Then I surfed around the 8-track scene on the I-net

And stole all the cool pictures I could find.

This is Glenn Connell's example of how an 8-track gets eaten.

Then there's this cool 8-track ad. I don't even remember where I saw it.

Guess what I got!?
For dinner I went to a sub shop, Little Steve's House of Pizza, which we have taken to calling Puny Oswald's instead. I had a steak and cheese and CJ had meatball. Then we went into the used record store next door, Looney Tunes. I got a 4-track - Charlie Fox and his Orchestra - Latin Heat with a Latin Beat, and two Lear Jet Pak flat carts with melted pinch rollers, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 - Equinox and Velvet Voices Through the Night featuring The Anita Kerr Quartet, Oliver's Twist and the Sy Oliver Orchestra.

I dreamed I met Al Caiola
I dreamt I was mysteriously transported to a small old-fashioned seeming town. I was suddenly standing outside a diner. There was a house next door and the mail slot said Al Caiola. It was a gift shop and I went in. Al was there looking young and spry. Nothing like his picture. More like a young Vincent Price. I told him I had his old 8-tracks. He told me he didn't want to be associated with them any more and not to link to his website! Then I looked at all the gifty things. Hand-knit hats and mittens and slippers. I think I bought a hat. It was somewhere in Virginia. The store had a new-age-y feel as if he wrote that new age music now. It was cool to meet him even though he was mean.

Depressing Ten-Foot Jumble of Tape
The day before yesterday I was trying to fix my Morton Gould Jungle Drums/ More Jungle Drums tape. First I opened it to replace the melted pinch roller. The tape was wound too tight and all pushed up and coming unlooped in the middle. I had to unreel a bunch from the middle. Then it was all tangled. I spent hours trying to get it untwisted and get the tension right, but in the end I gave up and went to bed. Since then I haven't felt like trying again. How many hours of my life can I spend on one tape? I'd like to hear it; I really would. Sigh.

Today I went into a few record stores and looked at their 8-tracks. I tried to buy Elton John's 1982 Jump Up!, but the guy said I could have it for a xmas present. I was trying to find some vinyl for my girlfriend for xmas, but I couldn't decide on anything. So it was Buy Nothing day and I bought nothing despite my best efforts.

Cool Pics I saw on Ebay
These pictures seemed like symbols for 8-track to me. They are similar in that they show the inner workings of carts.

That one is would be more symbolic if it had no text. This one is literal:

I think I have a xerox of that repair manual somewhere. It was made by Radio Shack back in the day. I don't think I have any completely clear 8-tracks, but many 4-track carts are half clear. I have about 25 4-tracks.

Flat Carts - Lear Jet Paks
Well I guess I didn't buy many of these because the pinch rollers were always melted. Now I wish I had. I only have ten. The best two are Otis Redding - Dictionary of Soul and The Best of the Lovin' Spoonful. I have been repairing the pinch rollers today. I replaced them with plastic ones I culled from my dupes heap. The rubber ones in the newer tapes aren't wide enough. These "flat packs" are the Lear Jet Pak 8 cart shells. They were only used in '66-'68 or thereabouts. I have some old catalogs from those days and in '67 the newer shells were already showing up. Here's a sample jet pak I found on ebay:

I repaired several good carts. The Blues Magoos, Chad Mitchell, and Songs Made Famous by Hank WIlliams played by the Modern Sound. It says modern rock acid on it. Get it right, Gramps! It's acid rock. Cheezus! They don't really do much to Hank's tunes either. Just use an electric guitar, but it is cool.

Cool Webpages I discovered Today
Artist Direct had every obscure artist I looked up listed. They didn't have good discographies at all, but they tended to have some descriptions of their work and reviews of some albums. I looked up King Richard's Fluegel Knights (Richard Behrke and Bob Thompson), Dory Previn, Damita Jo, Sammy Kaye, Max Bygraves, Ray Campi and Terri Gibbs and got enough info to decide what section they should go in.

Another Space Age Pop site I found useful is Hyp Records. They have some cool artists I didn't find at my mainstay site The Space Age Pop Music Page.

Getting bored? Here's a picture.

I stole it from a play in Minnesota that looked so dull I can't be bothered to link to it. I was googling 8-track as I frequently do. My blog came up 5th! Woohoo!

Here's a great story about a refurbished 8-track.


Today one of those obnoxious Spy Ware pages actually changed my homepage to their site. Spy Wiper it was called. I reported them to the FTC. They made it so the home button led to them and the back button didn't work. I hate that! Arg!

No More Ebay for Me ):
Well I have to stop looking at ebay. I can't even look anymore. When I see something I think is a good deal, it's too hard not to buy it. I am so broke. ) :
Here's something else cool I saw before the ebayatorium took hold:

Want!

Today I did go to a thrift store. After looking in the back, the guy brought out one measly 8-track. Shirley Bassey - I, Capricorn. I already have it.

So for fun, I have been alphabetizing the collection, and fixing tapes that broke. I fixed The John Coltrane Quartet - Live From Birdland. What a great album. Also fixed The Jon Bartel Thing, Jamming With Edward - Ry Cooder, Nicky Hopkins and The Stones sitting in. I tried to fix another Mason WIlliams album, but the tape broke in two places, NOT at the splice. I keep sticking it back together, but it also keeps accordioning up. It's too bad because it's a cool album. Ear Music? I can't believe I can't remember what it's called after fixing it so many times. I must be blocking it out, because I'm so frustrated.

The Museum is shaping up, but I have to go back to work Monday, so I doubt I'll get much else done. I have to keep inching the tapes along because there's so little room. Picture me standing on the top two steps of a rickety ladder, holding a stack of 15 8-tracks by the very bottom cart, sliding them down the shelves up by the ceiling.
I still have to finish alphabetizing Easy Listening, ktel and quad, and find space for some small leftover sections: tributes, cheesey 70s duos, and teenbeat stars. Those will probably have to live in spinner racks on the work table or the fake fireplace mantel.

Speaking of the fake fireplace, my girlfriend says we can celebrate Christmas in the 8-Track Room this year. We'll hang our stockings from the 8-track fireplace, and sit by the fake fire playing 8-track Christmas music. "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Beer." - The Bob and Doug Mckenzie version.