This is a bit of a long one guys,so here goes.

I took my 777 out with me whilst doing some light shopping and ended up in Brick Lane Market (London). The place is where fashionistas hang out and shop.

Well, the reaction was just incredible! I can't remember all the people that talked to me or made a comment because there where too many, but here is a few.

1. Group of young girls set at a table drinking in the sun called me over and asked to take a picture. Whilst two of them took pictures a further FOUR members of the public gathered around to take photos.

2. Two guys saw me and asked very politely if they could take a picture with it.

3. Whilst in a retro clothing shop one of the shop assistants was just all over it! He loves boomers and asked what it sounds like with an Ipod. He was looking at it with sheer admiration.

4. In one of the indoor markets a coupe of stall holders rushed over to take pictures and one asked me to take pictures ofhime with it. He said his friend had one back in the day.

5. Couple walking along and the girl asks "Wow does it work?" I had it one quite low at the time so she didn't hear it so when she did she said "Yeaaah, that well cool".

6. In the Underground station, as young Italian guy around (19 years old) starts to ask questions about it. He said he has heard of them but they don't have them in Italy. He asked to take a look and crouch down to look at it. After casting his eyes across the full length of the boomer he whispered "beautiful".

This is just a few of the reactions I got! This doesn't include the numerous (and I mean very numerous) looks of amusement, comments (all positive and complementary) and "WHOOOAAAA"s that I got on my travels. I just cannot remember all the comments and it would make this post too long.

I am 40 years old with a life that consists of family and work. Taking out the boomer allowed me to interact with people I would never had struck up a conversation with, Especially those who are in their late teens and early teens who have only seen pictures of boom boxes. Seeing a picture of a boom box is one thing but for them, to see one for real, and to see the sheer size and look (I had the grills off for good effect ) is a total eye opener for them. Next time I'll take my lead to connect their Ipods and Iphones to it so that they can see that an Boomer is a different experience to a personal stereo.

The other group of people are those around my age who used to have them when they where in their teems in the eigthies.

In all honesty, I thought I'd get just a few comments but this felt a bit like a freek show. Call me naive but I didn't expect such incredible interest!

One another post one guy on this forum has a hideous experience whilst in a post office with his boomer switched off! I guess it's down to where you live.

There is another post here about the demise of the boombox and a made a comment that the time is ripe for a mini come-back due to all things retro being in fashion right now.

I did have a hunch that people would receive boomers quite openly and this is tesiment to that. So, Billy the Binman & Ghettoman, (and any other UK based boomers) if you are ever down in London don't you dare come without you boomers! The masses need you

The part of london you live in sounds like a nice place gld
The problem is from where i live "in manchester" i would`nt dare take any of my radio`s out,i would get to the end of my street,i would probebly be beat to a pulp and the box would get stolen..the people are not quite as nice as some other parts of the country,full of scum idiots that dont give a monkeys about how there supposed to live and treat other people..

I didnt know Manchester was f'ed up like that. I learn something new each day. Then again I know diddly about London on a whole.

That sounds awesome GLD! This would have been a fun thread for some pics!

I took my JVC M70 with me this weekend to a golf outing with a bunch of my friends. We got stayed at local golf/tennis resort overnight, so I took it to have in the hotel room. The guys I was with are all real smart-asses and made fun of it all weekend... All in good fun, though, because guess who's room everyone wanted to hang out in when it came time to play cards, drink beer or watch sports on TV (muted, of course, so the Boombox could play one of the dozen tapes I had with me as well). It was automatic... everyone came to JT's room.

Yup, boombox room = party central.

Exactly, JT,

Unlike personal stereos the boombox brings people together.

BTW, there are parts of London where I wouldn't carry a boomer too. I didn't think Manchester was quite that bad. I know there Moss Side and parts of Salford are a bit rought but it can't be everywhere surely.

I took my 777 to a local car show and found people taking just as many photos of my boombox as my truck. Some even had me move out of the way to get a better picture of the box..lol

Yep guys,manchester is pretty bad,and you are defo right,mosside and salford are dangerous territory !! no go zones !! i used to deliver furniture to parts of mosside and salford,also miles platting (near to manchester city football ground) harpurhey,openshaw,newton heath..all those places are only a bus ride away from me,but i would never go there again..horrible !

I was thinking of taking a boombox to the ritzy side of town over here.
Where the fancy shops and restaurants are to see what happens.

But keep them covered up in a some bag until you get to your destination.

I dont take them out, the only comment I have gotten so far
was at the thrift store some lady behind me
"thats a good price, those use to be soooo expensive"
Told her "it needs fixing".

.

.

Wow , great story GLD. I'm always afraid that when people see you walking down the street with a box , they would think you're a nutcase
I like the reactions of the youth though.
It's a shame that you don't have these pics to post them here.That would be cool
Got to get me some D 's now , load the 777 with them and try this too

Eddy,make sure they are rechargable D`s

quote:

Originally posted by gettoman:
Eddy,make sure they are rechargable D`s

I know , it's only a matter of a few hours and they are dead
I tried some regular D's in a GF 777 once so i know they don't last long.

I think you guys who are thinking about carrying a boomer out should do so. I found it liberating. The musical equivalent of riding a Harley

I am sorry about not having pics guys. As I said I didn't go out to show off my player, I went out shopping for a couple of things and I didn't think I'd get that reaction.

BTW. My Duracell D's have been in use since May. I think the key is not to play it at full wack, then they last longer. I find that level 5 or 6 is a comfortable level. As bit like having a flash car. To me it's about knowing the power is there and not having to show it off.

quote:

Originally posted by gld:
I think you guys who are thinking about carrying a boomer out should do so. I found it liberating. The musical equivalent of riding a Harley

I am sorry about not having pics guys. As I said I didn't go out to show off my player, I went out shopping for a couple of things and I didn't think I'd get that reaction.

BTW. My Duracell D's have been in use since May. I think the key is not to play it at full wack, then they last longer. I find that level 5 or 6 is a comfortable level. As bit like having a flash car. To me it's about knowing the power is there and not having to show it off.

The comparison with a Harley is 100 % on the spot
I had a set of D 's in it once because the electric company was working on the cable.
I didn't want to be without music so.....
The day after i blasted them D's to death

That is an awesome story! I wrote the story in the post office, yeah, that sucked. But I haven't given up yet! Summer has some time left to it and I'm going to take mine out to the beach or boardwalk for some fun! Thanks for sharing!

man gld thats good response!

i collected my 2 crowns last week and got a fairer response than usual.

wandered up oxford street with them briefly, then on the underground from bond street and victoria station with a couple changes. got mostly looks of woa! and lots of double takes. there were no people really hanging around everyone was on the move so just mostly long looks and the like.

when i got into brighton i went through the town and a big black geeza saw them and went "MAN THATS OLDSKOOL BRUV!" i got a bit scared and kept walking. then bit further down there were some girls at a bus stop one one of them broke thier neck and just went "oh my god thats so cool"

i would have stopped but it was raining and lugging those 2 boxes for miles was getting pretty heavy!

then got on the bus to go home and got the 'dont you think of bringing those noisy things on here' look, even though they were turned off and had no batteries, from the driver who was rather old.

quite good on the whole though!

GLD, I'm proud of you!!! You deserve a Gold Medal for doing what you've done. I'm 49, and have witnessed the emergence of Boxes back in '78, during the height of the Disco Era.

You make us Middle Aged Cats feel like we're 16 again!!! I still take mine out for a walk every now and again. Hey, your Box is just like your dog, Man's Best Friend!!!

Here's a little Old Skool advice for ya as far as preserving your batteries. NEVER SET YOUR BOX ON CONCRETE SURFACES, IT WILL DRAIN THEM!!!

Great Thread!!!

'NUFF SAID

thats cool... i heard the are chick magnets...
i havent had a chance to take mine out yet but hereing your story i am tempted..

Come to think of it; thinking back; they are chick magnets. I'm happily married so to tell the truth it is not something that was formost in my mind, but I'll tell you this, the age spectrum of women who commented or reacted was quite wide and some where pretty damn well atractive too.

So if you're single and looking to break the ice with someone who takes you fancy, carrying you boomer is definately a novel ice breaker.

BTW: How does this thing with batteries on concrete surface work? Or am I being stupid?

quote:

Originally posted by ghetto blaster:
thats cool... i heard the are chick magnets...

THEY ARE chick magnets. Anyone see the pics of Ira's GF 1000. Chicks were all over it
Not Madonna style by the way

quote:

Originally posted by gld:
Come to think of it; thinking back; they are chick magnets. I'm happily married so to tell the truth it is not something that was formost in my mind, but I'll tell you this, the age spectrum of women who commented or reacted was quite wide and some where pretty damn well atractive too.

So if you're single and looking to break the ice with someone who takes you fancy, carrying you boomer is definately a novel ice breaker.

BTW: How does this thing with batteries on concrete surface work? Or am I being stupid?

You're not being stupid GLD, 'cause your name's not Forrest Gump!!!

I was always told that from way back in the day, to never set your Box on the sidewalk or on a concrete surface because there's something about the Grounding Effect it has on batteries!!!

I'm no Rocket Scientist, but for some reason, IT WILL DRAIN THE HELL OUT OF YOUR BATTERIES!!! And I've learned that from experience!!!

Just a lil' word to the wise!!!

'NUFF SAID

quote:

Originally posted by Eddy:

quote:

Originally posted by ghetto blaster:
thats cool... i heard the are chick magnets...

THEY ARE chick magnets. Anyone see the pics of Ira's GF 1000. Chicks were all over it
Not Madonna style by the way

no i havent can you send me the link....

excellent to hear, gld
so E1 is a decent part of London now eh? That's the funny think about a city as huge as London, there are rough areas SO close to real nice areas.

Gettoman, surely there are some half decent parts of Manchester? There was in the early 90s when I was there for a bit...

Sounds like you may have been out of London for a while, Isolator42. Basically, during the late 90's the artists moved in. They were in search of cheap studio space. So the place turned into a mixture of Camden and Soho.

As with all these things, it get commercialised and looses a bit of its edge in the same way that Kings Road, Camden Mkt and Carnaby Street did. It's still a really good place to go though!

I hope Ira wont mind posting his pics

WOW!!! It takes 2 Chicks to carry that Box!!! Are you sure it's not a coffin!!!

Dynamite Box though!!!

'NUFF SAID

quote:

Originally posted by gld:
Sounds like you may have been out of London for a while, Isolator42. Basically, during the late 90's the artists moved in. They were in search of cheap studio space. So the place turned into a mixture of Camden and Soho...

Hmm, doesn't sound bad at all
You're right - I was bought up in what was called a suburb of London in the 80s: the Kingston/Surbiton area. So places like E1 were pretty unknown to me back then.

wow - what a great day in the life of a nice box !!
thanks for the story-

its pretty much the same down here in usa, florida --

have been happy to introduce boomboxes to several HUNDRED young kids in my community-

there is never a time when they dont all
'gather round' to dance, sing etc

and i have about a dozen 'user' condition boxes --that the kids borrow for their parties-
that happens about 5 night per week

rock on

I've got 10 D-cells right now.
I am quite tempted to take the M90 out for a stroll...

quote:

Originally posted by isolator42:
I've got 10 D-cells right now.
I am quite tempted to take the M90 out for a stroll...

Watch out that nobody steals it.
A bit of inspiration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-6uBbE5uF0

Redbenjoe,

I couldn't agree with you more. The kids, and I mean anywhere from 5 years to 25, absolutely love it. The reaction cannot be put into words. If I owned more boxes I would do the same as you.

I have yet to take one of the big ones out.
I was thinking about toting the 5350 Panasonic today but I wimped out and took the M-70 instead.
Oh well !? Maybe next week.

Nice story!!!

I got a few little reactions and coments like that in Lododn when I went and bought the VZ2500 from geoffhartwell a whilst back... It was fun!!!

BUT (being around the same age now) I could not get myself to turn the volume up to high (as when I was a teen) by respect of the others (which I did not have when I was a teen... like us all!!!! ).

One day, with a little bit of alcohol in my blood system, I might do it again... and this time, maybe, have the guts to "Pump Up Th Volume"!

bredgeo,

You may find that you don't have to turn the volume up high, only so much that the music extends just beyond your personal space (not so that everyone across the road can hear).

I tend to only turn it up as the loudness of things like traffic increase so that I can still hear the music. When the environment gets quieter, I turn it down. It's down to personal preference in part as I don't like hearing an music systems at its maximum output level, period. I like systems at their RMS level, i.e. what they can really do comfortably.

Some might say, 'what's the point then?'. But as you say we are not disrespectful kids anymore.

quote:

But as you say we are not disrespectful kids anymore.


..the wonders of mid-life.

quote:

..the wonders of mid-life.

I am taking my new JVC to the park/outdoor pool this weekend. I will let you all know what the reactions are.

Oh believe me, you're gonna have a lotta fun doin' that!!! Make sure you bring a pen and something to write with too!!!

'NUFF SAID

My Crown 850 is my best-looking box, and it gets quite the attention. Lots of chrome, and the best-looking deep-dish speakers of any boombox. Also the strap loops instead of a carry handle gets lots of attention too.