Kmart Store Background Music & Announcement Cassettes

Response to my video and collection has been incredible -- Thank You! Please listen to the following "For Keeps" podcast to hear an objective discussion around this viral event:
forkeepspodcas...
OK, I have to admit this this is a strange collection. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, I worked for Kmart behind the service desk and the store played specific pre-recorded cassettes issued by corporate. This was background music, or perhaps you could call it elevator music. Anyways, I saved these tapes from the trash during this period and this video shows you my extensive, odd collection.
Until around 1992, the cassettes were rotated monthly. Then, they were replaced weekly. Finally sometime around 1993, satellite programming was intoduced which eliminated the need for these tapes altogether.
The older tapes contain canned elevator music with instrumental renditions of songs. Then, the songs became completely mainstream around 1991. All of them have advertisements every few songs.
The monthly tapes are very, very, worn and rippled. That's because they ran for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week on auto-reverse. If you do the math assuming that each tape is 30 minutes per side, that's over 800 passes over a tape head each month.
Finally, one tape in the collection was from the Kmart 30th anniversary celebration on 3/1/92. This was a special day at the store where employees spent all night setting up for special promotions and extra excitement. It was a real fun day, the store was packed wall to wall, and I recall that the stores were asked to play the music at a much higher volume. The tape contains oldies and all sorts of fun facts from 1962. This may have been one of the last days where Kmart was in their heyday - really!
One last thing for you techies, the stores built in the early 1970's (such as Naperville, IL Ogden Mall Kmart #3066, Harwood Heights, IL #3503 and Bridgeview, IL #4381) originally had Altec-Lansing amplifiers with high quality speakers throughout the store. When you applied a higher quality sounding source, the audio was extremely good. Later stores had cheaper speakers and eventually the amps were switched out with different ones usually lacking bass and treble controls.
The whole collection has been digitized and can be found at archive.org/de...

[@johnmorgan4368]

All I can say is, you care about Kmart more than their CEO does.

[@benscovil]

Sad truth... SOB Shut down store #1 this year.

[@alexandert8620]

Yeah. They got hacked and I don't know if the ceo cared.

[@alexandert8620]

Sounds like it.

[@retrocysper3709]

@@alexandert8620 I guess if one of their stores got bombed he wouldn't even give a single fluck.

[@Dyl_Apple]

That’s not saying much, freaking Walmart cares more about Kmart than the CEO does lol

[@hkassasin]

GUARD THESE WITH YOUR FUCKING LIFE

[@davismv]

+hkassasin What's funny is while I totally agree with you, there has never been a single offer for the collection other then for a single tape here and there. Not sure what the collection would be valued at?

[@hkassasin]

Some things are worth more than vulgar money. That's why people call them...priceless.

[@superman55566]

/r/vaporwave

[@iaincowell9747]

I definitely would not have lasted in that job. I'd be way to tempted to stick on a death metal tape.

[@brendanstanford5612]

Iain Cowell- Fuck yeah throw some GG Allin on that deck

[@MonikerHart]

You have done the Vaporwave world a huge service.

[@nathanmunn9944]

+Alexandria Hart Yes!

[@thewaydownmachine]

i was going to post that very comment xD

[@Diamondusa7]

5:40 INTERNATIOAL.

[@rarenathan]

Alexandria Hart K M A R T W A V E

[@formerlycringe]

please i want this to be real.

[@atomicbrain9401]

You're an absolute legend for keeping and preserving this piece of history. Thank you.

[@jimkeskey]

DITTO

[@jeffburkett5502]

WOW! I worked for Tower Sound in Greenville for a few years. We produced some of those tapes! It's amazing to see them again, and even stranger to hear them online. It was torture for me to sit in the studio and put them together, especially when the holidays rolled around (producing months in advance). The man's voice is that of Lee Rutherford, the owner of Tower Sound. He was the owner of radio station WDRK in Greenville.

[@JesseScott2016]

Was there any type of selection process when making the set for the Kmart tapes? The first song on October 1989 is wonderful even though it's just production music. 1:49

[@davismv]

Everyone, the entire collection was digitized to 320 MP3 back in 2014 and have reached out to archive.org to determine the best way to preserve these and make them available for all.

[@1OTDM]

+Mark Davis hell yeah mark, can't wait to hear them

[@davismv]

Everyone, you begged and I have listened. Give me some time. I am uploading these as fast as I can. All 60+ will be posted soon. Please let me know what you end up doing with them, I would love to know, really! archive.org/details/@davismv

[@heartedproductions]

+Mark Davis I and many others may sample it in music, or just enjoy it for pure aesthetic purposes. This stuff has so much promise and I can't wait to hear it all!

[@SamCyanide]

+Mark Davis YES!!!!

[@GlitchUnpatched]

+Mark Davis Thanks Mark! However, I've noticed that you've accidentally been tagging the cassettes as vaporware, which is completely different from vaporwave. Could you possibly fix this error?

[@davismv]

News Flash! Somebody I have been corresponding with in Florida just sent me two reels, one is from 1988 and the other is from the 70s. I will be transferring these soon and look for a special KZbin video on them. These are the real deal. The 1988 tape has a date on it printed and it's in a tape a thon box. So Kmart really did use reel to reel's to the very end.

[@susan-cf7ro]

I used to work at K Mart in the mid 80's. Do you have any music from the early to mid-80's? Thanks for uploading these!

[@stpworld]

is there anyway to get this would be fun to own one?

[@The-three-eyed-Prophet]

where can i hear all the casettes?

[@Scotty_in_Ohio]

I did too - I seemed to recall that our store music and generic announcements were on reel....

[@TheCheryl99]

I worked for one Kmart in the late 80's and another in the early 90's. I think they both used reel to reel. I'm certain that the first store did. Thanks for the flashback!

[@Ichiboy900]

This is where vaporwave listeners go when they die.

[@GilNarmor]

+TimmiT I was thinking more along the lines of "how many vaporwave remixes are going to have samples of this stuff."

[@wii1245]

Lawhaus what's a vaporware? Some kind of software?

[@danielbel67]

wii1245 a genre of music that's pretty much just a meme

[@televisionandcheese]

wii1245 Vaporware was software that didn't exist. It was just 'vapor'. Most vaporware floppy discs were just the plastic outer shell and metal plate, there was no magnetic disc inside for data to be stored on. Vaporware was commonly sold as joke software, where the packaging would advertise it as something like 'Microsoft Doors 98'.

[@TheGoodChap]

vaporware is a software that has no substance vaporwave is a fairly artistic music genre which remixes corporate mall music type stuff crossing it with the styles of DJ Screw turning it into something else typically instrumentals and staying fairly close to hip hop.

[@angrychick9649]

wait.......did the voice say 'made in the USA" lol. now thats old

[@hardstyle3196]

angry chick lol

[@YuukitheMighty1]

i was thinking the exact same thing lol

[@thebenalvarez]

Yeah, imagine if that happened at Walmart or Target. Instead you'd hear, "Have you tried that new fleece running hoodie? It's handcrafted in [insert developing country] for your enjoyment!"

[@LighthouseProductions1]

@@thebenalvarez Bulgaria

[@Johnnybomb1]

@@LighthouseProductions1 Nope. Bulgaria is too expensive for Target and Walmart. Anything textile based is going to be made in the following countries; China,Vietnam, Bangladesh, and maybe Indonesia or Honduras, at least for the North American market. American retailers don't often import goods made in European countries.

[@ThisisDanBell]

Hi Mark. I produce a series about dead malls. You can go to my channel and have a look. I would love to use some of this music for upcoming episodes. You would receive a credit and link to your channel. Let me know if you would be interested. Thanks!

[@davismv]

Absolutely Dan, I also follow you and love your videos!!!

[@ThisisDanBell]

+Mark Davis Awesome! Let me go to the three cassettes you uploaded to see if I can grab them somehow.

[@ThisisDanBell]

+Mark Davis Can I just say how amazing it is that you had the foresight to hang on to these treasures. I’m literally dying over here. Haha. Thank you so much for taking the time to archive all of this stuff and make it available to the public. This is truly overwhelming for someone like me who goes insane for stuff like this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[@davismv]

+This is Dan Bell. Thanks Dan, take a look at the video description above I added a link to archive.org and you can download all of them if you want

[@aikochikako4657]

Holy crap, I just started watching your videos, and now I'm seeing you everywhere! Keep up the awesome content, Dan!

[@kirad]

vaporwave as fuck

[@windar2390]

5:13

[@imRSKN]

ＡＥＳＴＨＥＴＩＣ

[@Averdein]

RSKN H O W D I D Y O U M A K E T H E L E T T E R S T H I N

[@Averdein]

ｈｅｌｐ

[@alexdebrew3132]

HOW?

[@mycasperu2]

Ｍａｇｉｃ

[@BlackSupremist]

*p u r e*

[@TheDive25]

This is amazing Mark. I worked at Kmart back in Detroit for a few months in the summer of 89' right after I graduated HS. To this day I still remember listening to Kmart radio while I worked. Never in my life did I think I would ever get to hear this stuff again. That muffled sound brings back all the memories. Thanks so much..

[@vwestlife]

The Pathmark supermarket chain here in the Northeast had similar "Pathmark Radio" jingles on their in-store music in the '80s and early '90s. As a kid back then, for a laugh I called up a store and asked if Pathmark Radio was a real radio station (I knew it wasn't). The person who answered the phone said it was played from tape, and they got new tapes every month. Indeed, I remember the sound was often dull and warbly and did sound like a worn-out tape, especially when the "commercials" came on.

[@tararutter2407]

60'S and 70's stores played the Seeburg players, they were vacuum tube and record players.

[@MTLTV-eu4nv]

I bet Pathmark contracted with Tower Sounding Communications for its background music/ad tapes as well.

[@cammybirse144]

@@MTLTV-eu4nv Tower Sound and Communications, at least their UK division, was bought by Imagesound - www.imagesound.co.uk - some TSC speakers are still in situ, usually Penton RCS 6/T COAX respectfully.

[@leemcd56]

Song at 4:03 "Do It To Me" by Lionel Richie and 5:12 "Here's To You" by Billy Ocean.

[@AngryGaper]

Having all of those tapes would be a vaporwave lovers wet dream.

[@la-ia1404]

You are listening to Kmart from beyond the grave.

[@stacymirba1433]

It's amazing to hear that 30th anniversary tape say that Kmart went from nothing to a household name. It was very true at the time. It's ironic that we are almost now 30 years past that and Kmart is no longer a household name. Amazing what can rise and fall in such a short time.

[@DevineInnovations]

I love stupid crap like this.

[@scottingram7634]

Well said!

[@leemcd56]

Song at 4:03 "Do It To Me" by Lionel Richie

[@gregoryagogo]

2:59 "People Will Say We're In Love" from Oklahoma! I hope you transfer all of them. It has a place in our American History!

[@IainBrewSydney]

With that particular version being performed by Klaus Wunderlich

[@CoopyKat]

Gregory May I knew I recognized that!!

[@gregoryagogo]

Always admire the brain who knows these things!

[@gregoryagogo]

I CAN NAME THAT TUNE IN 6 NOTES OR LESS! LOL

[@daviddriggers8516]

the peppermint twist was done by the starlighters not chubby checker. You were wrong!

[@RelaxRelapse720]

I would absolutely pay you to rip all of these, and send them to me. Shoot me a number, and we can work this out.

[@davismv]

+RelaxRelapse720. All tapes were converted to 320k MP3's back in 2014. Let me think about this -- there seems to be incredible demand.

[@RicoVig]

+Mark Davis please please post them somewhere.

[@Blorglbl]

+Mark Davis Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase

[@scottsrush]

Do them right.not into mp3 but into flac

[@vinyleyezz]

So cool!

[@richardespinoza2839]

Ikr!

[@TheQueenSpider]

When I worked at Toys R Us in the mid 80's the tapes were these weird things that looked like a cross between an 8 track and a Betamax tape. I guess they made them that way because employees would totally want to steal the music and announcements to listen to when they were not at work.

[@rricci]

I would like to learn more about this weird format

[@powerpcme]

Mark, I'd like to just say thank you for these. Anyone who recognizes my name will know that these tapes changed my life. Thank you.

[@davismv]

PowerPCME yes I have seen your tapes out there, one of these days I will get around to sequin out to listen!!

[@powerpcme]

Mark Davis email me your shipping info, I'll send you a cassette! Least I can do for the inspiration these recordings have given me! [e-mail]

[@XGaming1]

PowerPCME lol

[@squeezeb0x]

There are music producers out there that would die to get their hands on this audio. Please consider copying these to the computer and uploading!

[@bakerXderek]

This is amazing man, such a nostalgic sound !

[@TrippyRaptor86]

I swear there is nothing better than seeing you leave the most honest and true comments on the most random YT videos. I Knew there was a reason I subscribed to you many years ago!

[@adamsheridan9643]

Thanks Sooo much!! My daughter was born in 1988, my son 1991. My wife spent countless hours in Kmart in Santa Rosa, CA finding the best deals on kids clothes, back-to-school specials etc. As I stood there, with that dumb blank look on my face, waiting for my wife to finish up, this muzak was all that kept me entertained. A real trip down a nostalgic time in my life - Thanks again!

[@DiscoMikey]

My aunt worked in that very store around that time

[@JohnAckerman93]

I was born in 1993, and I can still remember shopping at Kmart as a kid. My parents and I would buy clothes, groceries, school supplies etc. If only retail today was like what we had back in the day. Everything is all online now which of course is putting lots of pressure on the retail industry. This video brings a tear to my eye because of the nostalgia I feel.

[@ColtonBlumhagen]

This video made my realize how most grocery stores around here no longer play music & I guess I never noticed.

[@numb3r5ev3n]

Most nowdays just play popular radio stations.

[@ColtonBlumhagen]

@@numb3r5ev3n In my area they literally play nothing.

[@soonerterp]

Hi Mark, this is really interesting. BTW, that song at about 2:53 in that you describe as "The Happy Organ" is a Muzak version of "People Will Say We're in Love" from Oklahoma! (the musical, not the actual state).

[@davismv]

3 hour Kmart Reel to Reel from 1988 has surfaced! Just added at archive.org/details/May1988ReelToReel

[@karlos6628]

+Mark Davis -Mark I heard you on National public radio today( 10/22/2015) that is how I learn on this cassettes. good stuff.

[@wycliffite]

+Mark Davis is this also from Naperville?

[@davismv]

+wycliffite this was obtained through somebody I met online that collected tapes from a Minnesota store

[@mav48185]

wycliffite naperville illinois?

[@azure1259]

This is a fascinating glimpse into the recent past, one of the last decades in which physical retail outlets were in many cases the ONLY way to get hold of something. As for audio cassettes, my first home computer used them as data storage for games, and I've spent many a day at the double tape deck recording mix tapes and yeah, copying the odd game too. In hindsight they were an awesome format and in Walkman form stayed superior to CD when on the move for many years due to not skipping. I confess I hadn't even heard of the Vaporwave music genre, but it seems pretty much like what a lot of chill out room DJ's on the house and techno scene would play back in the mid 90's, within a jazzy funky trip hop and ambient style of set they'd often drop and scratch with all kinds of eclectic vinyl and samples, from 70's TV show themes to spoken word albums and anything kitsch or retro sounding. So it's amazing that this type of thing is finding popularity again a further 20 years down the line.

[@zachelder8525]

Sometimes my local Kmart stores play some of the old tapes for fun. The young like myself and the old timers get a kick out of it!

[@ilikespacedinosaurs]

What does consumerism even sound like today?

[@wisdomtime4708]

ilikespacedinosaurs iphones ringing

[@KittyChanel]

typing on a keyboard :(

[@sayorisaestheticworld434]

you'll hear it when vaporwave comes out 20-30 years from now

[@Daveonimus]

Keyboard and crippling depression

[@randya103]

at 4:13 thats Lionel Richie, "do it to me"

[@playitagainrich]

"Happy organ" WTF?! That's 50s Rock n roll... Tune at 2:51 is an instrumental version of "People will say we're in love" from Oklahoma! As he says, it's very "ma and pa", respectable American Broadway show 😄

[@BrannonHancock]

+Play It Again Rich - I was hoping someone had already pointed this out, so I didn't have to confess my own nerdiness when it comes to Rodgers & Hammerstein's Pulitzer prize winning "Oklahoma!" :-)

[@camerongibson5203]

yo mark, you don't know how important this is to a new arising genre of music called "vaporwave". You've basically organized a bunch of generic musak sample candidates for remixing. thank you so so much, you dont know how much this helps everyone in the genre. regards

[@camerongibson5660]

Nice

[@idrinkpowersteeringfluid]

which Cameron is best Cameron

[@Holdington]

Vaporware is a really stupid music genre though.

[@MrTeutje303]

BROWN CAMERON

[@EseFrancisco13]

Its not even music

[@andreww1212]

Late 80s early 90s K-Mart was peak. Takes me back to my childhood. I remember the music being played as my mom took me shopping and then to the K-Cafe which was boss.

[@Deadman3RIP]

This is so cool. Thank you for posting this. This is super interesting? Can you play some of the Halloween and Christmas tapes?

[@capsman09]

August 1990 was when I was born!!!!!!!! Thanks, for this upload Memories of going to stores such as K-Mart, Caldor, Ames, and Jamesway as a kid with my family.

[@elblanco5]

You should send these to Jason Scott at archive.org for historic preservation

[@VenomFrogPwned]

el blanco _ he did.

[@davismv]

Also Dave, I will be creating a video of all my old Kmart memorabilia. I worked there for 10 years and have a tote full of old stuff from earlier times. I started to transfer some of those tapes. The monthly tapes sound terrible and are barely audible. But I am going to keep converting as they are listenable.

[@Midnight_online]

Let's get a remix album going

[@AkiroXKE]

Wow, they kept playing cassettes even into the 90s? They should have sold themselves a CD player! :D

[@ethan043]

***** Cassettes were cheaper than CD's, is the only reason I presume they didn't switch to CD's.

[@CDNSpartan]

Well they only used tapes from 1990-93 when they switched to satellite

[@NickDalzell]

Ours just played FM radio (96.1 FM Hot 96) and had a live mic announcer who sat behind the service desk. Nothing like this.

[@reannabaker4]

@@NickDalzell Wow, memories just came flooding back! That's how it was done here at one of the local K-Marts. I remember the announcer telling the customers that there was going to be a drawing for a 14 k gold, squirrel charm lol. It was probably being given away because who would buy that? I remember my mom entered my name and to my surprise I won! Having an announcer in the store added a lot to making a positive shopping experience.

[@jackson5116]

Cassettes were still the majority of recorded music sales in the early-90's.

[@EDWARDJFOX-sb6zl]

can you please start recording all these tapes, or at least a few of them, with direct line-out audio & post videos of those for archive enjoyment purposes, please?

[@Robster881]

+EDWARD J. FOX They're all available on Archive.org

[@EDWARDJFOX-sb6zl]

hahahaha that'd be nice.. it's too bad those "archives" never work half the time anyway.

[@tincoandringa4630]

+EDWARD J. FOX no what he means is that Mark actually did what you asked and put them all online at archive.org archive.org/details/attentionkmartshoppers&tab=collection

[@EDWARDJFOX-sb6zl]

OH MY GOD!!! THANK YOU for telling me its REALLY true!!!!! WOW!!!

[@davismv]

+EDWARD J. FOX 3 hour Kmart Reel to Reel from 1988 has surfaced! Just added at archive.org/details/May1988ReelToReel

[@bjtaudio]

The latest trend now is to play 80's and 90s rock and its much better than the elevator organ and synth music of the 80's

[@zacharymorin5696]

bjtaudio I'd prefer 70's and 80's

[@BeastachuLV16]

Copying, duplicating or reproducing in whole or in part, is prohibited by federal law +Mark Davis thank you for not listening to that. This is an amazing find

[@commodoresixfour7478]

Fat Stephen Breaking the law, Braking the law!

[@bneyens]

Nice video! I started at KMart on 6/26/1996 at age 16. I guess this is what was playing while I was busy working in the electronics department selling N64's, CD's, and VCR's

[@Antney-u6j]

If you are talking about plural (more than one of something) then it is only an s at the end of the word. An apostrophe s ('s) is possessive (something belonging to) as in "Bob Marley's many lazy spelling mistakes."

[@nensondubois]

How many of these tapes are sitting in landfills polluting the environment. jeez Nice collection btw

[@davismv]

+nensondubois Thanks. Been quite a ride in the last year.

[@virgilwilliams8082]

I imagine the employees ears fell off, and had to file for disability after hearing that insanity over and over. lol

[@girlscanbedrummers5449]

Can't be as bad as ALL I wAnT fOr ChRismAs iS yOu bAby 🎶 all throughout the Christmas season.

[@hussy6662]

this is like a vaporwave artist's dream. They would sample the fuck out of these.

[@KimStennabbCaesar]

They all do.

[@erwinrommel8974]

The new generations ruin everything

[@LiakkDoesStuff]

@@erwinrommel8974 it's not like you guys are doing anything with them XD you're showing your age erwin!

[@JSSMVCJR2.2]

Of all languages in the world, you spoke in Truth.

[@JSSMVCJR2.2]

@@LiakkDoesStuff You think they all put them in a gallery as if those were trophies?

[@dhpbear2]

You could probably get better quality if the pressure-pads were fixed (if broken). Also, adjusting the head-azimuth (a screw-adjustment on the front of the deck - you may have to remove the tape-well cover to access it). Also, turn of the Dolby!

[@davismv]

+David Perkins Interesting that you mention this. The pads are all pretty good and I did play around with the azimuth. What I found is that the tapes are very worn and scratched, and I am not sure that the transfers were of the highest quality. The tower tapes sounded much better and those were not also in heavy rotation as the earlier ones. The ambient hiss is so strong which leads me to believe that the audio was never recorded loud, or they have degraded from all the plays. Some songs are in stereo, including on the older tapes. My guess is that these were duplicated on a high speed system and on poorly maintained equipment. The 30th anniversary tape is an example where the azimuth is dead on, but you will hear lots of fluctuation and flutter, which is probably from a crappy high speed dub.

[@Chris9183]

If anyone is wondering what the song is at 5:13, it is "Here's to You" by Billy Ocean

[@BWest6]

A E S T H E T I C S

[@user2C47]

the Kmart radio call sign is actually KMRT?

[@lilhonda93]

Worked at kmart 1977-1986, they had a reel to reel tape deck. Before that at a Kresge, and we received a 2 sided lp record every month. It was put on a turntable under the candy counter. Don't remember any ads on it, just instrumental music. If you wanted to advertise something, you just made a live p.a. announcement!

[@snoopdoggdankkush9285]

do you know what vaporwave is

[@hijackjoe]

Skylar Spence aka Saint Pepsi uses samples like this. You might have a couple albums of material right there.

[@scdevon]

In 1994 Kmart is messing with cassette tapes while Amazon is founded and will grow to destroy Kmart/Sears.

[@chistinelane]

scdevon brick and mortar stores can easily survive, because the Internet market has a few HUGE flaws. Mainly, no way to see the real physical item, and shipping times. If brick and mortar stores can exploit that, they'll be around for years to come

[@3DSuperWaffle]

A E S T H E T I C

[@danielwestfall9578]

Very unique collection. I think we had a satellite when I worked at Hill's in the mid '90s. Similar set up. A few songs with a commercial inserted every 10 or 15 minutes or so. My first job at a Rax restaurant, we had a set of 8 track style tapes we played which featured about 2 hours worth of songs. One of the tapes got really worn and you could hear it.

[@davismv]

+Daniel Westfall Thanks.

[@jamesslick4790]

The 8 track looking tapes you used were likely the same "carts" that were used at radio stations for ads until the late 1990s (probably much later on smaller stations!). They are NOT the SAME as 8 track consumer tapes, but very similar, in fact the "cart" format LED to the "8 track" as we knew it.

[@SchuchDesigns]

Why do these in-house audios (not just K-Mart) have to claim they're a radio station with a call-sign or even a broadcasting network? I think it's silly.

[@vulekv93]

nope, you can't be nostalgic about something that is going on at the present. It was just silly/dishonest...

[@StevenEveral]

You have a really cool collection of random late 80s-early 90s retail ephemera. Those commercials really take me back to my childhood. 📼📻🎙

[@Lagib28]

FYI, the store at 51st and Kedzie is closing soon. Its been there about 30 years or so. Fascinating building, being an RCA corp. manufacturing facility before that.

[@davismv]

Yes it is a very interesting building and its unique, they never put a real ceiling in some parts of the store go up really high and it's just a very different type of retail environment. I worked there at the end of 1996 and loved it, I learned a lot about myself and the neighborhood. Had a lot of interesting experiences there.

[@Khalidazizphoto]

the mainstream music at 04:04 is Lionel Richie - Do It To Me

[@RetrocadePodcast]

You’re doing God’s work, Mark.

[@wiiu7640]

why did I click on this??? 🤦

[@jamesslick4790]

The funniest part about the pseudo "call letters" (KMRT) was that KMart was based in Troy,MI. Had Kmart owned a REAL radio station in Troy, under the traditional FCC "K-" West / "W"- East rule, it would have had to be WMRT! A very, very BAD call sign for Kmart! IIRC there was no ACTUAL radio station with the call letters "KMRT". PS: as to ads being after 3-4 songs, not bad!, I wish REAL radio stations did that! LOL.

[@davismv]

Hey James. The earliest I have is from October 1989. That's actually the month I started. I was working on Thanksgiving -- those were the days when the store was closed. We were playing our own music while building endcaps and changing out the bargain tables. I rememeber seeing this tape and taking it.

[@38kob]

glad you started then because that’s the best one of them all!

[@milllumine2246]

mind control music

[@wsbill14224]

I was into making my own tapes at that time and before. I used Maxell UD-XLII chromium oxide tapes mostly, as well as expensive and later on much cheaper but just as good cassette decks. My tapes had no noticeable hiss, especially when using Dolby 2 or 3. I never realized K-Mart had such a sucky system that needed to get its ass kicked. I would have been more than happy to do it but it's way too late now!

[@christophercoleman1895]

+William Hoffman how bad was this sucky system at kmart ?

[@LugiaFanable]

I watched ONE KMART video and now KZbin thinks it's my favorite thing ever.

[@banjoplayingbison2275]

Very cool and unique collection you have there! A few years ago I got a little bit into collecting cassettes thanks to seeing The Guardians Of The Galaxy, and I found it very interesting what unusual stuff you can find on them compared to vinyl and CDs. (Curious question? How annoyed were you as a store worker by the music on a lot of these tapes?)

[@timsironworks9912]

Goodbye to both K Mart and Sears, two iconic stores I shopped at many times when I was a kid and up until a few years ago. Then the new CEO shows up and basically destroys both of them for good. Shame. No K Marts left here in MD and they just tore down the local Sears from me last week. Sad. Good to see someone saving the nostalgia.

[@LinkSquish]

I was a projectionist at a UA theater in MN. in the late 90's, they had CDs & laser disc. The CDs would be used to play music in the auditoriums & laser disc to play trailers in the lobby, they eventfully went to DVD in the late 90's. They used a few Companies over the years, TRN (Theater Radio Network) was one. I still have a few of them.

[@DavidFoxDotCom]

My vote for the 2015 "I love the Internets Award" And a big +1 to Archive.org for hosting.

[@michaelmiller7928]

Bolingbrook....Norridge.... that's the Chicago area. I live right next to Bolingbrook. I live in Naperville lmao

[@davismv]

Michael Miller yes I'm familiar with all of those very well

[@EveryPixelMatters]

In time you will understand the magnitude of the influence you had on our genre of music. If curious search up: Vaporwave.

[@11Cheers100Binary]

This is awesome. I worked there in high school in '90-'91. I've been listening to the sample on chartattack all morning. Too bad there aren't any from the 70s. You could put the Disco back in MelDisco ;)

[@alexandert8620]

Da dum da dum Da, We failed for you, from Kmart radio, WE NEED MONEEEY!!!

[@Winter0263]

A good package of ammo for Vaporwave

[@debbiem9218]

Altec Lansing they made my JBL speakers, I love their sound. Great vlog, thanks!

[@skrunchface]

Awesome video, thanks so much for sharing! Any chance you have recorded/uploaded some of the earlier tapes from '89 / '90?

[@davismv]

I digitized more and will post more soon. I will post a comment when ready.

[@thandrenn]

Wow, I just came across this. Completely random. Kinda nifty. I remember shopping at K-mart with my family all the time when I was little. Thank you for sharing this :)

[@XGaming1]

thanbini theirs an old kart by my old house and it's still open

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

LOL, I thought "KMRT" was really some kind of special private radio service, or perhaps satellite-fed! Well, was it sat. or even online once we got into the 2000s, maybe? Wow, it's COOL that you got access to these, including that 30th anniversary one! I'm sad that Kmart has been closing down over the years. :-(

[@foodbeergood]

Kmart used to trade it's stock under the ticker "KMRT". So that's what I thought of.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

"...trade [it is] stock"? Anyway, yeah, Axel M., if I had known that stock-ticker symbol, I would've thought about that too. Well, what do they trade under nowadays: SHLD (Sears Holdings, which reminds me of "shield")?

[@foodbeergood]

MaxxFordham Yes, they now trade under SHLD.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Yeah, okay, Axel M., because of that big save by Sears several years ago, I figure.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

+VHSgoodiesWA Heheh, yeah, huh?

[@prestoncheapbtheadphoneste3010]

5:03 he’s got some tapes leaning on the speaker 🔊. That can’t be good. 😐

[@bluebearbank247]

I did not know "Made in USA-" was already a thing back in 1989! Thanks for sharing this, buddy!

[@The_Conspiracy_Analyst]

I know one of the sound engineers that worked for Tower Communications. Tower Sound, which morphed into "Melodyline" at some point, is now defunct.

[@xxjjxxish]

Thats an awesome Collection!

[@jcabb1]

There’s something mysteriously subliminal about these tapes.

[@bigjon6822]

I've listened to several of the Kmart Tapes on KZbin and on the Archive Website. Thank you for uploading them! I'm 30 so I only remember the Music being fed from Satellite. I figured that out when one night me and my Family was shopping and it was coming a Thunderstorm and the Music kept cutting out. One thing I noticed. Sometimes a Song would play and at the end the announcer would say it's available in the Music department. Did that start with the Satellite music? Also sometimes a ad would start in the middle of a Song. Sometimes that irritated me. Lol But just hearing promos for the Kmart Cafe and other things brings me back to my Childhood. Me and my Grandmother would eat at the Cafe. Our location remodeled in the late 1990's and removed the Cafe and Snack Bar. Our location closed about six years ago. Thanks for the memories.

[@CrisVangel1958]

What you identified as chubby checker is not him...

[@rareblues78daddy]

Joey Dee and the Starliters

[@defdave]

As a huge fan of 80's and early 90's retail nostalgia, I love this. Thank you for the video. I don't suppose you would like to maybe rip and upload some of these for folks such as myself to enjoy in their entirety, would ya? :P

[@unclesporkums]

Thank you so much for sharing these with us, Mr. Davis!

[@reputablesourcecartoons3338]

White Cassettes are for Spoken words, Therefore there is More HISS

[@ThatOneScienceGuy]

Don't be surprised if Kmart sues you for taking property that they will argue still belongs to them. Is probably worth something and with the company going under they will want to get every dime that they can.

[@charliecoccia8875]

+ProtagonistNonTheist Kmart wouldn't literally give a shit about these cassette tapes. They moved on from using these cassette tapes. They would just ignore this and move on with their current issues such as facing bankruptcy and possibly going under.

[@CDNSpartan]

They probably don't care about them as the stores usually threw them away.

[@2trkpony471]

Off topic ; is that Bose being used for sound? TY! and analog is the best sound!

[@chatrkat]

I’m well familiar with cassettes used commercially, I was a service tech with Muzak in the Chgo area for 31 years. We never serviced K-Mart stores though. After the NAB tapes, Muzak used commercial cassette players, designed to run all day. The background music only tapes ran 15/16 ips, whereas the fairground music and ad tapes ran 1-7/8 ips. The players had a speed selector switch. When that switch became intermittent from age, occasionally the decks would start playing the high speed on their own. 😂

[@cardboardfuture2630]

awesome. thanks for digitizing! straight out of r/vaporwave

[@howtobebasic2122]

Just came from an Estate Sale run by an older guy who worked at K mart from the early 1960's to the mid 2000's, before the guy retired, he found them in a box in the maintenance closet and when he was told to throw them out, instead he just took them home and I bought the box from him for 5 dollars.