Tapes lose out on the day the music died

First the house tape player died, probably of congestive dust failure. Then the Walkman died after heroic service on hikes, canoe excursions and various trips. The Walkman radio still works (thank God), but the tape player has given it up. Then I bought a truck without a tape deck.

The time had come to dump the old, once-beloved tapes.

I finally looked at the 75-100 tapes sitting in their faded plastic covers that have been there for the past 10 years, untouched. The rule of thumb with clothes, I understand, is that if you have not worn it in two years, throw it out. I figure the rule with tapes should be extended to a decade.

Each and every one of them was a prized possession, in its day. Some were taped off the radio. Some were taped off friends’ record players (remember those?). A few were even purchased at the store. Music was vital, especially while driving. You couldn’t drive 2 miles without a tape blasting from the $1,000 after-market stereo.

Each one was played endlessly in the beginning as the others moved farther and farther back on the rack. Eventually the new arrival was played less and less as other, newer competitors arrived.

It once was considered a technological revolution when you could put a whole album on one side of a tape then another album on the “B” side. You could play music for more than an hour, uninterrupted! The homemade tapes were all labeled, with each song carefully written down. It all seemed so important at the time, I remember.

Now, technology has left the tape and tape player behind. With a five-CD holder you can play music for longer than you can stay in your house. Go ahead, put five favorite CDs in there and try to stay around and listen to them. Even a lazy SOB like me will have something to do, somewhere to go before they run out. I always leave the radio, CD player or the television on when I go out (Don’t ask). I am always amazed when I come home hours later and the CDs still are playing.

I have wealthy eccentric friends with CD players that hold 100 CDs. You can now program music to play not just for the rest of the day, but for the rest of your life.

While CDs were taking over, those old tapes sat quietly gathering dust for the past decade. In the First Major Cleanup at Cobb Manor last week, the tapes were tagged for the dump, along with two mammoth stereo systems that no longer work. At one time, we had these machines fixed. Now we just throw them out.

All of them went out the door, with the tapes unhappily crowded into a white plastic rubbish bag. I tried not to think of how much money was spent on them. I took one last look in the bag, before throwing them on the rubbish heap.

The soundtrack of the movie “Bird” was in there, along with the Bessie Smith collection. Gone. There was a lot of Eric Clapton. (When was the last time you played a Clapton tape or CD?) Gone. Of course there was the collection of Rolling Stones songs, which was featured at a few dozen parties. There was the Sarah Vaughn tape and a ton of Billie Holiday I used to hide from the kids. Didn’t want them to think I was square. Don’t think it worked. All gone.

There was an awful lot of Willie Nelson, which seems odd today. (When was the last time you played a Willie Nelson song?) Gone. Some of them had been replaced by newer CDs such as “The Harder They Come” movie soundtrack, Otis Redding stuff and every album Bonnie Raitt ever made.

Tons of classic blues songs which haven’t been heard in 10 years or more. Gone. I even found a Young MC tape in there but believe that must have been left by a young visitor. Not guilty.

There was a lot of Memphis Soul, the Neville Brothers and a surprising amount of early Johnny Winter. All gone.

Now that the turntable is starting to falter, I am starting to look at that dusty pile of record albums. (When is the last time you played one of those?)

Send complaints and compliments to Emmet Meara at emmetmears@msn.com.