The Comeback Of Cassette? My BBC Interviews - 19/20 April 2023

This video is a compilation of the BBC Radio & TV interviews I gave regarding the recent media furore about the rise in cassette sales.

[@MountWashingtonObserver]

Well done, sir! You represented the cassette community very well and provided excellent answers to the interviewers’ questions. I’m glad they sought you out for this news story.

[@lesgl]

Hear..hear..summed it up very well

[@RetroJay1974]

I am 48 and never stopped using cassettes, i found this channel years ago and was hooked right from the get go. In fact this channel and Techmoan's encouraged me to find the entire stash of tapes that I was forced to store away. I was shocked that most if not all of them still sound perfect!

[@roberttaylor7462]

Similar, never stopped using them, never been without some sort of cassette player and still make mixtapes for the car or to store music that would otherwise be lost in the digital streaming age.

[@TheFonograf]

+1 here. Never stopped using them. And as time goes on, the widespread belief that lifespan of your average cassette is 15-20years max is proving to be a myth. If they're stored properly they can last decades. I often make mixtapes on tapes that are nearing 40 years in existence and they sound great. And I don't own Nakamichi or any expensive deck, although I own few, of course :)

[@howtobebasic2122]

I just went to my local record store and bought Metallica’s 72 Seasons on cassette, and I’ve been using it in my Walkman, and in my car I’m so glad Ive found your channel Tony and I’ve been buying back my old albums and I’ve started to record on cassettes again for the first time in years, thanks for bringing me back into cassettes Tony.

[@DaXande135]

I totally agree! Tonys channel really helped me as a 15 year old to get into properly recording cassettes and buying my first own cassettedeck in 2020. Thank's a lot Tony!

[@hunterdavis3003]

I’ve always been surprised at the audio quality of cassettes

[@Curi0u50ne]

Me too and I make mixtapes from KZbin Setting at 1080 or 720p sounds as good as it needs to be….

[@namesurname4666]

@@Curi0u50ne audio quality is the same whatever resolution you put , if is opus 128kbps

[@polishcut]

I'm back to reel's and cassettes since 2 years. Your content helped to understand more about proper recording, equipment, etc. Thanks a lot and good luck!

[@LetThereBeSound1]

Fantastic!

[@MagnusPaul1976]

Tony, I am really pleased that you are around to keep the cassette nostalgia dreams for many individuals around the world, ALIVE ! 👍

[@ThisIsJulianC]

Good man Tony - great to see and fun to watch.

[@FLH3official]

Happy to see you becoming an reference about cassettes, Tony, you deserve that 👍🏻

[@mikesage9544]

Tony. The cassette ambassador!

[@mariogambrelli]

A gentleman and a great ambassador for our hobby! Thank you Sir!

[@Uberhood]

Well done mate! Haven't had a full run through your interviews but you surely have a way with words! They made a good choice asking you.

[@JURASSICDIVERUK]

Awesome... Well done!

[@MrAntonioJaco]

I have my cassettes since 1984, both the studio ones and the ones I recorded myself. At the time, for me to buy a studio cassette, it took 10% of my salary and myself recording from radio stations was 3% of the salary. Great joy to see studio cassettes returning with new and old bands. Here in Brazil, congratulations!

[@lawrenceh1405]

Woot! Tony preaching The Word about cassettes on the Beeb! Looking forward to watching this straight thru tonight (still at work right now). But like the other regulars of his channel here, I know our favorite format cannot have a more articulate and enthusiastic spokesman.

[@Reflectiveness]

Fantastic Tony!!!

[@bletheringfool]

I admire your restraint at not correcting the pencil comments! Great round of interviews Tony. They didn't seem to actually name your KZbin channel which is a shame. Abba and Elvis Costello also released new albums on cassette

[@Distorted-Vision]

Pet Shop Boys are releasing Smash, their singles compilation on a special edition 3 cassette set.

[@moogultop]

Well done Tony! It's always a pleasure to hear your voice. Don't forget that you're also guilty (partly) to this revival😂. (By watching your KZbin Channel, you did get me back into taping, cassettes and high quality decks)

[@wasiuuu1]

this is great Tony, thank You for all that time you spend with US here on KZbin, appreciated 🙂

[@mikestackhouse9001]

Very nice Tony! Quite the extensive interviews which shows that you have suceeded in raising awareness of the medium. Those of us who grew up with it know whats good and whats bad. Dont buy cheap decks, use patience in recrding your favorite tunes and share it with friends. Thanks for sharing the interviews. 😊

[@imansfield]

Good to see you again Tony. Thanks for sharing these interviews!

[@BeAGoodDoga]

Awesome interviews!

[@Rick_Todd]

Well deserved. Great questions and answers. Very happy for you.

[@antonelrotaru20]

Hello Mr. Tony. Yesterday I just finished editing and rendering a video about a BBC audiotape and after I finished uploading the video to KZbin, I saw your material on the BBC about audiotapes and such. What were the odds? Anyway, you're kind of famous in the community of audio cassette lovers and I think it's great that the BBC has done more than one interview with you. Great video. I followed it with interest, but not completely. I mean it's an hour long but I promise I'll watch it all. I have never given an interview either on the radio or on TV, but if it happened I think I would freeze and not know what to say. You, on the other hand, are a charismatic guy and you always know what to say and how to say it. You are part of audio cassettes revival and that makes you important to me and to the audio cassettes enthusiast community. Congratulations and thank you for sharing this material with us.

[@CassetteComeback]

Thanks, and yet all the companies in the "revival" won't touch me with a barge pole 😆

[@antonelrotaru20]

@@CassetteComeback 😆I think those greedy companies don't care about "revival". They just saw an opportunity to sell their expensive products, which, to be fair, are not as good as the old ones.🙃

[@everkief8650]

Great work Tony! You went in cold but you knew the answers because you lived it for 4 or more decades. You're experience all came into play when needed and you came across as very professional.

[@gixxerboy555]

The cassette-revival has truely started now..soon Maxell and TDK will start producing awesome quality cassette tapes again..thanx to Tony..

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

I'm enjoying listening to this. Good work as ever Tony.

[@TitoMariategui]

Thank you for being an activist of this beautiful physical format that we all love. Greetings from Peru! 🎧

[@Terry.W]

Love my cassette decks ...and all my many cassettes ..and your channel..

[@joeclayton2875]

Wow, Ghostbusters computer cassette played Christmas 1984, exactly the same time period as a cassette I'd try to rescue. A recorded laser disco show from my local radio station on a TDK D120 complete with audio artefacts to preserve its charm. What I'd give to get my hands on that now.

[@eddiethetruhead]

Born in 81 I grew up with cassettes and never abandoned them. Made mixtapes all through my teens and 20s. Got a sampler and started making 90 min beattapes in 2007 and I’m still making em today. 🔊 I also have a vhs 📼 collection of approx 1200 films I started building when the rental stores went extinct. Long live tapes and much love to anyone who is keeping them alive.🙏 Peace.

[@ACBMemphis]

9:40 - A great point... Over the past 40 years what's trashed by the side of the road has changed - 8 Track then Cassette then Discs, and now... nothing.. but I do see a lot of lost earbuds in parking lots these days...

[@tip-tapsaudio1119]

Thank you for being the spokesperson of the cassette community.

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

Cool interviews Tony, job well done sir . 😎👍

[@S7EVE_P]

Great TV interview Tony, really good. I think we all have a "Misc Dance" tape that takes us back to simpler times.

[@AstonsVintageTechnologyWorkshp]

I think I'm mortified by the by the amount of people that remember that all cassettes do is chew up and sound terrible. As you said on multiple interviews, if you buy the cheapest rubbish on the planet, you are going to get a bad experience. I think in my 45 years of using tapes, I've probably damaged only two, and they were both my fault by being stupid. And as for the, "use a pencil to wind your cassette's" meme, that drives me mad, a standard pencil is just not thick enough. A Bic Biro is almost perfect, but the only pencil that works is the thicker Japanese Mitsubishi 9850 pencil, which are difficult to get hold of and hardly anybody knows about them, so I'm not sure why it is in everybody's collective memory. A quality cassette deck with decent tapes, can sound every bit as good as any other medium if care and attention is applied when recording. Rant over. :P

[@richardwells1684]

Nice one Tony. Must have been tough going from one interview to the next but you put your case over honestly and intelligently, as always.

[@doskungen]

Thank you for sharing this so those of us not in the U.K also get to hear it. 🙂 You got me started in the cassette hobby and I'm still going and loving it!

[@LittleRichard1988]

I never got rid of my cassettes in the first place and I have never been without anything to play them on. I have always thought as vinyls have made a comeback then why shouldn't cassettes also make a comeback? Maybe VHS shold make a comeback, at least with a tape you can always more easily pick up from where you left off.

[@cherrygate]

Trouble with VHS is the quality isnt good enough for use with a modern TV, whereas a good cassette deck and quality tape will sound good enough for most people.

[@YouTube4Rudy]

I've been looking for at least one of these broadcasts. This is prefect! Thanks.

[@padraigcollins6525]

Well done on the BBC interviews. By the way, this is the first time I've ever seen you on camera. You look nothing like I'd imagined.

[@CassetteComeback]

Yeah, I keep off camera as I don't want people running away screaming.

[@paulb4uk]

Superb you covered everything i always say say the same thing bad maintenance is the only times cassettes ever get chewed up/

[@CBitsTech]

The last time I listened to an hour's worth of radio must have been over two decades ago. Great interviews. Great ambassador for the medium. Great work. PS. Can I have your autograph?

[@DougMcDave]

I have not had the chance to hear this video in its entirety. But one thing I've done recently these past few years is to digitize my old school band and earlier military band recordings, which I had played in the 1980s and 1990s. I have received requests from fellow members of these bands so they can share with their families and enjoy the memories for themselves. Also, I get to be reminded of what I performed so long ago. Most importantly, I get a digital capture before the cassettes begin to decay.

[@naradaian]

I have cassettes 50years old that were so well made that they haven't really begun to deteriorate- they are so tightly wound that the oxidation never begins AND unlike r2r they are fully enclosed and this too stops any rot

[@alanh8863]

It's very interesting to hear each host's perspective and memory of cassettes. So far BBC Hereford & Worcester & Sheffield, and Stoke are my favorites.

[@SilverAudioHiFi]

Well done Tony. 8 interviews back to back my head was spinning trying to mentally answer those questions. So much of the interviewer comment was predictable about pencils and hiss. The main driver of media interest in the cassette comeback is the fact that main stream artists are releasing their latest albums on cassette. The bigger issue is what do you listen to this portable analog medium on?. Vintage Walkman cost a fortune and all new cassette players whilst affordable are not good quality which feeds the myth that cassettes were poor quality audio. As you say its like anything else. There is a range of quality from entry level cheap cassettes to Type IV cassettes selling for hundreds of pounds. Sadly though there is no new metal bulk tape being made to load into new cassettes and that means so much of the cassette experience is limited to fairly mediocre type 1 bulk loaded tape.

[@SteveJesson1]

Loved it. Good job Tony, points well made 👍

[@naradaian]

Really nifty interviews - personal and yet spot on re tech and marketing.....maybe I will be able to get some reall cash back on my Nakamichi...the 500 recorded only once tapes is more of a challenge....really well done Tony - top class

[@giuseppefalisi3183]

Well Done Tony for Explaining the reason why Cassettes are now once again becoming popular just like Vinyl which has had a revival over the past few years : I am so glad I kept all my Original 80s Mix Tapes Containg both Pop Music & Italo Music which I have on TDK D & AD & Sony HF aswell as on The Maxell UD Tapes of that Golden Era of Music & Cassette Tapes : Thank You Tony for being The Voice which Represents The Passion for The People who still collect Tapes & still enjoy recording music on them & appreciating both The Nostalgia & The Great Sound Quality which A Cassette Tape Produces on a decent Music System : I Loved Your Legendary Series You Did On The TDK Sony Maxell Tapes which I still watch today & which are in My own Personal Collection:) Molto Grazie & looking forward to your next Video on our favourite Subject :::

[@duncanwoodward6831]

The way you answered the same question with all of these interviews when asked why you like cassettes ........... "nostalgia" ........... and that's why I like them, along with all the other stuff from the 80s and 90s that I still hang on to.

[@felipecucciardi8201]

Thank you Tony, I feel represented by your statements on the radio

[@alanh8863]

Well done Tony! Time to make the rounds on the talk shows in the States. 😉

[@CassetteComeback]

Nah, NAC will send someone to shamelessly plug them as much as possible 😆

[@alanh8863]

Lol! I'm still sick over the quality of the NAC tapes. No excuse for it.

[@Mouse2113]

Great stuff Tony, explained it so well. Hopefully educates people 🙂

[@AudioGuyBrian]

Great set of interviews. I hate how so many interview hosts talk about them being eaten up and have to throw them out the car window. Yeah, if you don't know how to take care of your equipment that can happen to anything. It is not the cassette tape's fault your pinch rollers in your Audiovox car deck have turned to pine tar and ate a tape. Anyway great work. Always looking forward to a new video on your channel but I understand why there are few these days. I think you have opened NOS tapes of every make and manufacturer over the years and now there is not much left to look at and test. Anyway, have a great weekend. Cheers!

[@johnballentine282]

Absolutely great job. Thanks for posting! Still love Cassettes.

[@marktunesi5900]

Great points there Tony.

[@Curi0u50ne]

Lol pencils don’t fit… any cassette user knows that…😅

[@RWL2012]

Japanese ones do, too bad the Japanese manucturers didn't realise that ones from the rest of the world don't.

[@RBLevin]

Nice job! Great analysis.

[@najdier]

"Witchcraft" indeed! This cassette comeback is such a heartwarming trend to witness. I've collected hundreds of cassettes in the '70s, '80s and '90s because to me cassette was a secondary format for use in the car and portable player but I've also owned (and own) TOTR decks that made the format sound very good. I still have that collection of prerecorded, personally recorded and blank tapes accumulated over the decades. I would never throw it away but may pass it on to a new generation of fans.

[@christopherrigby2798]

What's with this jammed up cassette? I never had one as an eight year old with a shoebox Dixons own brand recorder cos I learned to keep it clean and so when I got to the point of borrowing Dad's I knew what to do to keep them sounding good. The great thing about a cassette is you put it in and press play and that's it. No updates, no computer, no file structure issues affecting playing albums in order. Fun.

[@mgtybulletproof]

Tony.. Amazing interviews.. keep up the good work.. thanks to you, you have helped me identify type 0 to type 4 cassettes .. You also helped me identify the best sounding type of cassettes.. I am a fan.. thank you so much again..

[@jokingpants]

I appreciate your restraint in the face of silly people who never actually used a cassette x

[@stevenj2380]

A fine cassette deck, playing a well-dubbed mix from LPs is a beautiful thing. Compliments a good turntable so well, as part of good ol' 2-channel system. I hardly bought released cassettes or 45 singles. Maybe a handful all together. The most significant being Beatles Red and Blue albums, 2 cassettes, in the early 1970s. Today I would not be without my 30-35 year old mixtapes. Just have 85 or so now. All good chrome or metal. This year I really needed my vintage deck serviced. Afterwards with just a little use, jammed. I brought it back to the service shop, but after I got it back home started to twist the tape in the shell and jam after a little use. For all the hundreds I paid for service, they did not do a cleaning, Not quite visible, there was oxide or dirt on pinch rollers and capstan. Cleaned and seems good. Was ready to toss it (not to being it back in to that shop!) and get a serviced, vintage from a reputable dealer.

[@etiennemoscou]

Very well complemented for us tapeheads. We all can reflect on what you told in your interviews. It's great advertisment for the cassetterevival. Love to watch your video's about cassettes.

[@hifi.david.]

Glad to see it! Cassettes are best

[@joshcreasey]

Well done, Tony!

[@user-pk3qm2qu7n]

There is another english old devices enthusiast named Techmoan. Here is two webcatalogues of audiotapes made by russian cassette enthusiasts: project C90 & agfabasf.

[@JamesE707]

I've said this before Tony, I'll believe cassette is back if and when some of the big names (Sony, with their financial muscle) begin to roll out even just one quality cassette deck/player. BTW Tony, many thanks for posting these interestings stories and promoting the compact cassette!

[@deanberesford2721]

Good man Toney, that's told em.

[@NICKYCOUSIN]

Awesome

[@BacktoTranceCassettes]

I love cassettes! Because it was on cassettes that I recorded the "Trance Mutation" radioshows, which shaped my musical taste!

[@Rompler_Rocco]

Unfortunately I can't watch this for another few hours (can't wait)! But it's immediately awesome to see Tony's synth setup, and that he still has his OG / black-wheeled Deepmind 12 👍👍

[@CassetteComeback]

The first synth Behringer ever made and still their best. If it was made by Roland or Korg, especially at this price, it would have a lot more respect.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

@@CassetteComeback 100% agreed! IIRC, the Midas team was responsible for most of it.

[@mathumphreys]

Wow! Famous now! Good work.

[@karensingh2020]

1977 WALSALL ENGLAND. bought my first record SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. had 2 crappy mono players played the crap out of it! mom had a panasonic or national mono radio cassette player. used to blast the stations. QUEEN, ELO, ABBA etc. sounded really good!

[@moviebod]

Nice one Tony.

[@terryfinan3645]

Hi Tony. Really appreciate your channel. You showed the patience of a saint with some of those DJs. What i really want to know is whats on the MISC DANCE tape! I always passed by the pre- recorded albums and went straight for the mix tapes in people's collections. Far more interesting.🙂

[@gortium85]

Right on well said my man

[@Taketimeout3]

Look. Let's get one thing straight. The Walkman is the best combination of weight and proportion that ever fitted naturally in the hand. Especially the metal ones. They are small, beautiful and - with modern earphones - sound better than ever.

[@mariuszadamczyk7766]

Vinyls, cassettes, MD’s… there’ll be a time when the CD nostalgia will set in as well. Just a matter of time I guess

[@clemmteetonball11]

Nice, just nice !

[@mikesage9544]

Tony, this is top banana!

[@ericspalacio]

I think what people see in this type of technology is not just an aspect of enjoyment, but an aspect of craftsmanship. These particular devices are technical marvels, it is not just transmitting a signal, but is doing it through hardware and only hardware it has a magical aspect to it if you can’t understand Details and techniques of how these devices function. I also believe that people it at the end of the day respect hard work, and some thing that was done in these aspects took decade to get to the miniaturization of cassettes, it is a mini real and very Much the aspect of what we used to record on back when musicians saw studios as a rare occurrence. You couldn’t just have a studio and everybody’s house across the street back in the 1940s 50s or 60s, it was only those who were in the business and could invest in such, extravagant purchases or those who owned property and invested in these particular types of venues. I believe cassettes and records and even laser discs have an aspect of great craftsmanship. 20:12

[@neilsradios]

I wonder if the Bluetooth to FM adapters for older cars will give way to cassette to Bluetooth adapters for newer ones 🙂

[@roberttaylor7462]

Tony, you are getting quite good at these interviews, :), you seem to bring out the key issues that need to be interpreted to the usual questions about tape not being a quality format and mentions of those pencils [Bic] to rewind. One of these days someone has to say "all the kool kids use Nagaoka cassette winders"

[@JamesE707]

No reason why we can't enjoy (and understand) both digital and analogue! It's an education.

[@cdl0]

Tony can count himself among the great and the good with his remark about cassettes having character like people. Prof. Sir Charles Frank, FRS OBE (1911-1998) who was a notable British theoretical physicist, known for his work on defects in crystals, was well-known for describing crystals being like people: it is the defects that make them interesting.

[@CassetteComeback]

Perfection is boring...

[@robertb3077]

I was 13 years old Jan 1980. I have never intentionally disposed of a cassette tape in my life. I have mostly mix tapes and recorded albums. I listen to them often. I may forget some songs but my cassettes never do. I have at least 50 sealed blank cassettes. The interviewers had bad luck with cassettes.

[@Lachlant1984]

I thought Netflix had stopped renting DVDs for quite some time, maybe they're still renting them out in some countries.

[@bryanotero123]

Its rare that i see your face. Handsome poppa

[@CassetteComeback]

Don't patronise me 🤣

[@hifi.david.]

@@CassetteComeback LOL

[@stevenj2380]

PS. Of the mixtapes, most recorded on my first deck, inexpensive Technics. Many with DBX (which sounded better to me on that, than Dolby B or C. I can play those today with a DBX 224 code-encode unit in the tape loop. I bought used in the early 90s, when I replaced also the Technic with a used, serviced, vintage NAD 6300 to 'match' other NAD serviced vintage I had also. Noted in other post here. Thanks and cheers from NYC.

[@andygriffith5160]

Why do all the DJs sound like that bit at the beginning of that Techmoan "Cassettes - better than you don't remember" video? (You know the one I mean!) Great video, Tony, and that must have been exhausting. One thing that you maybe didn't touch on is how much of a comeback multitrack cassette recording has made. Just look at how much the more sought-after 4-track recorders fetch these days. I guess that's even more niche and under-the-radar than the consumer market, though.

[@BoxerEngineSounds]

lol just a bought my 1st 3 head deck for 50 quid, this stuff is contagious😅

[@dangaAgadanga]

Winner 👍🏼

[@303nitzubishi4]

Great job holding it together for the community and trying to get points across to the interviewers. I think most of us would have snapped on the third or fourth goon asking the exact same question and making the exact same comments 🤮

[@G.B...]

4:54 "Hang on, so this needs no Internet connection, I don't have to pay a monthly service for it, and it doesn't rely on computers and everything, I can just put this in and play music. What is this whitchcraft?" 🤣 11:43 The interviewer remembers a... Binatone cassette deck. No wonder he thinks cassettes sound awful. Of course they do, if you put them in Amstrad crappy equipment. 37:16 "but I don't believe that without massive investment in new tapes and new tape decks it will ever be anything more that just a little trinket" - True, but analog is timeless for those who appreciate it for what it is. 45:46 "Show me somebody that had tapes chewed up, I'll show you somebody that never cleaned the cassette deck" 👍

[@nathanbutcher7720]

If we're talking about cassettes when it comes to the computers of the 1980s, cassette tapes have held up better than floppy disks over time. Why? Because the magnetic media is spooled and keeps air out from touching the surface. On the other hand, floppy disks, even if in their jackets, are still exposed directly to air and hence moisture and mold, and therefore corrosion. So despite all cassette's drawbacks, I have tapes from the 1980s that still play well, but floppy disks from the same area are mostly junk now unless they are cleaned properly - and even then they may not work.

[@kforkrish]

Definitely coming back but only for the nerds. still happy though😊

[@DrQuadrivium]

The BBC interviewers all seemed to ask the same questions, even using many of the same words _(like 'faff')._ Obviously all working from an official BBC script.

[@davedrew9328]

Are there Cassette’s in the shops to buy brand new ?