during the 80s Cds were created and started gaining popularity in the latter part of the decade, however many people were still using cassettes and even vinyl.  which format did you purchase your music on the most during the 80s?

I always had tapes; what a pain in the butt. 

I started out buying tapes more then switched to vinyl and buying blank tapes to record mixes.

By the end of the 80's, I had about 25 CDs, 150 tapes and about 200 albums, so I'll say albums.

I only have 1 album left, a 1973 K-TEl album!

I vote for Vinyl or cassettes (Much better sound)

I bought my first cds in 1988 but didnt buy a cd player till about 1991 !

Prior to that I owned an even mix of vinyl and cassettes.

I only have 1 album left, a 1973 K-TEl album!


Which one?

Which one?


K-tel "Fantastic"
http://www.popcultmag.com/passingfancies/websiteoftheweek/ktel/fantastic.jpg

I'd have to say cassette. I had a Carebears one when I was like 3. (in 89)
LOL

CDs and cassette tapes.

I started out the decade with primarily vinyl.  Then when I started driving in 1982, I moved to cassettes because they were so much easier to transport my music from the house to the car.  Then in probably 1989 or so, I began the transition to CDs.  Man, I forgot what a huge tape collection I had.  Those were the days :~)

I always bought vinyl, immediately taped them, and put the record away.  Making mix tapes was such a high art.  Bought my first CD in 88, Sting's "Nothing Like the Sun".

Ours was mostly tapes and Vinyls.  We didn't see any CDs until the early 1990s.

Cassettes and vinyl. 

I didn't get a CD player until January of 1989.  The first two CDs I bought were The Cure, "The Head on the Door," and Depeche Mode "Black Celebration." 

I still have that old CD player, but it's pretty much kaput!
8)

K-tel "Fantastic"
http://www.popcultmag.com/passingfancies/websiteoftheweek/ktel/fantastic.jpg


Sweet! I have this record.  8)

Vinyl all the way (I did use tapes, but they were more trouble than they were worth, what with the dreaded 'snarl'...)

I only resorted to CD when the record companies decided to only reissue older material in this format (funny, I never heard them complaining about 'new technology' then!  ::))

Just over half of my stuff has been squeezed down to mp3 now, so eventually the CDs will become obsolete, but there was just something about vinyl you couldn't beat!

Vinyl all the way (I did use tapes, but they were more trouble than they were worth, what with the dreaded 'snarl'...)

I only resorted to CD when the record companies decided to only reissue older material in this format (funny, I never heard them complaining about 'new technology' then!  ::))

Just over half of my stuff has been squeezed down to mp3 now, so eventually the CDs will become obsolete, but there was just something about vinyl you couldn't beat!


The problem with vinyl in the '80s was its low-grade, flimsy quality.  I mentioned in another post how the industry was trying to kill the LP in the latter half of the '80s, so if you bought the cassette, you got an extra one or two tracks and if you bought the CD, you got an extra three, or even four tracks.  The other thing was the vinyl they were pressing was flexi-disc quality by 1987.  It was sometimes warped when you got it out of the wrapper, plus the pressings themselves were inferior fidelity.  The vinyl LP really reached its peak in the 1970s when the industry achieved optimum fidelity and pressing quality.  Until about '84, cassette quality ranged from mediocre to horrible.  In the early to mid-'80s, commercially duplicated cassettes were finally marketed with the same high fidelity engineering available on high-end blank tape.

Vinyl and cassettes for me.  :)

The problem with vinyl in the '80s was its low-grade, flimsy quality.  I mentioned in another post how the industry was trying to kill the LP in the latter half of the '80s, so if you bought the cassette, you got an extra one or two tracks and if you bought the CD, you got an extra three, or even four tracks.  The other thing was the vinyl they were pressing was flexi-disc quality by 1987.  It was sometimes warped when you got it out of the wrapper, plus the pressings themselves were inferior fidelity.  The vinyl LP really reached its peak in the 1970s when the industry achieved optimum fidelity and pressing quality.  Until about '84, cassette quality ranged from mediocre to horrible.  In the early to mid-'80s, commercially duplicated cassettes were finally marketed with the same high fidelity engineering available on high-end blank tape.




Agreed about the vinyl quality.  MCA Records are a huge culprit in my experience.  I don't think I own a record from that label that isn't warped.

Cassettes all the way.  BTW... if anyone has a good recommendation on how to easily digitize cassettes to MP3, I'd love to know.

I'd have to agree with the cassette. I remember buying records ( lots of 45s singles) in the late 70s and into the early 80s but by 1981-82 started getting mostly cassettes. For me it was for two reasons..
1. Columbia House....I remember ordering a lot from them and most of my friends  did to. I think it was around 1.87 for 12 cassettes and I remember doing this a few times in the 80s.
2. The walkman..I think this was one of the leading forces in driving the cassette market then. Who didn't have one in the 80s? Way before the MP3 player or Discman it was all about walkmans. I think I had about 4 during the decade and still have 5 or 6 that Ive picked up and second had stores lately.
I didn't get a cd player until about 1990 mostly because of the cost. I think it was around $300 for the  Sony  I bought but it was cool to go out and try to get everthing on cd lol. Sadly for me music began to suck around 1992-93. Thankfully over the last few years with youtube and forums like this , I've found a ton of bands I'd never heard of that are great.
  Oh and to MrBreakfast...Not sure where you live but Londondrugs here in Canada had a small cassette player that you could hook up to your computer and download them. Ill try to go there and find out the info. I've been thinking of getting one myself.

I listened to cassettes in 1981 at the age of 5...and still remember using them as late as 2000!

I had mostly vinyl, and I have kept it all.  I have a fairly extensive CD collection but now I often just download what I want for most stuff.  As for cassettes, I couldn't even begin to tell you how many I have. In fact, I had a tape player installed in my car and I think I always will have one.  I'm just not over them. I know I could convert them to CD but...nah.  I is what I be.

I had a tape player installed in my car and I think I always will have one.  I'm just not over them. I know I could convert them to CD but...nah.  I is what I be.



I do the same. In fact I get annoy'd if im car shopping and it doesnt have a tape player.  not only do I use it for tapes but I also get those tapes that plug into a cd player for when I wanna burn some cd's or whatnot..

tho lately I just use my tape coverter on my mp3 player and have about 8gigs of 80s music on it. :) 

but I wont lie... I want a tape collection in the car again..

I bought a few CDs but most of my music is on cassette. I think cassette are easier to transport and more durable than CDs. I don't have any albums. But my mum has plenty!

I still use Vinyl.  I have over 2000 45s, about 300 12" singles and maybe 300 albums

Agreed about the vinyl quality.  MCA Records are a huge culprit in my experience.  I don't think I own a record from that label that isn't warped.


Their vinyl was crap but the cassettes were okay.  My Fixx tapes were satisfactory.  Arista records put out really trashy cassettes...then they added cassette-only bonus tracks on AFOS' "Listen."  I have to say a lot of that vinyl from Sire/Warner was pretty flimsy.  However, a bunch of my vinyl for Depeche Mode was 12" singles, which the DJs beat the hell out of anyway.  It wasn't pressed to last.

Remember Columbia House and the other record clubs that wooed you with junk mail: 10 albums for one cent!  And then you're trapped forever in the Faustian bargain bin!!!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/devilfinger.gif

One of the things they used to do was send pressings from the worn-out mother-record.

Hey, don't throw that one out, Al!  We can print another 10,000 Dionne Warwicks for the mail-order guys!

Thus, the records you got sounded kinda faint and tinny!  This never happened to me.  This never happened to Pablo Picasso.  But it happened to people I knew!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/orangehat.gif

@ maxwell smart: you're a fan of The Fixx too? So am I!

Vinyl was the biggest format up to 1984.

Cassettes were biggest from 1985-1991/92, and vinyl was pretty much totally gone by 1991 or so. CDs came gradually, a lot of people had a couple in 1987, but they didn't become truly common until '89 and didn't outsell cassettes until 1992.

Their vinyl was crap but the cassettes were okay.  My Fixx tapes were satisfactory.  Arista records put out really trashy cassettes...


  In my experience Mercury/PolyGram/Polydor put out the crappiest cassettes.  My Scorpions and Golden Earring tapes (among others) were crap.  Crap, crap, crap.  I know much of it has to do with production on the recording end, but I've hardly had a quality tape from these guys.  Looked cheap, sounded cheap...

Well I guess I'll be the first to vote for cds.

Cassettes were the worst. God help you if the tape ever got caught and tangled in a recorder. Also the cassette sleeve dimensions weren't the best to showcase nice cover art.

Vinyl was okay, but over time the thinner sleeves had a faint imprint of the vinyl itself. Not good for record collectors. I did like gatefold sleeves though.

So yes cds were and are still my favourite music format. Their size is perfect and everything is protected by a jewel case which if needs be, can be replaced over time with a new one. Genius! ;)

One format that gets the total thumbs down is digital downloads. Okay so they might be handy for sharing, but for serious music fans there's just no fun in buying 'air'. Reading sleevenotes and checking out album sleeves in digital format is also pretty naff. I like things to be tangible.

   In my experience Mercury/PolyGram/Polydor put out the crappiest cassettes.  My Scorpions and Golden Earring tapes (among others) were crap.  Crap, crap, crap.  I know much of it has to do with production on the recording end, but I've hardly had a quality tape from these guys.  Looked cheap, sounded cheap...


Mercury was terrible but not rock bottom.  My ABC "Lexicon of Love" sounded like was from a 78 rpm.  Of course, I listened to that tape over and over again.  The worst tapes ever?  Perhaps Radioshack/Tandy "Realistic" brand 120 minutes length.  Guaranteed to get wound up in your player!
>:(

@ maxwell smart: you're a fan of The Fixx too? So am I!


The Fixx have a large cult following.  I'm not among them.  I am a fan of The Fixx "Shuttered Room" through "Calm Animals."  Their work today represents the creative endeavors of Cy Curnin.  It's artsy, yes, but it's also ponderous and soporific. 

The Fixx have a large cult following.  I'm not among them.  I am a fan of The Fixx "Shuttered Room" through "Calm Animals."  Their work today represents the creative endeavors of Cy Curnin.  It's artsy, yes, but it's also ponderous and soporific. 


I like "Red Skies of Night" but in general, the Fixx are one of the few 80's synthesizer groups I don't care for.

I like "Red Skies of Night" but in general, the Fixx are one of the few 80's synthesizer groups I don't care for.


If you listen to "Shuttered Room" you can hear how The Fixx could have gone for a hard rock sound, but synth pop was the big trend in the early '80s, so they went in that direction. 

Like other favorite bands at the time -- such as AFOS, Duran Duran, Culture Club -- The Fixx owed much of their success in the U.S. to MTV.  In fact, The Fixx gained little popularity in their native Britain even at the peak of their U.S. success. 

But I digress from the topic...