natalie&doris

I sort of miss tape cassettes, do you? I fondly remember how I used to listen to the top 40 when I was 11, with one hand poised on the rec and play button waiting to hear my favorite tunes come on. That was usually a 3 hour job, and I used to have to listen to some trash before I got to hear my fave songs. I also tape recorded songs off the radio during the week, but I always ended missing the beginning of them as a lot of radio DJ’s never really introduced the songs, or if they did they never gave you enough time to leave your homework and run to the tape player located at the other corner of the room. The top 40 always gave you a sentence before each song which was time enough, and the reason I subjected myself to it every week.

But we are no longer constrained to that anymore, are we? (And thank goodness as Fern Cotton now presents top 40). Yes things have certainly got easier for us children from the 80’s. So how come we still affectionately look back at the time we so obviously wasted on tape cassettes?

The answer I’m sticking to is that; Shakin’ Stevens and Alvin Stardust cunningly hatched a plan to genetically splice tape cassette reel into the DNA strands of all the children born to the 70’s and 80’s, and were very successful in doing so.

So being genetically programmed to do so, I thus present a collection of my findings numbered 1-10. The tape ruled for 40 years before we all went digital, however, the following highly creative concepts borne after the analogue downfall, show that tape cassettes still hold some sovereignty.

1. I discovered the Dalston Shopper a couple of years ago when I was in fact living in Dalston (East London). The Unknown Dalston shopper visits the mighty Oxfam in Dalston every week and buys tape cassettes. He then posts them on his blog in mp3 version for us all to hear. A lot of music from tapes got lost in the digital handover, money or commercial market was not there to transfer the tunes to CD, so this site certainly battles to redress this issue. Actually, you know the site used to be called the Dalston Shopper, but I see it has changed its name to the Dalston Oxfam Shop. Oxfam have probably been made aware of the Dalston Shopper and decided to invest in him! Under the new direction of Jane Sheperdson (Ex Top Shop head honcho) I see it as a wise move, together with those fabulous Oxjams that are already hitting the country. Yep, this website has had a makeover as well, and I see the Dalston Shopper is roaming about other Oxfam shops around the UK too. This is one such typical tape cassette find he picked up in Swansea in September just gone. The Pagan Babies of Hawaii U.S.A. What a classic.

2. The Sonic fabric Team bring you sonic fabric made from 50% polyester and 50% pre-recorded tape cassette. Now if you make yourself a nifty sonic fabric reader from an unused personal tape player, the utube below here explains…

Yes that’s right, you can play your fabric and make weird and wonderful sounds. Now I just love this sonic fabric tie from the same company, perfect for the office don’t you think. Now if I saw a boy wi’ one o’ these on… well I’d certainly be asking if could I play with his tie.

3. Brian Dettmer is a very intricate artist who prescribes his creative efforts on all things medical and has had is work exhibited in very prestigious places of medical learning around the States. In his pursuits he has created a catalogue of skeletons made from melted (heavy metal and rock) tape cassettes. I have provided links to a flicker stream showing Dettmer’s human skeleton, skeletal bunny head and trusty goat head. I am shocked how life like (or dead-like) these tape skeletons are, truly ingenious how he found this material to merge so well with his subject.

4. I came across this handy 4 berth usb port disguised a a tape cassette and I think it looks pretty wicked and bodes to be extremely practical.

5. It seems some creative souls out there are satisfying their tape cassette needs in their expressive line of work by hosting Amnesty Analogue parties. I do believe the woman lying in tape in the Amnesty Analogue poster in fact designed me a poster once…that’s what I call a mirror in a mirror situation.

6. OK people, this is the tape cassette finale – the world’s only tape cassette closet which was crafted in the Netherlands. What a concept piece!

7. I have also found the graveyard of tape cassettes, a website exhibiting hundred’s of them in their many different designs over their 40 year tirade. I think you can order these online from the same site. So what’s stopping you making your own tape cassette furniture?

8. In my research I stumbled across a blog based in the States called Stickers&donuts. It’s a more advance version of my wee blog here, but I honestly never heard about it until today. Here is their list of top ten things to do with tape cassettes. I have ensured that my suggestions do not conflict with the ones they suggest. I especially like their findings on muxtape and other mix tape site suggestions.

9. By the way, the BBC did try to cover a story on the top ten things to do with cassette tapes back in 2007. Prepare to be amazed by their suggestions…(not) ….Part of their top ten was to put a tape cassette in the recycling bin, but then admitting that no local authorities will take them. (I mean what the f@?k kind of suggestion is that?!) Another suggestion by the same journalist to make his top 10, was to instead of transferring your fave mix tapes onto your computer, just buy the songs online or on CD. Sorry was this article not called “10 uses for audio cassettes.” And to me that’s the typical dispassionate and heavily under researched junior BBC journalist (called Tom Geoghegan ) for you! And it disgusts me, who is busting a chump to get sommat in print. Gosh I found so many wonderful things (all named above) and it only took me a matter of half an hour. And this junior journo at the Beeb, probably took him all day thinking up that top ten. Actually can’t leave out another highly shi*@y tape recommendation of his; use the tape as a child’s toy. i.e. just giving the cassette to a toddler who can proceed to pull out the tape making a horrible mess on the floor.

I certainly hope my post has fulfilled the need in your tape cassette quest that the BBC has left pathetically empty.

10. Last and rather personal submission of mine, a while ago I thought I would be clever to make a pom pom with the reel from a tape cassette. Unknowing of the result before hand, it ended up looking like a pom pom that would hang comfortably at an S& M party.

Doris