Which one would you prefer owning in the 90s? Vinyls, longbox, or regular CD cases without longboxes?

CD's for me

CD's for me


What is it that you liked about CDs in the regular case? Is it because you are a Millennial or a Zer?

I didn’t add cassettes or casing led to the poll because everyone needed those if you owned a car in the early to mid 90s.

During the 90's the collection I was building up was my CD collection.  I didn't discard my vinyl, but pretty much avoided buying new vinyl (except occasionally used, if I found something fabulous).  I also belonged to a CD of the month club which got my CD collection building rapidly.  I was also an avid home tape devotee and so I "rolled my own" cassettes frequently.  (My cars had cassette players in them.)

I hated getting CDs in any packaging other than a regular CD.  The other packages didn't fit my storage.  :-\\

During the 90's the collection I was building up was my CD collection.  I didn't discard my vinyl, but pretty much avoided buying new vinyl (except occasionally used, if I found something fabulous).  I also belonged to a CD of the month club which got my CD collection building rapidly.  I was also an avid home tape devotee and so I "rolled my own" cassettes frequently.  (My cars had cassette players in them.)

I hated getting CDs in any packaging other than a regular CD.  The other packages didn't fit my storage.  :-\\


Wait, you didn’t do Columbia House from 1992 into the mid or late 90s?  ???

I’ve never met a late Xer or Xennial who hated the longbox or even the plastic long container from the late 80s into the 90s.  :o

What is it that you liked about CDs in the regular case? Is it because you are a Millennial or a Zer?

I didn’t add cassettes or casing led to the poll because everyone needed those if you owned a car in the early to mid 90s.

I'm a Millennial so I grew up with CDs. My Mom owned cassette tape's and one of the was Color Me Bad.

I'm a Millennial so I grew up with CDs. My Mom owned cassette tape's and one of the was Color Me Bad.


So, you started purchasing CDs towards the end of the 90s into the 2000s?

Wait, you didn’t do Columbia House from 1992 into the mid or late 90s?  ???


Not Columbia House, it was BMG.  A friend had recommended them.  They were OK but sometimes I got stuff I didn't ask for.  Although in at least a couple of instances, those "unwanted" CDs turned out to be real gems!

Not Columbia House, it was BMG.  A friend had recommended them.  They were OK but sometimes I got stuff I didn't ask for.  Although in at least a couple of instances, those "unwanted" CDs turned out to be real gems!


Underground adult contemporary in the 90s was great for the most part.

Which one would you prefer owning in the 90s? Vinyls, longbox, or regular CD cases without longboxes?


At age 45, I miss vinyl records, I started having them when I owned a Victrola but then as vinyls died I owned CDs and cassettes.

So, you started purchasing CDs towards the end of the 90s into the 2000s?

Correct. I do miss my Yellow Walkman.

At age 45, I miss vinyl records, I started having them when I owned a Victrola but then as vinyls died I owned CDs and cassettes.


Were you wearing out vinyls on your own record player or your parents’ record player in the early 80s?


Correct. I do miss my Yellow Walkman.


Yellow Walkman? So, you were more into cassettes than CDs?

Yellow Walkman? So, you were more into cassettes than CDs?

No a yellow Walkman CD player.

...I didn't discard my vinyl, but pretty much avoided buying new vinyl (except occasionally used, if I found something fabulous)...


Just to clarify from earlier, I still have my vinyl - and a working turntable too.  That said, these days I mostly use my turntable to digitize vinyl, although occasionally I just spin my vinyl for fun.

Correct. I do miss my Yellow Walkman.


I miss Walkmans too.

Were you wearing out vinyls on your own record player or your parents’ record player in the early 80s?

Yellow Walkman? So, you were more into cassettes than CDs?


Yes, plenty of times I always played a record on (78) that sounded like The Chipmunks or sometimes on (33) very slow speed. ;D

I started purchasing CDs in 1992. I was a holdout because I had loved vinyl so much and been a collector since the 1960s. With the advent of CDs in the 80s I even wore a button that said "Save the LP" that I got from the Rhino record label. I think they sent me a bumper sticker too. This was considered very unhip of me at the time, but I was trying to hold back the tide. Just like today's people who are in a "fool's paradise" thinking that streaming is the end-all-be-all (mark my words, it's NOT), there I was in the 70s thinking my beloved albums would always be the norm.  Little did I know.

Although its a moot point now that CDs themselves are obsolete, I maintain to this day that CDs were the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the music buying public. The record industry was in a major slump and CDs were a calculated and insidious way to get new people to buy music, since they would think they were buying something innovative and far superior to the vinyl LP. How hip they would be! And it was a way to get the Boomers, now entering full adulthood, to re-buy what they already owned, with the promise of how much better it would sound. "Wait till you hear 'Sgt. Pepper's' on CD, man!". The lies that accompanied CDs when they were a new thing are beyond belief now. They were "indestructible". Ha! They wouldn't scratch like vinyl LPs. Ha! They sounded better. Ridiculous! They sounded CLEANER and apparently some people mistake CLEANER for BETTER, which it is not. Analog vinyl is like being in a shower of warm water. Digital is like being under a shower of tiny shards of ice.

The cardboard "longboxes" were foolish from the get-go because they were simply disposable and served no real purpose. They were not designed to be saved. They were essentially the equivalent of a cookie box. Eat the cookies and throw out the box. But in the beginning transition period from the far larger LP to the small CD there had to be some way to display them on the racks in record stores in a manner people were used to from albums.

No a yellow Walkman CD player.


An official Sony Discman or one of those off brand ones?


Just to clarify from earlier, I still have my vinyl - and a working turntable too.  That said, these days I mostly use my turntable to digitize vinyl, although occasionally I just spin my vinyl for fun.


Those LPs from the last half of the 20th century were the best! They came in many sizes and different forms. You could hear instrumentals, radio edits, club mixes, and vocals on vinyl. I hated CDs because there were not as many singles released on them, unless it was promotional. CDs were closer to iTunes than vinyls were.


I miss Walkmans too.


Doesn’t Otto still wear his proudly on “The Simpsons”?


Yes, plenty of times I always played a record on (78) that sounded like The Chipmunks or sometimes on (33) very slow speed. ;D


I’ve had that happen to me with vinyls and cassettes. Creepy.  :o


I started purchasing CDs in 1992. I was a holdout because I had loved vinyl so much and been a collector since the 1960s. With the advent of CDs in the 80s I even wore a button that said "Save the LP" that I got from the Rhino record label. I think they sent me a bumper sticker too. This was considered very unhip of me at the time, but I was trying to hold back the tide. Just like today's people who are in a "fool's paradise" thinking that streaming is the end-all-be-all (mark my words, it's NOT), there I was in the 70s thinking my beloved albums would always be the norm.  Little did I know.

Although its a moot point now that CDs themselves are obsolete, I maintain to this day that CDs were the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the music buying public. The record industry was in a major slump and CDs were a calculated and insidious way to get new people to buy music, since they would think they were buying something innovative and far superior to the vinyl LP. How hip they would be! And it was a way to get the Boomers, now entering full adulthood, to re-buy what they already owned, with the promise of how much better it would sound. "Wait till you hear 'Sgt. Pepper's' on CD, man!". The lies that accompanied CDs when they were a new thing are beyond belief now. They were "indestructible". Ha! They wouldn't scratch like vinyl LPs. Ha! They sounded better. Ridiculous! They sounded CLEANER and apparently some people mistake CLEANER for BETTER, which it is not. Analog vinyl is like being in a shower of warm water. Digital is like being under a shower of tiny shards of ice.

The cardboard "longboxes" were foolish from the get-go because they were simply disposable and served no real purpose. They were not designed to be saved. They were essentially the equivalent of a cookie box. Eat the cookies and throw out the box. But in the beginning transition period from the far larger LP to the small CD there had to be some way to display them on the racks in record stores in a manner people were used to from albums.


Did you have the compact disc player or a CD player?

Teenagers of the late 80s and early 90s (late Xers) loves displaying their longboxes on the back of their bedroom doors and on their walls. I’m sure some Xennials can recall getting longboxes in the 1988 to 1993 time frame (“Jetsons the Movie” comes to mind), also, but they threw the boxes out or left them in different areas around the house. I don’t know if Millennials even know what longboxes were. Boomers and Jones were against the production of longboxes because they were almost pointless and harmed our environment (this was after the hole in the ozone layer was discovered).

I liked your post because you are right. CDs marked the end for music lovers in the 80s. Vinyl re-releases are sold in stores today because that format for music recordings still holds up with people who saw the latter half of the 20th century and they appeal to people who love music born after the 20th century. I don’t see something like exclusive vinyl releases being done for CD collectors in the distant future.

Did music die for you when the latest songs were released on vinyl, cassette, and CD in the 80s?

An official Sony Discman or one of those off brand ones?
It was a Sony Discman

Did you have the compact disc player or a CD player?


Is there a difference between a CD player and a compact disc player? I had a CD deck for my sound system at home (Philips was one brand I had. I had other brands too. They all broke so fast. ANOTHER issue with CDs!). I also concurently had a CD Walkman. Sony and some other brands as well when one would break.


I liked your post because you are right. CDs marked the end for music lovers in the 80s. 


Thanks for liking the post, but CDs did not mark the end for music lovers in the 80s. Many Boomers embraced them wholeheartedly and with great enthusiasm. They immediately got rid of all their albums. Every single one of those people now wish they had the albums back, but that's not how they felt back then. I was considered unhip by Boomers and Gen X alike for resisting CDs.



Vinyl re-releases are sold in stores today because that format for music recordings still holds up with people who saw the latter half of the 20th century and they appeal to people who love music born after the 20th century. I don’t see something like exclusive vinyl releases being done for CD collectors in the distant future.


Though I still buy used albums when I come across something good I would never buy one of the new ones. They are not true analog. They are just digital bumped back down to vinyl. What's the point? They sound like CDs on vinyl. They're a trendy item for hipsters who are into albums for now.


Did music die for you when the latest songs were released on vinyl, cassette, and CD in the 80s?


No.

It was a Sony Discman


There were so many SONY Sports Discmans and off brand Sports CD players sold in the 90s and 2000s that I didn’t know which one you were referring to.

This is tough for me because I love vinyl. I refused to part with my records that I have collected since the beginning of time. However, CDs make it so much easier for the way I listen to music. I used to always listened to just a few songs off of an album. Very few albums I would just play the entire thing. It is so hard to try to drop the needle on one song and if you wanted to listen to it again, you would have to drop the needle again. After a while, that would scratch up the record. Yeah, we used to put pennies on the needle to try to "work out" the scratches. Sometimes it worked. Other times, it made the scratches worst. Cassettes, you would have rewind, check to see if you went back far enough and keep doing that until you found the right spot. Sometimes you would go too far and then you would have to fast forward. If you had a tape counter, you will know exactly where to stop. And don't get me started with 8-tracks. You would practically have to play most of the album before you could listen to a song again. With CDs, you just have to push a button and you can get to the song you want. You can even program your machine to just play the songs you want-over and over and over again if you wanted.

So, even though I still have all of my records, I also have a lot of the exact same albums-plus some on CD-which is what I listen to. I don't have a turntable hooked up at the moment. 


Cat

Is there a difference between a CD player and a compact disc player? I had a CD deck for my sound system at home (Philips was one brand I had. I had other brands too. They all broke so fast. ANOTHER issue with CDs!). I also concurently had a CD Walkman. Sony and some other brands as well when one would break.

Thanks for liking the post, but CDs did not mark the end for music lovers in the 80s. Many Boomers embraced them wholeheartedly and with great enthusiasm. They immediately got rid of all their albums. Every single one of those people now wish they had the albums back, but that's not how they felt back then. I was considered unhip by Boomers and Gen X alike for resisting CDs.


Though I still buy used albums when I come across something good I would never buy one of the new ones. They are not true analog. They are just digital bumped back down to vinyl. What's the point? They sound like CDs on vinyl. They're a trendy item for hipsters who are into albums for now.

No.


A compact disc player for the home is much heavier than a Discman.  ;D

A CD Walkman does not exist. I think you meant Discman. The SONY versions were much better than the cheap plastic CD players you saw at K-Mart and Family Dollar in the 90s and 2000s. Naturally, the Discman bootlegs broke faster. Those CD players also did not play well from time to time when you pressed the back track button.

CDs were outselling vinyls in the late 80s and early 90s, but at the time, the average American was a cassette fan. Walkmans were so much better than CD players. The de-evolution for music collectors definitely started in the 80s when the first compact disc player for the home was released. Think about it—you could not rewind, record, fast forward, or turn a dial for volume or radio stations on a Discman. CDs were not as mass produced as LPs, but singles on the LP are more valuable today on the black market than they were in the 90s and 2000s.

I don’t see exclusive CD releases being made for future hipsters in 2040 or 2050.

When exactly did music die for you, Voiceofthe70s?

This is tough for me because I love vinyl. I refused to part with my records that I have collected since the beginning of time. However, CDs make it so much easier for the way I listen to music. I used to always listened to just a few songs off of an album. Very few albums I would just play the entire thing. It is so hard to try to drop the needle on one song and if you wanted to listen to it again, you would have to drop the needle again. After a while, that would scratch up the record. Yeah, we used to put pennies on the needle to try to "work out" the scratches. Sometimes it worked. Other times, it made the scratches worst. Cassettes, you would have rewind, check to see if you went back far enough and keep doing that until you found the right spot. Sometimes you would go too far and then you would have to fast forward. If you had a tape counter, you will know exactly where to stop. And don't get me started with 8-tracks. You would practically have to play most of the album before you could listen to a song again. With CDs, you just have to push a button and you can get to the song you want. You can even program your machine to just play the songs you want-over and over and over again if you wanted.

So, even though I still have all of my records, I also have a lot of the exact same albums-plus some on CD-which is what I listen to. I don't have a turntable hooked up at the moment. 


Cat


I know exactly what you mean. Even though CDs were anathema to me when they came out, I have since come to rely on the convenience of them, without ever for a second losing my love for vinyl.  But they pull the rug out from under us yet again by making CDs obsolete. Still, be it CDs or vinyl I fall firmly on the side of ownership. Streaming is too intangible and lets the "overlords" control everything whether you know it or not.  And not NEARLY the amount of stuff I listen to on CD or vinyl (or cassette for that matter) is available on streaming services. Having said that, I of course stream when I need to. 

I used to do that penny taped to the needle trick too. Sometimes even with a nickel! It really didn't do the records any good at all.  :P

When exactly did music die for you, Voiceofthe70s?


Who said it did? What a strange concept, "music dying for someone". It doesn't.  ???

This is tough for me because I love vinyl. I refused to part with my records that I have collected since the beginning of time. However, CDs make it so much easier for the way I listen to music. I used to always listened to just a few songs off of an album. Very few albums I would just play the entire thing. It is so hard to try to drop the needle on one song and if you wanted to listen to it again, you would have to drop the needle again. After a while, that would scratch up the record. Yeah, we used to put pennies on the needle to try to "work out" the scratches. Sometimes it worked. Other times, it made the scratches worst. Cassettes, you would have rewind, check to see if you went back far enough and keep doing that until you found the right spot. Sometimes you would go too far and then you would have to fast forward. If you had a tape counter, you will know exactly where to stop. And don't get me started with 8-tracks. You would practically have to play most of the album before you could listen to a song again. With CDs, you just have to push a button and you can get to the song you want. You can even program your machine to just play the songs you want-over and over and over again if you wanted.

So, even though I still have all of my records, I also have a lot of the exact same albums-plus some on CD-which is what I listen to. I don't have a turntable hooked up at the moment. 


Cat


Do you agree that CDs are a must own for music lovers who need an album in every format?

Do you agree that CDs are a must own for music lovers who need an album in every format?


Basically, yes. I've got a lot of my favorite albums on all formats with the exception of 8 track, which I cannot abide by.

I know exactly what you mean. Even though CDs were anathema to me when they came out, I have since come to rely on the convenience of them, without ever for a second losing my love for vinyl.  But they pull the rug out from under us yet again by making CDs obsolete. Still, be it CDs or vinyl I fall firmly on the side of ownership. Streaming is too intangible and lets the "overlords" control everything whether you know it or not.  And not NEARLY the amount of stuff I listen to on CD or vinyl (or cassette for that matter) is available on streaming services. Having said that, I of course stream when I need to. 

I used to do that penny taped to the needle trick too. Sometimes even with a nickel! It really didn't do the records any good at all.  :P



I usually listen when I am washing dishes. I have a boombox in the kitchen and usually I am singing & dancing while I am working.  :D :D ;D ;D  In the past 2 years, I have bought more CDs then I had in the previous 10. I am still buying them. And yeah, I have music that many people have never even heard of. Sometimes I play cassettes-these are things that I can't get on CD-like my high school choir concert, or other things that were recorded live.


Cat

I usually listen when I am washing dishes. I have a boombox in the kitchen and usually I am singing & dancing while I am working.  :D :D ;D ;D  In the past 2 years, I have bought more CDs then I had in the previous 10. I am still buying them. And yeah, I have music that many people have never even heard of. Sometimes I play cassettes-these are things that I can't get on CD-like my high school choir concert, or other things that were recorded live.


Cat


I have a lot of rare and/or otherwise unavailable cassettes recorded at live events that I listen to also. I had one extraordinary item that I really loved that is, alas, gone. It was a cassette a friend of mine found on the ground and gave to me in the 80s sometime. Turns out it was a recording of a guy with an English accent giving a very lengthy tarot card reading (the tape was 90 minutes and the guy was still going on when the tape ended) to a 19 year old male. We know that he is 19 because the reader asks him at one point, it being relevant to the reading. Other than that, you barely hear the 19 year old at all, just the reader. It is also mentioned that the  reading took place in New Hampshire (I forget which city now). New Hampshire was not the state my friend found the cassette in. I used to listen to this cassette once in a while over the years just because this reader was so interesting and entertaining to listen to. At some point in the early 90s the tape broke. A woman at the place I was working at the time was very technically inclined. She knew how to fix trucks and things, so I asked her if she could fix a broken cassette. Hey, it made sense to me at the time  :). She said she could, so I gave it to her. The next day a bunch of us were unexpectedly and suddenly laid off, and I never saw her, or the tape, again. I don't even remember her name. I wish I still had that tape, it was so intriguing. And the fact that it was found on the ground an all. It was like a whole mystical thing going on.

I usually listen when I am washing dishes. I have a boombox in the kitchen and usually I am singing & dancing while I am working.  :D :D ;D ;D  In the past 2 years, I have bought more CDs then I had in the previous 10. I am still buying them. And yeah, I have music that many people have never even heard of. Sometimes I play cassettes-these are things that I can't get on CD-like my high school choir concert, or other things that were recorded live.


Cat


What is the best place to get used CDs? The library? Thrift store? Online record shops? Do you know?

I have a lot of rare and/or otherwise unavailable cassettes recorded at live events that I listen to also. I had one extraordinary item that I really loved that is, alas, gone. It was a cassette a friend of mine found on the ground and gave to me in the 80s sometime. Turns out it was a recording of a guy with an English accent giving a very lengthy tarot card reading (the tape was 90 minutes and the guy was still going on when the tape ended) to a 19 year old male. We know that he is 19 because the reader asks him at one point, it being relevant to the reading. Other than that, you barely hear the 19 year old at all, just the reader. It is also mentioned that the  reading took place in New Hampshire (I forget which city now). New Hampshire was not the state my friend found the cassette in. I used to listen to this cassette once in a while over the years just because this reader was so interesting and entertaining to listen to. At some point in the early 90s the tape broke. A woman at the place I was working at the time was very technically inclined. She knew how to fix trucks and things, so I asked her if she could fix a broken cassette. Hey, it made sense to me at the time  :). She said she could, so I gave it to her. The next day a bunch of us were unexpectedly and suddenly laid off, and I never saw her, or the tape, again. I don't even remember her name. I wish I still had that tape, it was so intriguing. And the fact that it was found on the ground an all. It was like a whole mystical thing going on.



I have about a year's worth of Dr. Demento shows that I used to record off of the radio. Yeah, I was obsessed at the time. I'm sure I can probably find those somewhere on the internet.



What is the best place to get used CDs? The library? Thrift store? Online record shops? Do you know?



I buy new ones on Amazon. You can find used ones all over the place. All the places you mentioned and also yard sales, auctions & eBay.


We once bought a HUGE lot of cassette tapes (mostly classical) at an auction for $5. We sold all of them over years in lots and have made well over $700. We still have ONE lot left to sell. One of the best investments we ever made.


Cat

We once bought a HUGE lot of cassette tapes (mostly classical) at an auction for $5. We sold all of them over years in lots and have made well over $700. We still have ONE lot left to sell. One of the best investments we ever made.


Cat


About two years ago I came across a bunch of cassettes in a thrift shop for 50 cents each. Somebody had taped the entire Live Aid concert off the radio. I bought them. I had videotaped the acts I liked on VHS while the concert was being broadcast, but I thought having the entire audio (there were six or so tapes)  for 50 cents per tape was a good deal. I occasionally pull one out and listen to Bowie's set, Tom Petty, etc.

RECORDS
8 TRACKS
CASSETTES

An official Sony Discman or one of those off brand ones?

Those LPs from the last half of the 20th century were the best! They came in many sizes and different forms. You could hear instrumentals, radio edits, club mixes, and vocals on vinyl. I hated CDs because there were not as many singles released on them, unless it was promotional. CDs were closer to iTunes than vinyls were.

Doesn’t Otto still wear his proudly on “The Simpsons”?

I’ve had that happen to me with vinyls and cassettes. Creepy.  :o

Did you have the compact disc player or a CD player?

Teenagers of the late 80s and early 90s (late Xers) loves displaying their longboxes on the back of their bedroom doors and on their walls. I’m sure some Xennials can recall getting longboxes in the 1988 to 1993 time frame (“Jetsons the Movie” comes to mind), also, but they threw the boxes out or left them in different areas around the house. I don’t know if Millennials even know what longboxes were. Boomers and Jones were against the production of longboxes because they were almost pointless and harmed our environment (this was after the hole in the ozone layer was discovered).

I liked your post because you are right. CDs marked the end for music lovers in the 80s. Vinyl re-releases are sold in stores today because that format for music recordings still holds up with people who saw the latter half of the 20th century and they appeal to people who love music born after the 20th century. I don’t see something like exclusive vinyl releases being done for CD collectors in the distant future.

Did music die for you when the latest songs were released on vinyl, cassette, and CD in the 80s?


He should switch to a smartphone.

It was a Sony Discman


Did you have them attached to your belt buckle?

What is the best place to get used CDs? The library? Thrift store? Online record shops? Do you know?


I used to get cheap music cassette tapes at this record shop where they sold vinyl and cassette tapes but a couple of years ago and after 30+ years at the same location they closed shop and they were never seen again.

Thrift stores.

Did you have them attached to your belt buckle?


No one does that anymore.  ;D

Did you have them attached to your belt buckle?

I'd always hold it.

I'd always hold it.


The Sony Walkman could, at least, almost fit in your pocket if you wedged it in there. The Discman stunk because you had to hold it.

In the mid-late 90s my family used cassette.

In the mid-late 90s my family used cassette.


You’re not alone. Many American families were still playing cassettes in home radios, car cassette players, and handheld cassette players (like the Sony Walkman) in the mid to late 90s (especially mid 90s). Regardless of our 90s reality, the Sony Walkman is still referenced as an 80s to early 90s phenomenon because you see the most in pop culture from the times.

My cassettes have gone, I am still holding onto my CDs and vinyl!

No one does that anymore.  ;D


Everyone carries their smartphones nowadays.

My cassettes have gone, I am still holding onto my CDs and vinyl!


I still have mine, maybe one day I might one want to listen to them.

Everyone carries their smartphones nowadays.


You have to have the Internet, an app, or iTunes to access music on any smartphone or iPhone.

The handheld cassette player was better. All you needed one tape to play everywhere you went. You didn’t have to stop every six minutes to change a song or look for a new song.

Rewinding tape comes to mind too?

Rewinding tape comes to mind too?


You can do that easily while walking with your handheld cassette player. Some people knew where the buttons were by hard. I’m sure there is somebody out there who could rewind a song on their Walkman with their eyes closed.

You have to have the Internet, an app, or iTunes to access music on any smartphone or iPhone.

The handheld cassette player was better. All you needed one tape to play everywhere you went. You didn’t have to stop every six minutes to change a song or look for a new song.


I still have an old cassette player somewhere, it needs batteries. And all you needed to do was to flip the tape to the other side (Side B).

Rewinding tape comes to mind too?


rewinding was the easy part, but it might have taken a little bit of time to get to the next song.

rewinding was the easy part, but it might have taken a little bit of time to get to the next song.
A pencil always came in handy?

A pencil always came in handy?


not always.

not always.
A pen?

I still have an old cassette player somewhere, it needs batteries. And all you needed to do was to flip the tape to the other side (Side B).


You could have done that or stayed on Side A. Side A usually had all of the hit singles on it because the singles released to the public were within the lineup of the earliest songs of an album.

In the early 90s, it was vinyls. Mid 90s, cassettes. And late 90s CDs.

I still have some 33 inch and 7 inch vinyl singles that I still own from the early/mid 90s:

-Just another dream by Cathy Dennis(1990)
-I adore mi amor by Color Me Badd(1991)
-This is the right time by Lisa Stansfield(1990)
-Sending my love by Zhané(1994)
-Because of love by Janet Jackson(1993)
-Too many walls by Cathy Dennis(1991)

*sigh*. Music was at its best!

not always.


https://i.redd.it/x2bsyg4d6e011.jpg

https://i.redd.it/x2bsyg4d6e011.jpg


Lol! I always used pens to untangle my cassettes. It always worked!

https://i.redd.it/x2bsyg4d6e011.jpg


That reminds me of doing this:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uyP6-Hfg0HI/W2NS4AUm4AI/AAAAAAAAAfU/Ec7DkjPFh2sdJP9bepvfHBXSmzczZHCNQCLcBGAs/s1600/record.png

Can you believe that in the late 80s and early 90s my generation called the NES cartridges ‘tapes’?  :o

Good thing I never asked a friend to borrow his “Ghostbusters” tape in the very early 90s! My friend would have given the VHS and not the NES!  ;D

That reminds me of doing this:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uyP6-Hfg0HI/W2NS4AUm4AI/AAAAAAAAAfU/Ec7DkjPFh2sdJP9bepvfHBXSmzczZHCNQCLcBGAs/s1600/record.png

Can you believe that in the late 80s and early 90s my generation called the NES cartridges ‘tapes’?  :o

Good thing I never asked a friend to borrow his “Ghostbusters” tape in the very early 90s! My friend would have given the VHS and not the NES!  ;D


I never referred to NES cartridges as "tapes", only VHS and audiocassettes.

That said, even in 1990, vinyl was already seen as a thing of the past, thanks to a joke in the TMNT episode from that year, where, the Turtles at one point land in a room full of crates consisting of vinyl records, making a running joke about them being obsolete. It was all about cassettes/CDs in the '90s itself, and of course, the CDs became increasingly common as the decade wore on. At the very start of the '90s, my parents had only two CD's: the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and Billy Joel's Storm Front. The rest were cassettes, with vinyl being relegated to the basement for a few years at that point. I remember one day in Kindergarten that year when my teacher had a vinyl LP album about dinosaurs (love to find it now, although I remember that Track 1 was about the stegosaurus, track 2 the pterodactyl, and track 5 the T. Rex.) It seemed a bit goofy though due to its large size and the fact that you had to use a needle and couldn't press buttons for it to work. But both cassettes/CDs remained for most of the decade as my parents didn't have a car with a CD player until late 1999, so we had to resort to cassettes while traveling. Then by the mid-late '00s, you could suddenly find lots of these CDs in secondhand stores for almost literally a dime a dozen, including some harder to find titles, and continue to be fairly easy to find now, unlike vinyl, which at this point has graduated into "vintage collectible" status, meaning that most will be priced more accordingly unless if its common, worn junk. Still, its a testimony of how much time has changed, and we'll basically have "file sharing/trading" instead of "rare digital audio" in the future when Gen Z and Alpha waxes nostalgic about their early 21st century music in the middle decades of this century. 

A pen?


I always thought a pen or pencil would ruin the cassette.

I always thought a pen or pencil would ruin the cassette.
Not if turned round lightly

lol

I never referred to NES cartridges as "tapes", only VHS and audiocassettes.

That said, even in 1990, vinyl was already seen as a thing of the past, thanks to a joke in the TMNT episode from that year, where, the Turtles at one point land in a room full of crates consisting of vinyl records, making a running joke about them being obsolete. It was all about cassettes/CDs in the '90s itself, and of course, the CDs became increasingly common as the decade wore on. At the very start of the '90s, my parents had only two CD's: the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and Billy Joel's Storm Front. The rest were cassettes, with vinyl being relegated to the basement for a few years at that point. I remember one day in Kindergarten that year when my teacher had a vinyl LP album about dinosaurs (love to find it now, although I remember that Track 1 was about the stegosaurus, track 2 the pterodactyl, and track 5 the T. Rex.) It seemed a bit goofy though due to its large size and the fact that you had to use a needle and couldn't press buttons for it to work. But both cassettes/CDs remained for most of the decade as my parents didn't have a car with a CD player until late 1999, so we had to resort to cassettes while traveling. Then by the mid-late '00s, you could suddenly find lots of these CDs in secondhand stores for almost literally a dime a dozen, including some harder to find titles, and continue to be fairly easy to find now, unlike vinyl, which at this point has graduated into "vintage collectible" status, meaning that most will be priced more accordingly unless if its common, worn junk. Still, its a testimony of how much time has changed, and we'll basically have "file sharing/trading" instead of "rare digital audio" in the future when Gen Z and Alpha waxes nostalgic about their early 21st century music in the middle decades of this century.


CDs slowly pushed Vinyls out of small record stores in the mid or late 1990s.

I always hated when I played a music cassette then it would get stuck in the player and the ribbon would get tangled inside the machine. ::)

I always hated when I played a music cassette then it would get stuck in the player and the ribbon would get tangled inside the machine. ::)
A new music cassette had to be purchased?

In the 90s our family just had CDs and some cassettes. I didn’t play my first vinyl until I was 12 years old in 2002.

I always hated when I played a music cassette then it would get stuck in the player and the ribbon would get tangled inside the machine. ::)


I hated that! Or when the piece in the middle of the cassette would wear out, and and you has to use a sharp object to push it up so you could listen to the music more clearly.

A new music cassette had to be purchased?


I've stuck with the same player for years, now it just sits in another room collecting dust. ;D

I hated that! Or when the piece in the middle of the cassette would wear out, and and you has to use a sharp object to push it up so you could listen to the music more clearly.


https://c8.alamy.com/comp/E9AY4X/tape-jam-E9AY4X.jpg

Or you wound up with this mess.  ::)

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/E9AY4X/tape-jam-E9AY4X.jpg

Or you wound up with this mess.  ::)
Hence the CDs taking over?

Hence the CDs taking over?


Sometimes CDs would skip. ::)

Sometimes CDs would skip. ::)
Embarrassing when played on radio stations?

Embarrassing when played on radio stations?


Yes, that's pretty much embarrassing.  ::)

I have a stash of vinyls, some from my folks, some given to me, but they don't get much use.

I got my first Walkman and cassette in 1989.  I built my cassette collection until at least 2012 (about 800).  In the late 90s I was getting used tapes for 99 cents and they only got cheaper from there.  I still occassionally find obscure stuff on cassette and will pick it up if I see it.  In the late 90s I thought the sound of tape hiss helped define the era just as the clicks, pops, and static helped define the era of vinyl records.  But I could live without the wow and flutter and the tape head misalignment, plus the inability to maintain speed.  As my ears developed, all my players I drilled a hole in the case so I could turn the motor speed pot and correct the speed.

I got my first CDs and player in 1997.  It was a car changer.  For a long time I preferred tape issues to CD skips, but the changer pretty much eliminated any skips and I was sold.  From there I built my CD collection and continue to do so (about 500 right now).  Just like cassettes were 20 years ago, used CDs can be had for a dollar give or take.  I much prefer the life of CDs.  I still have all the discs I bought 22 years ago, and 99% of all my music was purchased used.  Take care of CDs and they are still in perfect shape.  Compared to a cassette where it will wear out from normal use.

I prefer and still avidly collect cds. Love jewel cases the most. They're just the right size and store well.

The last time I actively bought vinyl was around 1993. I also bought some vinyl in the late 90s, but they were mostly club tracks - white labels etc. I still have all my vinyl collection. In fact I've pre-ordered a new vinyl LP from my favourite 80s band Five Star. It's definitely seeing a comeback.