘74 Imperial has the optional factory 8-track recorder. Love it.

[@bretz71]

Still play my K-Tel “Southern Fried Rock” cartridge in the factory original 8-track player in my ‘79 Trans Am.