Cassette Tape Ads

Discussion in 'Brochures, advertising, data & specs...' started by Mister X, Feb 28, 2020.

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  1. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    Not surprisingly, Smash Hits, a magazine aimed at Teenage pop fans,
    had quite a few cassette adverts in the Christmas Special they did for Woolworths in 1984
    Sony smash-hits-woolworth-christmas-special-1984.jpg
    Next time I go up in the loft I will have to dig out the Sony yearbook I got in 1984.
    I think that was an asked for Christmas present.

    tdk smash-hits-woolworth-christmas-special-1984.jpg

    BASF smash-hits-woolworth-christmas-special-1984.jpg
    This advert was obviously done especially for Smash Hits.
    There is a very similar one Smash Hits on TV for videotapes.

    Memorex smash-hits-woolworth-christmas-special-1984.jpg

    In my opinion the most interesting one was this one for bargain pre-recorded cassettes.

    Autograph smash-hits-woolworth-christmas-special-1984.jpg
    Anyone who still wanted to listen to the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Dolly Parton, or The Beach Boys in the 1980s could do so for 1/4 of the price of contemporary artists. In fact not much more than a blank tape.
     
    Longman, Mar 21, 2020
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  2. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Some really old ads from December 1967!


    Tape-Recording-UK-1967-12 Scotch 3m.png
    Tape-Recording-UK-1967-12 EMI.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 1, 2020
    #42
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  3. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    Class! :thumbsup:
     
    Mystic Traveller, Apr 1, 2020
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  4. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    Don't buy any, buy EMI - such a lovely word-play. :)
     
    Mystic Traveller, Apr 2, 2020
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  5. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Glad you pointed that out, I've never seen that brand before and would have said E. M .I.
     
    Mister X, Apr 2, 2020
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  6. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    Electric & Musical Industries. You might have heard of a band one of their sub-brands Parlophone signed (The Beatles) or their main recording studios Abbey Road :wink2
    More recent artists to appear on their label include Robbie Williams and Radiohead.

    Something else EMI gave the world was the very first medical CT scanner. Of course like most British industry they were eventually broken up and sold off to various foreign companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMI
     
    Longman, Apr 2, 2020
    #46
  7. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    Yep, I see your point, this is abbreviation and I would have said E.M.I. as well.

    But here this is a part of the word and I think it should be pronaunced
    together [ɪ'mɪt(ə)ip] but that's my guess as it makes a nice word-play indeed.

    BTW, In Russian we often pronounce EMI together [ɪ'mɪ] in everyday speech - faster and easier. :)
     
    Mystic Traveller, Apr 3, 2020
    #47
  8. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    That famous crossing, last time I was there many years ago being a student and
    spending a few weeks in London.
    Need to come back, dunno when though - this bloody situation.. :(
     
    Mystic Traveller, Apr 3, 2020
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  9. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    I know EMI, I don't know what I was thinking, but I always thought it was E M I, I don't think I every heard anybody say it before. The Wikipedia Article is interesting, the middle section talks about all of the splintering in the 30's, it answers how a lot of the names ended up in Japan.
     
    Mister X, Apr 3, 2020
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  10. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    BASF from 1968, they were one of the leaders of early cassette tapes, the red color in the ad would have been big extra money when they put the magazine out.

    It's funny that these early ads all have a hand holding the tape.

    BASF 1968.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 3, 2020
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  11. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    TDK from 1976

    TDK 1976.png
    TDK 1976 2.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 3, 2020
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  12. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Maxell UD-XL II from 1981, these were my all time favorite tapes, I was very young but when someone offered to tape a cool album, this was my go-to tape. I abused the heck out of them, car decks, boomboxes, Walkmans, it didn't matter how clean or nice they were I just wanted to hear my music and the Maxells always performed. There might have been better but in my little collage town these were always on special (around $2 USD) and all the good shops carried them. I still have a ton of my old tapes and I bet if I pulled one of these out it would still sound great, in fact I might do that for a B&B post tonight!

    Forecast-DC-1981-02Maxell UD XL II.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 3, 2020
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  13. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    Ampex from 1981, did anybody use these? For such a ground-braking tape deck company they barely scratched the cassette tape market. I have a feeling they're refering to very wide tape that the bands used and not the 1/4" version shown below.

    Forecast-DC-1981-02 Ampex.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 3, 2020
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  14. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    BASF Professional Cassette Tapes from 1981, this is out of an industry magazine so these aimed at true audio professionals. I wonder if they'll still honor the Lifetime Guarantee?

    Forecast-DC-1981-02 BASF.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 3, 2020
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  15. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    I think they did it for scaling purposes, to show the real cassette size as it was really a new
    media type back in the day.
     
    Mystic Traveller, Apr 4, 2020
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  16. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    It's hard to guage the reaction to compact cassettes, it looks like most articles are favorable but there is a history of tape cartridges going back several years. They all seem to be manufacturer specific with no standards and that's what set the compact cassette free, when anybody could use it.

    We should put together our own documentary, the group could contribute information and build up a cool YouTube Series on cassettes and they history and the machines with a ton of tape decks, Walkmans and Boomboxes. I was excited for the Miles Lightwood Boombox Creators Film but right when he released a teaser trailer he disappeared, any idea what happened with his work, the websites are all down and it's been a couple years.
     
    Mister X, Apr 4, 2020
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  17. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    I just found there was a Woolworths Smash Hits Christmas special in 1983 as well. There are far more cassette adverts in these specials than in your average Smash Hits. I guess Woolworths stocked the tapes advertised and hoped that people would buy them rather than the usual Christmas presents of socks and handkerchiefs.
    1983 Philips.jpg 1983 TDK.jpg 1983 EMI.jpg 1983 Memorex.jpg
    If you needed a case to store your cassettes they could provide that.
    In the twiglet.com blog they said they were one of the best sellers in Boots.
    !983 Cases.jpg
    Finally if you needed a new Radio Cassette the Smash Hits competition included a Hi-tech looking Akai AJ-C1
    1983 Competition.jpg 1983 Competotion 2.jpg
    A shame we are 37 years too late to enter.
     
    Longman, Apr 5, 2020
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  18. Mystic Traveller

    Mystic Traveller Well-Known Member

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    I am wondering what was the price of a TDK MA-XG back then (one piece).
     
    Mystic Traveller, Apr 6, 2020
    #58
  19. Longman

    Longman Well-Known Member S2G Supporter

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    Longman, Apr 6, 2020
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  20. Mister X

    Mister X Moderator Staff Member

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    I thought I had posted another ad somewhere, the MA-XG was $19 USD.

    Heres' the Maxell UD from 1977, the quality of the ad is going up, Maxell must have been seeing some fresh income with all of the new tape decks coming out.

    ETI-1977-08 Maxell UD.png
     
    Mister X, Apr 6, 2020
    #60
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