Tape Media - Comments / Reviews by BiggieTembo

Tape Media - Comments / Reviews by BiggieTembo

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
BiggieTembo 11th Apr 2015		Cassette Album Echo And The Bunnymen - Songs To Learn And Sing (1985)	Whaddya know! Just read here that the cassette I've got with the 4 extra tracks IS a UK version of this Cassette after all! Thanks Cam!
BiggieTembo 11th Apr 2015		Cassette Album Echo And The Bunnymen - Songs To Learn And Sing (1985)	Good point Cam, but it's completely the same as the inlays and cassette labels here, UK Code 13, BIEM/GEMA on the labels, the difference being the addition of text on the inlay's front panel: "-Includes- 4 Extra Tracks" and of course the 4 extra songs info on the inner and their correponding titles on the cassette labels. It's even got the same screws on Side B of the cassette shell, and the circle mark(?) in Side 2's cassette shell window... (You'll see when I get it uploaded). Fascinating.
BiggieTembo 11th Apr 2015		Cassette Album Echo And The Bunnymen - Songs To Learn And Sing (1985)	Ok Cam I'll give it a go. I was thinking that there may be a conflict in the system if I enter an item with exactly the same reference details as an existing one. I can see by your T-Rex example it is possible. Thanks for your tip, Bigs
BiggieTembo 10th Apr 2015		Cassette Album Echo And The Bunnymen - Songs To Learn And Sing (1985)	Hey Mods, I have a copy of this cassette, with two extra tracks on the end of each side. The tricky thing is that it is identical to this entry, re. cat no, and all other reference numbers. I'd love to upload it, but how? Please advise... BigT
BiggieTembo 10th Apr 2015		Cassette Album The Beatles - Please Please Me (1972)	Light/creme coloured tape shell, with pink ink, which according to this dates from c. 1983-1985. Track listing follows the UK 8-Track Cartridge running order.
BiggieTembo 2nd Jul 2014		Cassette Album Various Artists - Captured On Chrome (1983)	Very interesting Graham7; To me, it smacks of an advertising campaign by BASF, pushing their "new" chrome tape range (but good for the artists too!). I seem to recall a blank tape company in the early 80s, selling "blank" tapes with music on them, which could simply be recorded over if required. Anyone else recall this, or remember the company/companies involved? It might have been BASF too, but hard to tell as I taped over them, of course :) They looked just like regular blank tapes so it's hard to tell which ones were which...
BiggieTembo 30th Jun 2014		Cassette Album Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (1986)	Yep I know that ”toneburst” sound too – but I think that was more of an internal tonal quality check to see if the sound reproduction was up to standard while manufacturing the XDR's. I gotta say the XDR's in their transparent shells were a godsend compared to the dross that came before – the late 70s/early 80s EMI white shell/blue ink tapes are just plain sh*te that haven't stood the test of time - then or now. The Dolby B NR sounded like you were listening to it with yer head up a camel's arse. Might've been alright for James Herriott but not I! And the thumping dropouts... Really a bad quality product for the fans... But it's not true that technology was limited back then - I bought a couple of EMI tapes (here and here) from Greece from the same period and they were amazing quality (many of them have also been uploaded by Dr. Zoze on Tape Media here) – they still play like a dream today and were built like a brick... erm... tape reproduction factory. I swear you can bang nails in with 'em all day and they'll still play-up lovely... And the tracks were in the Proper Order... :-z
BiggieTembo 30th Jun 2014		Cassette Album Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (1986)	I love those screwed shells – if the tape plagged up, you could take them apart and fix it – I've saved many a blank and some pre-recorded tapes that way ;-) But the heat-fixed or snap fix shells... fkn"&%!grrcntarse#! Interesting dialogue guys – I saw something on You Tube that may provide an answer about how tapes were manufactured whilst having little or no room for Ultrasonic Welding (sounds like a mid-80s metal band from Birmingham...). – whilst the tape was wound fully in the shell. There's a clip here and here and... here In these clips, the tape shells have been pre-assembled with only a length of leader tape between the spools - thus solving the tape-damage problem whilst heat-fixing takes place – there's no “sound” tape in the shell at all - it's wound on later, as mentioned by TopPopper, giving plenty of room inside the cassette for all manner of clever engineering fabrication shenanegans ;-). The leader tape is extracted out of the cassette mechanically, and whilst one end of the leader is held, the other end is cut, and gets some “sound” tape is spliced into it. The “sound” tape is then wound back onto the spool inside the cassette, and to finish off, the end of the “sound” tape is spliced back onto the “held” end of the other spools' leader tape. So no fannying about with heat-fixing component parts whilst fragile magnetic tape is 1/1000th of a inch away. How does the machine know when to stop winding? Well, there's some sonic blips that trigger the stop mechanism – you can sometimes hear them at the start and end of sides on old EMI tapes – they sound like a cat farting (brpbrbrbprbpbbprr). That's Science that is mate! Science!
BiggieTembo 24th Jun 2014		Cassette Album The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones	I haven't added a date for this cassette, because I can't be sure exactly when the silver/blue/red/white Decca logo was introduced - I remember Decca LPs (made with wibbly-wobbly thin vinyl) using this type of logo in the early - mid 80s, but that's as far as I get. Any of you Decca-heads out there know exactly when the silver/blue/red/white Decca logo was introduced? Feel free to add a date ;-)
BiggieTembo 23rd Jun 2014		Cassette Album Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)	Totally cool YankeeDisc - I understood you completely and of course am well aware of the 45Cat "off-on-a-tangent commentary" - if you saw my face when I wrote my last comment you wouldv'e known that I was smiling, and answering with the utmost of respectful, well-meaning, good-natured English irony ;-) (Only 20% of our real meaning and intentions come through via the written word, as communication studies tend to point out ;-) ) That said, I shall endeavour to threaten you with loads of information about inlay printers on the forum, and look forward to reading your findings (that was also ironic, just for the record ;-s). Goosfraba my friend - Bigs ;-)
BiggieTembo 22nd Jun 2014		Cassette Album Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)	Hey YankeeDisc - Thanks for the info - not wanting to clog up the standard comments pages with relevant information, aye... ;-) i'll check out the forum
BiggieTembo 19th Jun 2014		Cassette Album Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)	Hey YankeeDisc – more on the subject of EMI’s cassette inlay printers: Interestingly, my entry for Pink Floyd's Meddle has "KPL" as the inlay printer - it's a “newer” edition with a barcode, and the totally amazing Pink Floyd Archives site says it's the 8th issue, from ca. 1987 (this is confirmed by the transparent cassette shell). - There’s loads of great inlay scans here. The "KPL" credit begins at the issue which I estimate is from c. 83-86 (white cassette shell, black printed ink). Before that, the inlay had no credit (like some of the Beatles' inlays (from 83-86) and sometimes just a “date” - and a “G&L” credit before that... G&L seems to have closed down in 1984 (according to some internet sources) or alternatively it was dissolved 1995 (according to others). EMI may have chosen “KPL” as their cassette-inlay printer after G&L’s demise. The dates seem to fit. Additionally, there’s an inlay of Pink Floyd’s “Early Collection Of Dance Songs” by an “EH” ("8111 EH") I know it's a long shot, but could this be “E.Hannibal” included on one of the early drafts of your Printers List on 45cat? So far I haven't been able to locate any info about KPL, or EH, or even DP - and Garrod and Lofthouse info is also thin on the ground internet-wise - so maybe it would be a good idea to start compiling a list of all the [EMI] Cassette/8-Track inlay printers, a-la your printers list forum (EP sleeves, and the printers involved......singles too.) over on 45 Cat? - which, by the way, is a great list ;-) Whaddya say?
BiggieTembo 18th Jun 2014		Cassette Album Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)	Hey YankeeDisc - sorry to rain on your (and my) parade - but a little research on Soundhog tells me DP stands for Data Packaging Corporation, NOT Delga Press... Honesty is the best policy, aye ;-)
BiggieTembo 18th Jun 2014		Cassette Album The Beatles - Revolver (1972)	Yep it's all much better and clearer - great job guys ;-)
BiggieTembo 18th Jun 2014		Cassette Album The Beatles - Revolver (1972)	Thx Top P ;-)
BiggieTembo 18th Jun 2014		Cassette Album The Beatles - The Beatles [The White Album] (1972)	Thanks TopP ;-)
BiggieTembo 18th Jun 2014		Cassette Album The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1972)	Thanks, TopP ;-)
BiggieTembo 18th Jun 2014		Cassette Album The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)	Good plan, TopP ;-)
BiggieTembo 16th Jun 2014		Cassette Album Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)	Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason Cassette Album, UK, 1987 EMI TC-EMD 1003 Cassette: Transparent shell ("smoky" tint), silver printing; clear slip-sheets. EMI logo, Dolby Double D System logo. Inlay: J-card type with fold-out inner flaps. Printed on both sides. Barcode on back flap: 0 77774 80684 8 Box: Transparent. Notes: This is the second issue of the cassette, according to the Pink Floyd Archives site (http://pinkfloydarchives.com/DUKCTPF.htm#Med9) The clue is the shell: the first shell had grey slip-sheets: (http://pinkfloydarchives.com/Discog/UK/CT/MLOR/MLOR1/tape.jpg), ...whereas the issue illustrated here has transparent slip-sheets (http://pinkfloydarchives.com/Discog/UK/CT/MLOR/MLOR2/tape.jpg)
BiggieTembo 16th Jun 2014		Cassette Album Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)	Great addition goodbear66! Love to see those metallic gold EMI inlays ;-) According to the fantastic Soundhog EMI cassette fansite (http://soundhog.moonfruit.com/#), the inlay dates from 1973 ("7304" is translated as 1973, April), and the DP stands for Delga Press, one of the printers EMI used, other than EJD (Ernest J Day) and the ubiquitous G&D (Garrod & Lofthouse). The cassette dates from the period 1973-1976 (light grey shell, white labels).
BiggieTembo 7th May 2014		Cassette Album A Certain Ratio - The Graveyard And The Ballroom (1985)	No worries mlgh - I hope someone has, and uploads them. I'm still kicking myself for not getting any Joy Division ones when I grabbed 3 of the New Order boxes in '85 :s BT
BiggieTembo 6th May 2014		Cassette Album A Certain Ratio - The Graveyard And The Ballroom (1985)	Ahhh mlgh this is great - it goes with the New Order boxed cassette issues - got any more of these? The Joy Division boxes perhaps? Biggie :)
BiggieTembo 30th Apr 2014		Cassette Album John Mayall - The Collection (1988)	One of the many great Castle Communication “Collector Series” Double LPs/Tapes, released in the 80s. Track 3: Ramblin’ On My Mind is of course a Robert Johnson composition, but I’m noting solely what’s written on the inlay for historical purposes. Confused dating on cassette shell and inlay is probably due to the corresponding Double LP being released in 1986, with the cassette version not appearing until 1988.
BiggieTembo 30th Apr 2014		Cassette Album Burl Ives - Junior Choice (1980)	The wraparound cover is surprisingly not as trashed as I thought it would be, after all these years trying to jam it into various cassette storage cases and racks, which of course weren't designed for the wraparounds. It’s a shame I can’t say the same about my wraparound-cover (Beatles) Rock And Roll Music Vol.2 :( I also used to think that Burl Ives looked like he was dead, judging by the portrait of him on the front panel.
BiggieTembo 30th Apr 2014		Cassette Album Chuck Berry - The Greatest Hits (1981)	This is one of the myriad of LP and Tape reissues from his performance at the Toronto Peace Festival, September 13th, 1969 (along with The Plastic Ono Band [John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton], Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard). There's some great music here. The concert film of the event ("Sweet Toronto") which contains footage of him doing a limbo-like low “splits” - still playing the guitar, and not over-balancing, or ripping his trousers - is recommended. This release is from the ultimate budget reissue of major-label deleted LPs (and other general junk purveyors) Pickwick - via Spot Records… via Magnum Records… via Ditto Records etc.) – and whose tapes, more often than not, were to be found in bargain bins in WHSmiths, Woolworths, John Menzies and Boots stores all over Britain in the early 80s, for a couple of quid each.
BiggieTembo 29th Apr 2014		Cassette Album The Beatles - Abbey Road (1987)	Ok - a new entry of the "Gold Inlay" Abbey Road has been established, to show the different track order of the earlier issue. Please could one of the Moderators remove all my scans of the gold inlay and white shell/blue ink cassette, for the sake of good order? Thanks in advance, BigT
BiggieTembo 20th Apr 2014		Cassette Album Various Artists - Five Alive (1993)	Hey Graham7 (as in Blake's 7?) thanks for the past info. I'm easy like sunday morning about the whole thing - as nboldock says - as long as they are documented, that's the main thing. If anybody wants to chip in with a suggestions about a different classification or change things then they're more than welcome :) BigT
BiggieTembo 17th Apr 2014		Cassette Album Various Artists - Five Alive (1993)	Ok thanks - other than that then I'll suggest the addition of a new classification - "Cassette Mini-Album" ;-) Bigs
BiggieTembo 17th Apr 2014		Cassette Album Various Artists - Five Alive (1993)	Unsure whether to classify this as a Cassette Single or a Cassette Album. All the other Melody Maker cassettes seem to be Cassette singles, but this has more tracks. I've trumped for Cassette Album, but if anyone feels differently, then by all means change the classification ;-) Biggie
BiggieTembo 17th Apr 2014		Cassette Single Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus / Dangerous (1989)	Added inlay reverse - with red background for clarity.

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