I am a battery engineer. That era battery was manufactured using excess asphalt sealant and beefy nylon gasket, not like nowadays delicate one. But watching live battery after 50 years passed. What a glorious scene!
My parents had an 80's Panasonic Kerosene heater that had an auto ignition or well some kind of little bulb that lit the wick. It had those same batteries as seen here except they were D cells and red.
@@steviebboy69 Kerosene heaters are very traditional and often used in Japan. Still used in modern form with all modern safety features. But this is also because in japan kerosene is very cheap and easily obtainable.
@@rybaluc I remember when they had it in the kitchen in the 80's Kero was cheap and they would buy it in bulk. I loved the smell of it burning for some reason, and it sure gave out some heat.,
@@rybaluc it WAS very cheap.. kerosene is almost same price as regular gasoline now.. it makes it most expensive way to heat a home compared to electric heater / heat pump.. many older home very not good insulated so kerosene is strong heat to quickly warm a house, new built house with good insulation 99% owners use aircon system in heat mode
The batteries kept their charge not only because they were carbon-zinc, but also because they coated the zinc with a nice layer of mercury, reducing self-discharge. So it's true, they really can't make them like they did anymore.
The distorted Rocky theme is like the "Rocky 9: Hip Replacement" theme. Very neat seeing these 8-track machines. Growing up in the 70s, 8-track was all around but my family never owned one and never had one in a car.
Nice that you picked a number for hip replacement that comes after the one where Rocky opens a deli and would like you to decide between the Rye or the Kaiser.
Matt, I think you really need to make a recording of the full tape on the blue machine and release it. That sh** would definitely get used in some hip-hop jams. 😄
The real star of the show for me was the batteries. Quite fascinating, I was born in June 1974. Those batteries are 48 + years old. That’s freaking incredible Mat.
I was really counting on some music in end credits from the blue machine, and lo and behold, it was delivered. Amazing content from Techmoan as always :D
I have this trick when the batteries on the remote start to die, I flip the battery's positions from each side to the other on and often the remote just keeps working! I have had remotes and I just flip the batteries and it keeps working for years.
@@atomiswave2 have this trick where I beat the remote once the battery starts getting low instead of replacing the batteries. The remote thus never survives their batteries and I always get a new remote...
Mat, you have today cemented your status as a true gold medal legend, undisputed god like status. No matter how you look at this 8 track post, you drew me in a kept me hooked for the whole video, as I'm sure many other viewers have been. I even went away afterwards a relearned how they worked, robustness of engineering (machinery and cassette), sales figures and all sorts. Must have been at it for over 2 hours, easily. Once again fabulous post.
That sounds like someone sampling and distorting it as part of a 90s Rap Track or something like that. Definitely falls more into the "Happy Little Accident" rather than the "This is terrible and broken" bucket for me.
I love Mat’s expression when he plays the music initially. He tried so hard not to laugh 😂 That slowed and out of tune rocky theme is my new favourite thing I would watch a “battery test channel”, maybe bring back the puppets to do those?
He had the puppets on the last video briefly. th-cam.com/video/B6CVHoyp-SA/w-d-xo.html I wonder if the TH-cam policy on kids video's has been relaxed a bit, to allow the puppets to appear without penalty and demonetization. It's such an odd policy when clearly this channels videos is not about stuff kids are interested in. I wonder about all those videos that show kids toys being unboxed and played with, do those videos get demonetized? They seem to have a million views, so I assume someone is making money off them.
Regarding about the use of 8 track units in Europe i worked at a car stereo installation business in Dublin, Ireland.We fitted many luxury cars with 8 track systems.The most popular was the radiomobile108sr fitted to a jaguar Xj6 it required a days labour .The head unit consisted of 2 parts joined by a large cable ,one part in the dash proper the other concealed beneath the dash and to complete the installation an electric aerial mounted on the left rear wing. The electric aerial was a 2 part also made specially by radiomoblie for the purpose.The drive motor sat between the 2 fuel pumps ( XJ's had two 11 gal fuel tanks one in each wing ,driver selectable) the motor connected to the aerial mast via speedo type drive cable.I always thought the sound of an 8 track was better as it ran at 3 3/4 ips as opposed to a 1 7/8 ips.
techmoan videos are almost like a ritual for a chill saturday for me. breakfast, a cup of tea, and something wholesome and informative to watch. thank you:)
I'm 64. The 8-track really ended for me and friends by 1975. Cassett and vinyl was the thing till the early 90's. Now, everything is on our phones. Scotty, beam me up already!
That was delightful! The Rocky theme alone was worth it. I still have a working 8-track recorder. I used to make my own 8-track mix tapes for my car. For me, it was a really reliable system.
That's impressive. I've tried three different recorder units (not great ones, clearly consumer grade) and while I can get playback working, none will record. I have a bunch of NOS blank tapes gone unused.
@Tyler Mathis I used to. The last time I started it up was a few years ago and it worked fine, but before that I hadn't used it for maybe 15 years. It's built like a tank.
I used to have one of those cassette tape adaptors for the old 8 track stereo cabinet. Worked great except no Rewind. Just flip it over, boom, Rewind. 😂
I worked as a “Audio Specialist” for the Soundtrack audio Department of Dayton’s in MN USA during the 70’s through the 80’s. This 8 track player hit our store shelves and sold into the 1000’s of units. It was solid, well built and in context wasn’t terrible to listen to.
Wow! This reminds me that in the '70s, most full-service department stores including Sears Roebuck and JC Penney carried audio electronics. They had knowledgeable sales staff, plus showrooms where staff could demonstrate the product to the customer. Nowadays, the shrinking number of full-service department stores like Macy's or Nordstrom don't carry audio electronics. Today's discount department stores -- like Target which was founded by Dayton's -- carry a few audio electronics but it's all self-service: no real sales staff with product knowledge, and no in-store product demonstrations. I miss the full-service sales model. Sad.
Yes! Electronics were highly profitable in those days. Distribution was done through independent US distribution companies who developed close relationship with key retailers. This protected the profit margins until cross-region drop shipping upset everything cutting into the margins, eventually forcing the manufacturers to begin the long slide into cheaper and cheaper construction values and dropping the distribution channels, now selling direct through their own US based distribution offices.
Except when the track would change in the middle of a song. The volume would start fading out the track would change, and the volume faded back in, and the song restarted.
Matsushita (National, Panasonic, et al) had a great service organization. Great manuals, parts distribution, even factory service centers in the U.S. where they'd host service schools for the independent shops. The shop where I worked appeared on those lists. Those were the days.
My dad's 8 track collection was literally just country music, Elvis, and CW McCall (the guy who did "Convoy"). I think you hit the nail on the head there. He was a truck driver briefly in the late 70s before going back to the military. Cleaning out his stuff when he passed, I got the impression he wanted to do it much longer than he did.
I had a red "boom box" radio that I got from my grandfather with very similar speaker grills. It was a big heavy plastic radio, could throw it off a roof and it probably wouldn't break. I don't remember who made it though. These things remind me of just the speakers! I enjoy 60's and 70's stuff.
We had a Realistic 8-Track in the glove box of our 1972 Chevrolet Impala. We had a component 8 -Track and a BSR turntable on the home stereo system. My step-dad would travel to Japan and bring home stereo equipment.
They're really pretty objects. The colors are fantastic. That National/Panasonic "chrome-circles-in-squares" industrial design language was amazingly consistent over their product lines, and IMHO it holds up really well as a distinctive period look without being kitschy.
Y'know, as an American born in 1984, I only saw one car with an 8 track player, my first car, a 1977 AMC Pacer wagon with the factory stereo. I guess the surplus was so cheap that all the 8 track players got thrown away. Given I lived in the rust belt, there is a fair chance that the cars rusted away before the 8 track players quit working.
One of the overarching lessons from watching your videos is that even vintage economy items are typically better than modern “premium” tech. They don’t make ‘em like they used to! Thanks for the continued quality content!
While I don’t disagree with your statement, I would say this is not an “economy” item. He said this was the equivalent of £240 in today’s money. I would definitely not call that “economy” or inexpensive.
The Detonator was sold by Panasonic in the US market. I really feel like Panasonic has missed the boat by not developing a Bluetooth speaker in that same design
Great video, all three of those look great together. Your side note about your dad only having two cartridges took me back to going on trips with my family. We only had a couple of 8 tracks and we would listen to them over and over. I think my dad liked the 8 track format because later when we had cassettes, we couldn’t fast forward or rewind because it would “damage” the tape and/or player. I miss those days but don’t miss Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits in constant rotation.
8-Track players were almost in all cars in the Arabian gulf states during the 70's. Most cars in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, etc. were imports from the US, hence the dominance of 8-track cartridges back then.
As a channel that uploads old japanese karaoke songs, I would love one of these. And yes, i heard the backing tracks on the japanese 8 tracks, those are the original instrumentals so youtube can detect it.
I grew up in the 70's and 80's, and my parents had many 8-tracks and about 3-4 different players around the house. So from my childhood through my teens I used all three main formats with vinyl, 8-tracks and cassettes. Great memories.
I still remember when my parents bought an Oldsmobile sedan in 1978 that came with the 8 track deck and an Oldsmobile demo cart that included that song "hands across the water, hands across the sea" and other cheesey songs that are still stuck in my head 45 years later
The song you call "Hands Across the Water, Hands Across the Sea" was likely a cover of "Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey" originally by Paul and Linda McCartney from their album Ram (the only McCartney album credited to them alone as Linda also sang with Paul's band Wings later on). While it's possible the maker of the Demo tape actually licensed Paul and Linda's original version, its more likely the just got some studio musicians with a Paul sound-a-like to do a cover.
@@eniax Fernando was originally by Abba and it definitely was covered by cheap cover song labels and instrumental background music producers. A lot of these demo tapes featured cover versions though sometimes a record label would offer promotional music from known artists in a marketing deal with whomever was giving away the demo.
Another great video :) Just wanted to say thank you Mat as your many tinkering videos inspired me to take apart and fix my old iPhone 4. The battery swelled about 6 months ago so I thought it was done for and had no clue I could actually fix it myself. I saved a pretty penny buying a new battery and screen off eBay and now have a phone that's good as new and can play my music again! It wasn't too difficult, just incredibly fiddly! Cheers from Australia :)
I only knew of one person when I was a child in the late 70s , he was in the son of the local pub’s landlord and landlady, who had an 8 track and yep, was in his capri.
I had one of these when I was a young man in the 70’s in the U.S.. the thing I remember about mine was it does not change tracks automatically. The same track plays over and over till you hit the plunger and change it yourself, I still loved it anyway and took it everyplace with me!
49 seconds after uploading? Huh, cool! I love your content, it's great to learn about technology and how it's grown. Shows where we've been to maybe where we're going :D
22:10 I've had pretty good luck cleaning those thumbwheel potentiometers by just spraying tuner cleaner in the slot. Seems that most of them were made with open access to the contacts near the wheel, so you could clean them without taking the device apart.
🤣 That took me back to my favourite restaurant in the late '80s where the only thing they had for background music was an 8 track player. It could reproduce music with the same fidelity as that Ford cartridge you played at the end but with an added constant whistle as something slipped inside the unit. I ended up giving the owner my old boombox with cassette player.
ahh the era before ASCAP had their fee extortion racket and small mom&pop places could just use a boombox or some old HiFi equipment dug from a second hand store.
Netherlands '70s kid here. I grew up interested in electronics and audio, had many cassette boom boxes etc, but had never even heard of 8-tracks until I came across a video you did on 8-tracks a few years back. It's actually when I started following you 😁. I was so surprised by a format as weird as that, that I bought a player and a few tapes myself. It's just fun playing around with them. Anyway I can't even remember any 8-tracks being sold in record stores or via book clubs in NL, so I think it's safe to say they weren't a thing AT ALL in the Netherlands. I even worked for a local radio station and used cassettes and R2R, and the 7.5 IPS jingle cartridges, but no 8-tracks. Although I can now see some Dutch 8-track titles being sold second hand, so apparently some were produced. But I have no idea who sold them or who bought them.
1:26 Some of the dealer-installed 8-track players in cars sold in the USA were add-ons, but many of the factory ones were part of the standard-sized radio form factor and didn't take up any more space than a typical Detroit car radio, which was probably just a bit bigger than the ones in European cars, so space was not much of an issue. But I suspect that the fact that it was Americans, in cooperation with Japanese manufacturers that pushed the format, made it easier for it to reach critical mass in those two countries, but not in Europe. Ironically , the best sounding player I've ever heard was made in the UK by Callaro, which supplied many of the tape and record decks for Magnavox, which made a huge portion of the stereo consoles (aka. "radiograms") that were sold here in the 1960s and 1970s. Collaro built everything they made as if it were intended for use in a war zone.
he either ignored or forgot that Japan and Germany flooded the US in the 70s with smaller cheap cars so these were added as a way to entice people from the competition…even with them being cheap or free didn’t mean people were putting them in their cars- my father’s late-70s Ford station wagon and uncle’s 1980 Buick Skylark didn’t have them
G'day, Matt! Nice job! I was 'chuffed to bits', when I saw this video! (the 8-Track in Japan, and then opening up two new-old-stock Japanese National RQ8 8-Track players) By the way... Wonderful sense of humor! That rocky cartridge was flippin' hilarious! We all couldn't stop laughing! Ride on!! Thank you! Cheers! 😊🎙📻❤
I was thinking, I've gotten one recently as I've started getting more in depth in my electronics hobby. You should look at getting a variable DC power supply for battery operated hardware. That way when you have the hardware open, you dont have to worry about turning components over to insert the battery and possibly damage something. Just clip the alligator clips to the battery terminals.
I agree if I were a museum curator or a repair person. I think the whole idea of playing with old equipment is experience including the weight of the batteries and even the process of putting them into the battery compartment.
The Imax B6 charger is quite good for that, as it also has an option to use it as a DC power supply, though from memory I think it's a minimum of 3V. You can also set the maximum current, which is quite handy if the device you want to power up could be iffy. They can also be easily powered by a (higher voltage) battery if needed.
I love all of the second hand knowledge I get from your channel. Like how 8 track was the perfect format for karaoke which is why it did so well in Japan. The rambling is totally welcome!
In the 1960s & 70s, my parents drove luxury cars---though, as a little kid, I just thought of them as Mom and Dad's cars. Mom's was a top-of-the-line Pontiac Grand Am, and it had an 8-track player. The cartridges it came with were all classical: 10,000 Strings, Strauss Waltzes, Ivan Rebroff & the Red Army Chorus, Beethoven Sonatas... No tacky rock & roll in that posh car!
I'm presently collecting 8-track tapes because I'm retrofitting a Delco GM tape deck in my 79 GM Chevrolet that I bought new. 8-tracks are not dead; long live the 8-track! Thanks for the video, Matt!
Great video as always. My Dad had an 8-track in his Mk1 escort with about four cartridges …. Elton John ‘goodbye yellow brick road’, The Rolling Stones ‘Let it bleed’, Steeleye Span ‘And then we were six’ and another I can’t recall….. it was the mid 70’s 🫣
Brilliant, as always, although I kinda hope for a repair video on the blue one. Solidified grease is my bet. Maybe a compilation of quick repairs video in the future? :)
In the U.S. at least, Chrysler Corp. had CASSETTE (player AND recorder!) as an option as far back as 1971. This kept them different from G.M. and Ford. Chrysler also had CAR RECORD PLAYERS in the 1950's.
I was just talking with my wife and she said the page with the photos of people were probably all compères. They had singing shows and those compères would tell the story of the song and entertain the crowd. Interesting.
Great video! I love the 8-Track format but that’s mostly nostalgia talking. Having said that, the right cartridge on the right player can sound amazing! As a kid in the 70s, I had one of those Panasonic “Dynamite” 8-Track players in red. I would love to locate one again, but they are too much money for someone in my financial situation.
Years following your channel and I never left a comment... Your videos are now a classic on my saturdays mornings. I want to say thank you to you and for your content sending you a big hug from Buenos Aires Argentina.
I love all the videos you do on 8 Track history. There's something you never mention and I wonder if I've imagined it. When I was a kid, cassettes had already displaced 8-tracks and my parents would explain about their old 8 tracks cartridges that they still had laying around as a "more than stereo" sort of surround sound thing. They fawned over how awesome it was to have the music mixed for 4 speakers instead of 2 - they said the 8 tracks played 4 different chanels of the music and it was specially mixed to be "quad mix" (I think, cant remember if that was the right word) instead of 2 stereo mixed channels and it was "far out, man!" - I'm from the USA if that has any bearing on it, but I wonder if I misunderstood or made it up in my head since I've never seen it mentioned when you talk about 8-tracks. ? Your talking about 8-track being primarily for car systems in the US made me think of how that made sense, though. I'm not sure what the early sound systems were like in the rest of the world, but here they've always been 4 speakers - 2 in the front and 2 in the back, which seems ideal for this 8-track quad mix story. Also, I love those TNT players and how they look. I always thought they were "new retro" products rather than genuine vintage. That's pretty cool.
Quadraphonic 8-tracks were certainly a thing but probably not as common as your parents made it seem. I remember hearing about quadraphonic media from way back in the day, far predating 5.1 surround. And it was something 8-tracks made it easy to do which would've been much harder with cassette tapes, requiring a modified mechanism with 4 read heads to treat the 2 tracks going in either direction as 4 tracks going in one direction, which would've increased the cost and since it was niche, the market probably wasn't there to justify mass producing such a thing.
Yes, there was such a thing as quadraphonic, or quad for short, 8-tracks that had two programs and used 4 tracks per program. Quad was also available on records through at least a couple of different methods as well as reel to reel. Quad was even built into the cd specs.
@@thomaswilliams2273 There's a Techmoan video about quadrophonic records, they didn't take off partly because there were 3-4 competing "formats" for splitting the stereo signal into four, and they weren't compatible. More recently, somebody's been trying to bring it back, reviving only one of the old formats.
I had just finished watching "Rocky" as I was hooking up my new media player. I saw the movie in files and decided to watch it for the heck of it. After I went to TH-cam to check for any new videos and landed on your channel. When you played to 8-track of the movie songs, I could not believe it. Anyway, another fine video of course. It's amazing how you find all these old stuff. Absolutely brilliant!!
Cool! My father bought a home 8-track tape player in early 1972. The sound was the best we ever heard up to that time. And our first stereo! All our record players were mono portables. We didn't have one in our vehicle until 1981! You could still get 8-track tapes in the early 80's.
@@markmarkofkane8167 You could listen to Stereo broadcasts transmitted by the BBC from 1958 on a stereo radio gramophone in the UK. Stereo record decks and Portable stereo record players were common in the 1960s. My first stereo record player was a Garrard Sp25 bought in 1967
@@ziggarillo We didn't have a Stereo receiver until 1978. I know they were all available. My father just never bought anything stereo (players) until that 8-track player in 1972.
I'm 37 and grew up in the states. Still to this day I have never seen nor touched an 8 track lol. This format fascinates me, this video is the closest I've been to one!
Considering doing a whole bunch of remixes of famous tracks in the style of your broken Rocky theme, just to see how much sonic degradation is needed to avoid the content match. Bing Crosby doing Silent Night first :)
I bought a Soundesign 8 track stereo back in 1977 for 88.00 usd. I still have it, but have not used it for a long time. Also, I bought a used 1983 Ford Escort Wagon that had an 8 track player, factory installed. It always worked fine. Late time period for this format. Thanks for the video.
I really enjoyed watching this, and as mentioned, the rocky theme was priceless. I concur with your comments about 8 track in Uk cars, not many to be seen. It was interesting to hear about the difference between USA and Japan . Pay no attention to those who think it's a rubbish format. Keep the tech alive.
As always - you bring to discuss interesting topics and gear. I had to let you know - this one made me cry like a baby...in a good way. Growing up - we would go on vacation in dad's pickup with the camper on the back, listening to the 8-track in the truck. A all-time favorite of mine was this tape of tv hits of 'current' shows - It appears you are holding up the companion tape - to one I have been searching for - for 40 years. The tape was a bargain bin special and at this point resigned myself to never finding. One of the shows openers was redone on the Moog synthesizer to great effect that has been with me for all those years. Now I know that 'album's name - 'Big T.V. Hits - as performed by The Film Festival Orchestra' on Springboard records. I also never could find any of the exact audio - so could totally unable to use sound hound or other services to find - was always in my head. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Tony
Once 18 and passed my car test in 1986 I fitted an 8 track to my parents car. Which my mum loved as the unit came with a few tapes like Elvis, slim Whitman and some prog rock. I acquired the 8 track while fitting cassette units to other peoples cars as working in auto electrical to fund student life. I fitted a relay to switch between 8 Track and radio to please my dad.
The Blue one is now your very own personal Vaporwave machine. ^^ 18:38 "Rocky, you cannot do it! Stop whatever you doing, because you won't succeed!" xD
I collect vintage GSM1900 mobile phones (from 1992 to 2001-ish), and recently found a brand new still sealed in box Ericsson GF768 from 1997 and to my absolute amazement not only did the original NiMH battery not leak, but it actually still had a small enough charge to power the phone on. However, you 1978 vintage D-Cell batteries absolutely takes the cake! I can't believe nearly all of them had a full state of charge! Amazing!
I still own over one hundred 8 track tapes and still listen to them to this day! I have three 8 track players to play them on. Two of the three are 8 track changers which really make listening to them really cool in 2022. 👌🏾
Not sure if it was already mentioned, but the three flyers with karaoke cartridge listings were from three different record labels: Teichiku, RCA and King Records. I guess National/Panasonic were not affiliated with any particular label, unlike Victor/JVC or Sony
Victor Company of Japan (JVC) had a peculiar relationship with Radio Corporation of America (later RCA Corp.). JVC was founded in the early 1900s as the Japanese affiliate of Victor Talking Machine Company. When Victor's business was acquired by RCA in 1929, RCA assumed Victor's ownership percentage of JVC and retained this until shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, when the Japanese government seized US-owned assets and nationalized JVC. I have not been able to find factual information specifically explaining how RCA and JVC resumed their business relationship after World War II, given that JVC had been nationalized.
@@peacearchwa5103 RVC was formed in 1975 which was a joint venture between the American RCA and JVC - that is the "RCA Record" label featuring Japanese artists in the flyer that came with one of these players. It later became part of BMG and subsequently SME so is no longer associated with JVC.
@@markm0000 well there is no electriciy stored actually. Just the chemicals that produce a current when you connect the poles if and when you decide to connect. They last as long as the seals, that separate them, are able to last.
My dad got a new Rover V8 in 1975 & that was fitted with an 8-track player. A few days after he got it the family drove down to the Costa Del Sol for a holiday. The only problem was he only had one tape, Carly Simon's "Hot Cakes". By the time we got home, I knew every word to every song, in perfect timing. Well, as much as you can be with the wow & flutter of an 8-track. The "old man" never seemed to notice the W&F, but I certainly did.
Damn it Matt! You made me spill my coffee listening to Rocky trying to fly! I'm curious how much the Japanese stock cost compared to the US counterparts. Obviously, a much better value.
He did say in the video the price was similar, but in the US case the price was for refurbished units, and the Japanese ones were brand new (which doesn't guarantee they'll work better, since they've been sitting in a box and never tested)
About Japanese music companies - they were bit late to the entire youtube thing. Because of that for years youtubers were using Japanese music as "safe" background for their videos naively beliving Jp companies simply did not care. But then Japanese companies finally realized that and went completely ballistic with the content matching. I remember youtubers taking down literaly half of their videos just to replace the supposedly "safe" Japanese music. I don't blame JP for being overly enthusiastic with copyright strikes, this is what happens when you discover youtube is riddled with your content :)
@@romangiertych5198 do you have any examples? I heard that before few times but always as general statements without any proof. I mean, it is country where you can legally sell otherwise copyrighted figurines and doujins during wonderfest and comiket, their copyrights system doesn't seem that bad.
Love the new outro music 🤣 As always, thanks for the great video! You always sound so enthusiastic about all your gear, it makes me wanna get them too 😋
An 8-track version of Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express has been catching my eye over on eBay for days. Suddenly this video drops. What do you think, guys? Divine intervention?
My uncle had one in the early 70s, in a Ford Grenada (Mk I), which I suppose were nearest thing we had in the UK to US-sized cars. He'd worked over in the US, so I'm guessing he'd had one in a car over there and wanted the same thing when he came back to the UK.
I'd say 2nd nearest. There were these giant estate cars -- made by Toyota of all people -- with a vast back seat and then another seat which folded out of the boot floor. Great for families with lots of kids or for when, like, 3 families get together. They were very rare in the UK, I only ever saw 2. I guess they didn't sell well for obvious reasons. I rode in both. They were US-styled with V6 engines.
@@eekee6034 probably thinking of a Toyota Crown, which were sold in Europe in the '70s but not popular. They had straight-6 engines and were still small compared to a Detroit "compact" of the time (they weren't sold in the US either).
Ampex made some clear 8 Track cartridges (blank). I have a few of them. They are nice because you can watch how the tape is pulled from the center of the reel, and back onto the outside when playing. Great to use with the 1,400 $ clear TNT / Dynomite player.
Sounds cool! I wish they made more clear 8-Track tapes. I guess the reason they didn't was so they looked different from 4-Track cartridges to avoid any legal problems.
I saw these at the Panasonic museum in Osaka. If anyone is ever in Japan... specifically Osaka....I highly recommend a visit to the Panasonic museum. It's a really fantastic walk through the history of the company, its products, and the industrial development of Japan. And it's free!
I've been using 8-Tracks since about 1984, (when I bought a recorder and a box of carts), always been a fan. I have been after one of these players for many years, far too high of a price for me though.
I'm a big fan of 78', we hit peak fashion, personal computers were happening, the Keytar moved beyond its prototyping stage..::: There's always a subject detail that's escaped me, usually some missing link that would blow my mind; the Detonator might be the best example yet. In bright primary colors no less, with ufo grade minimalism; what a beautiful human audio artifact, wow. Evolving the design into an modern player seems like a good project, so many possibilities off the top of my head..::: Thank you Techmoan, again, for an unexpected puzzle piece!
its amazing how well stuff is looked after in Japan. i think its just part of the culture to respect your belongings. plus as kids, parents will treat items as if they have personalities like ''don't hit mr table, he doesnt like that'' and so kids grow up treating things better generally. I saw a bunch of second hand games consoles like gameboys and snes's ect, and despite all being preowned, they all looked brand new with barley any, if any, scratches or marks. And also the batteries still working was no surprise. they really do care about their stuff more. so when buying stuff from Japan, 9X10 its gonna be in great condition.
Preowned but looking brand new...Wouldn't say that abouth those portable mini disc players Techmoan ordered in bulk and unboxed in a video some time ago.
@@andreasu.3546 Those were unclaimed lost property, though. They'd probably been shunted around a lot, taken less care of each time, as it became more and more clear they weren't going to be claimed.
@@guspolly yep, that is where the culture of taking care of things comes from.. the aesthetics of everything are so beautiful and satisfying in that country.
8-track were fairly popular in Argentina. We called them "Magazines". We used it mostly in cars. They were all aftermarket units made by Sharp, and redistributed here by a company named "Kenya". They were also adapters to use the car unit at home. I'd one of these in my bedroom when I was young, in the 70s. By then all the music were released in LP (records), Casettes, and Magazines (8-track), even local titles.
I am a battery engineer. That era battery was manufactured using excess asphalt sealant and beefy nylon gasket, not like nowadays delicate one. But watching live battery after 50 years passed. What a glorious scene!
I love that under such novelty videos you can always see people from all over the place, jobwise.
My parents had an 80's Panasonic Kerosene heater that had an auto ignition or well some kind of little bulb that lit the wick. It had those same batteries as seen here except they were D cells and red.
@@steviebboy69 Kerosene heaters are very traditional and often used in Japan. Still used in modern form with all modern safety features. But this is also because in japan kerosene is very cheap and easily obtainable.
@@rybaluc I remember when they had it in the kitchen in the 80's Kero was cheap and they would buy it in bulk. I loved the smell of it burning for some reason, and it sure gave out some heat.,
@@rybaluc it WAS very cheap.. kerosene is almost same price as regular gasoline now.. it makes it most expensive way to heat a home compared to electric heater / heat pump.. many older home very not good insulated so kerosene is strong heat to quickly warm a house, new built house with good insulation 99% owners use aircon system in heat mode
"This thing's only a few years younger than myself and it's certainly in better condition."
That really spoke to me.
I chuckled. Matt is Whitty.
The batteries kept their charge not only because they were carbon-zinc, but also because they coated the zinc with a nice layer of mercury, reducing self-discharge. So it's true, they really can't make them like they did anymore.
And for good reason they don't
Sounds delicious.
Mmmmmm Mercury delicious
@@tobykassulke2385 😂😂
@@marklola12 Yeah. Given today’s Amazon culture of mass consumption that’s a very good thing.
(Not being salty, just observant)
What I learned today: Never ever skip a single Techmoan video!
It was fun to watch even over a year later.
As Tech Connections would say; “through the magic of buying two of them…”
No longer surprises me when Alec days it but I giggle endlessly whenever it pops up anywhere else. Your comment included. ✌️😁🍍
@@OriginalPineapplesFoster oh, he’s awesome. If you’re not following him on twitter, you’re missing out.
The distorted Rocky theme is like the "Rocky 9: Hip Replacement" theme. Very neat seeing these 8-track machines. Growing up in the 70s, 8-track was all around but my family never owned one and never had one in a car.
"Yo Adrian... *wheeze* *splutter* ...
We...
*pant*
We did... It."
Rocky: 85 Rocky fights Arthritis
Nice that you picked a number for hip replacement that comes after the one where Rocky opens a deli and would like you to decide between the Rye or the Kaiser.
"Coming up Pongo's review of Rocky Five... Thousand" -Spaceballs
Matt, I think you really need to make a recording of the full tape on the blue machine and release it. That sh** would definitely get used in some hip-hop jams. 😄
"Why did 8-Track do so well in Japan?"
It's going to be karaoke isn't it?
"One thing you'll see a lot of is karaoke 8-tracks"
Of course.
that was my thought too I just knew Karaoke was going to be name dropped at some point.
The real star of the show for me was the batteries. Quite fascinating, I was born in June 1974. Those batteries are 48 + years old. That’s freaking incredible Mat.
From Cuba Baion to pioneering the Rockywave genre, this channel is introducing me to all kinds of new music!
All the kids are into Rockywave these days
Truly epic end credits, Vaporwave meets Rockywave sub-genre Techmoan introduces us all to. Thank you for that!
I was really counting on some music in end credits from the blue machine, and lo and behold, it was delivered. Amazing content from Techmoan as always :D
Techmoanwave?
Honestly will be sampling it.
13:02 Those Panasonic batteries have legendry longevity: I have 3xAAs in a VCR remote-control from 1992 and it still works 30 years on!
:O
Tbf, a VCR remote doesn’t use much power, ofc depending how much you use it.
@@Khloya69 as opposed to those pesky power draining cardboard boxes from the late 70s. 😉
I have this trick when the batteries on the remote start to die, I flip the battery's positions from each side to the other on and often the remote just keeps working! I have had remotes and I just flip the batteries and it keeps working for years.
@@atomiswave2 have this trick where I beat the remote once the battery starts getting low instead of replacing the batteries. The remote thus never survives their batteries and I always get a new remote...
Mat, you have today cemented your status as a true gold medal legend, undisputed god like status. No matter how you look at this 8 track post, you drew me in a kept me hooked for the whole video, as I'm sure many other viewers have been. I even went away afterwards a relearned how they worked, robustness of engineering (machinery and cassette), sales figures and all sorts. Must have been at it for over 2 hours, easily. Once again fabulous post.
Right? So perfect!
I totally agree, I have not much interest in 8tracks but this video could have been 4 hours long and I've would watched the hell of it! .
True, theres only one Techmoan.
@@nihilism242 He could do a video about a potato and I'd watch.
That rocky cartridge was hilarious! I couldn't stop laughing at how it sounded!
I'd have been shocked if the copyright bots had been able to catch it.
It sounds like what Rocky's hearing might be like after being in the ring one too many times!
instant vaporwave
This is what you feel like after eating five raw eggs.
That sounds like someone sampling and distorting it as part of a 90s Rap Track or something like that. Definitely falls more into the "Happy Little Accident" rather than the "This is terrible and broken" bucket for me.
I love Mat’s expression when he plays the music initially. He tried so hard not to laugh 😂
That slowed and out of tune rocky theme is my new favourite thing
I would watch a “battery test channel”, maybe bring back the puppets to do those?
He had the puppets on the last video briefly. th-cam.com/video/B6CVHoyp-SA/w-d-xo.html I wonder if the TH-cam policy on kids video's has been relaxed a bit, to allow the puppets to appear without penalty and demonetization. It's such an odd policy when clearly this channels videos is not about stuff kids are interested in. I wonder about all those videos that show kids toys being unboxed and played with, do those videos get demonetized? They seem to have a million views, so I assume someone is making money off them.
I think we could use that tape to soften up terrorists for interrogation.
He should review some PKCELLs on that battery channel
I feel like that version of the rocky theme needs to be put to videos of people using gym equipment incorrectly.
@@rabbitsrefuse 🤣😂🤣I totally can visualize that one!
Regarding about the use of 8 track units in Europe i worked at a car stereo installation business in Dublin, Ireland.We fitted many luxury cars with 8 track systems.The most popular was the radiomobile108sr fitted to a jaguar Xj6 it required a days labour .The head unit consisted of 2 parts joined by a large cable ,one part in the dash proper the other concealed beneath the dash and to complete the installation an electric aerial mounted on the left rear wing. The electric aerial was a 2 part also made specially by radiomoblie for the purpose.The drive motor sat between the 2 fuel pumps ( XJ's had two 11 gal fuel tanks one in each wing ,driver selectable) the motor connected to the aerial mast via speedo type drive cable.I always thought the sound of an 8 track was better as it ran at 3 3/4 ips as opposed to a 1 7/8 ips.
Indeed , , and the tape is wider 1/4 of inch. The same as open reels., , , ! 😊
-"of course I'm never going to play this cartridge again, but I just want to fix it..." = ❤️! This is why I love this channel.
techmoan videos are almost like a ritual for a chill saturday for me. breakfast, a cup of tea, and something wholesome and informative to watch. thank you:)
Right
Same for me except it's after lunch coffee
I do exactly the same!
@@TommyAgramonSeth ..
After dinner, cup of tea.
Definitely!
I'm 64. The 8-track really ended for me and friends by 1975. Cassett and vinyl was the thing till the early 90's. Now, everything is on our phones. Scotty, beam me up already!
That was delightful! The Rocky theme alone was worth it. I still have a working 8-track recorder. I used to make my own 8-track mix tapes for my car. For me, it was a really reliable system.
That's impressive. I've tried three different recorder units (not great ones, clearly consumer grade) and while I can get playback working, none will record. I have a bunch of NOS blank tapes gone unused.
@Tyler Mathis I used to. The last time I started it up was a few years ago and it worked fine, but before that I hadn't used it for maybe 15 years. It's built like a tank.
I used to have Jensen roadster that had 8-track/AM radio. It worked fine but the car around it disintegrated.
@@jakublulek3261 Who needs to go places when you have good music? 😁
I used to have one of those cassette tape adaptors for the old 8 track stereo cabinet. Worked great except no Rewind. Just flip it over, boom, Rewind. 😂
I worked as a “Audio Specialist” for the Soundtrack audio Department of Dayton’s in MN USA during the 70’s through the 80’s. This 8 track player hit our store shelves and sold into the 1000’s of units. It was solid, well built and in context wasn’t terrible to listen to.
Wow! This reminds me that in the '70s, most full-service department stores including Sears Roebuck and JC Penney carried audio electronics. They had knowledgeable sales staff, plus showrooms where staff could demonstrate the product to the customer. Nowadays, the shrinking number of full-service department stores like Macy's or Nordstrom don't carry audio electronics. Today's discount department stores -- like Target which was founded by Dayton's -- carry a few audio electronics but it's all self-service: no real sales staff with product knowledge, and no in-store product demonstrations. I miss the full-service sales model. Sad.
Yes! Electronics were highly profitable in those days. Distribution was done through independent US distribution companies who developed close relationship with key retailers. This protected the profit margins until cross-region drop shipping upset everything cutting into the margins, eventually forcing the manufacturers to begin the long slide into cheaper and cheaper construction values and dropping the distribution channels, now selling direct through their own US based distribution offices.
Except when the track would change in the middle of a song.
The volume would start fading out the track would change, and the volume faded back in, and the song restarted.
It might sound good going through a stereo system.
@@thedevilsadvocate5210 The exact reason that I hated the format!
Matsushita (National, Panasonic, et al) had a great service organization. Great manuals, parts distribution, even factory service centers in the U.S. where they'd host service schools for the independent shops. The shop where I worked appeared on those lists. Those were the days.
My dad's 8 track collection was literally just country music, Elvis, and CW McCall (the guy who did "Convoy"). I think you hit the nail on the head there. He was a truck driver briefly in the late 70s before going back to the military. Cleaning out his stuff when he passed, I got the impression he wanted to do it much longer than he did.
These are so beautiful pieces of 70's design! They're just marvelous 😍
I had a red "boom box" radio that I got from my grandfather with very similar speaker grills. It was a big heavy plastic radio, could throw it off a roof and it probably wouldn't break. I don't remember who made it though. These things remind me of just the speakers!
I enjoy 60's and 70's stuff.
@@volvo09 me too. The hippie design was like an eye candy!
We had a Realistic 8-Track in the glove box of our 1972 Chevrolet Impala. We had a component 8 -Track and a BSR turntable on the home stereo system. My step-dad would travel to Japan and bring home stereo equipment.
They're really pretty objects. The colors are fantastic. That National/Panasonic "chrome-circles-in-squares" industrial design language was amazingly consistent over their product lines, and IMHO it holds up really well as a distinctive period look without being kitschy.
Y'know, as an American born in 1984, I only saw one car with an 8 track player, my first car, a 1977 AMC Pacer wagon with the factory stereo. I guess the surplus was so cheap that all the 8 track players got thrown away. Given I lived in the rust belt, there is a fair chance that the cars rusted away before the 8 track players quit working.
Great video!! Had never seen these 8 track players before. Listening to Sad Rocky theme was hilarious!!🤣👍👍
One of the overarching lessons from watching your videos is that even vintage economy items are typically better than modern “premium” tech. They don’t make ‘em like they used to! Thanks for the continued quality content!
While I don’t disagree with your statement, I would say this is not an “economy” item. He said this was the equivalent of £240 in today’s money. I would definitely not call that “economy” or inexpensive.
The Detonator was sold by Panasonic in the US market. I really feel like Panasonic has missed the boat by not developing a Bluetooth speaker in that same design
Yep, nostalgia sells. I'd hope for the same sound.
I'd buy it.
And the plunger would be the skip track button
@@357CLOUDY Also good desing still sells. Even without retro stuff, it is still very sleak looking design.
Ooh! Good point! I'd buy one.
It looks really good, too bad there's no Bluetooth version
That Rocky theme was both cursed and hilarious. I think I want to use it as a ringtone! 🤣
Love leaning about old tech and how different cultures found different uses for them.
Great video, all three of those look great together. Your side note about your dad only having two cartridges took me back to going on trips with my family. We only had a couple of 8 tracks and we would listen to them over and over. I think my dad liked the 8 track format because later when we had cassettes, we couldn’t fast forward or rewind because it would “damage” the tape and/or player. I miss those days but don’t miss Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits in constant rotation.
😆 I listen to everything Charlie Pride 8-track he ever did from the car back seat from Kentucky to Cleveland, roundtrip.
Iluminating.
8-Track players were almost in all cars in the Arabian gulf states during the 70's. Most cars in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, etc. were imports from the US, hence the dominance of 8-track cartridges back then.
As a channel that uploads old japanese karaoke songs, I would love one of these.
And yes, i heard the backing tracks on the japanese 8 tracks, those are the original instrumentals so youtube can detect it.
I grew up in the 70's and 80's, and my parents had many 8-tracks and about 3-4 different players around the house. So from my childhood through my teens I used all three main formats with vinyl, 8-tracks and cassettes. Great memories.
Was that in the UK?
"It's a screw! I can feel it!" I am seriously tempted to give this channel money for Wigan voiced content like this.
I still remember when my parents bought an Oldsmobile sedan in 1978 that came with the 8 track deck and an Oldsmobile demo cart that included that song "hands across the water, hands across the sea" and other cheesey songs that are still stuck in my head 45 years later
The song you call "Hands Across the Water, Hands Across the Sea" was likely a cover of "Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey" originally by Paul and Linda McCartney from their album Ram (the only McCartney album credited to them alone as Linda also sang with Paul's band Wings later on). While it's possible the maker of the Demo tape actually licensed Paul and Linda's original version, its more likely the just got some studio musicians with a Paul sound-a-like to do a cover.
@@Charlesb88 I also remember a song "Fernando" that was probably a cover
@@eniax Fernando was originally by Abba and it definitely was covered by cheap cover song labels and instrumental background music producers. A lot of these demo tapes featured cover versions though sometimes a record label would offer promotional music from known artists in a marketing deal with whomever was giving away the demo.
@@Charlesb88 Love that song!
@@eniax Fernando was an Abba song. Though the one on the demo tape for your Olds was probably a cover. They usually were.
I like how well you know your audience knowing full well some of us would watch you testing batteries
There IS a battery test channel th-cam.com/channels/AoBbzI280JmIuzDiljuyQA.html I just informed the owner who thinks Techmoan is Awesome.
Another great video :) Just wanted to say thank you Mat as your many tinkering videos inspired me to take apart and fix my old iPhone 4. The battery swelled about 6 months ago so I thought it was done for and had no clue I could actually fix it myself. I saved a pretty penny buying a new battery and screen off eBay and now have a phone that's good as new and can play my music again! It wasn't too difficult, just incredibly fiddly! Cheers from Australia :)
I only knew of one person when I was a child in the late 70s , he was in the son of the local pub’s landlord and landlady, who had an 8 track and yep, was in his capri.
I had one of these when I was a young man in the 70’s in the U.S.. the thing I remember about mine was it does not change tracks automatically. The same track plays over and over till you hit the plunger and change it yourself, I still loved it anyway and took it everyplace with me!
I eagerly await the battery test channel from you. 😁
49 seconds after uploading? Huh, cool! I love your content, it's great to learn about technology and how it's grown. Shows where we've been to maybe where we're going :D
22:10 I've had pretty good luck cleaning those thumbwheel potentiometers by just spraying tuner cleaner in the slot. Seems that most of them were made with open access to the contacts near the wheel, so you could clean them without taking the device apart.
🤣 That took me back to my favourite restaurant in the late '80s where the only thing they had for background music was an 8 track player. It could reproduce music with the same fidelity as that Ford cartridge you played at the end but with an added constant whistle as something slipped inside the unit. I ended up giving the owner my old boombox with cassette player.
ahh the era before ASCAP had their fee extortion racket and small mom&pop places could just use a boombox or some old HiFi equipment dug from a second hand store.
Netherlands '70s kid here. I grew up interested in electronics and audio, had many cassette boom boxes etc, but had never even heard of 8-tracks until I came across a video you did on 8-tracks a few years back. It's actually when I started following you 😁. I was so surprised by a format as weird as that, that I bought a player and a few tapes myself. It's just fun playing around with them.
Anyway I can't even remember any 8-tracks being sold in record stores or via book clubs in NL, so I think it's safe to say they weren't a thing AT ALL in the Netherlands. I even worked for a local radio station and used cassettes and R2R, and the 7.5 IPS jingle cartridges, but no 8-tracks. Although I can now see some Dutch 8-track titles being sold second hand, so apparently some were produced. But I have no idea who sold them or who bought them.
1:26 Some of the dealer-installed 8-track players in cars sold in the USA were add-ons, but many of the factory ones were part of the standard-sized radio form factor and didn't take up any more space than a typical Detroit car radio, which was probably just a bit bigger than the ones in European cars, so space was not much of an issue. But I suspect that the fact that it was Americans, in cooperation with Japanese manufacturers that pushed the format, made it easier for it to reach critical mass in those two countries, but not in Europe. Ironically , the best sounding player I've ever heard was made in the UK by Callaro, which supplied many of the tape and record decks for Magnavox, which made a huge portion of the stereo consoles (aka. "radiograms") that were sold here in the 1960s and 1970s. Collaro built everything they made as if it were intended for use in a war zone.
Was not the radios in 70s european cars about the size of a cd player for a pc
he either ignored or forgot that Japan and Germany flooded the US in the 70s with smaller cheap cars so these were added as a way to entice people from the competition…even with them being cheap or free didn’t mean people were putting them in their cars- my father’s late-70s Ford station wagon and uncle’s 1980 Buick Skylark didn’t have them
"This week on 'The Battery Test Channel' we have a selection of button cells to test and a bonus rechargeable 9V. It's going to be a good one!"
G'day, Matt! Nice job! I was 'chuffed to bits', when I saw this video! (the 8-Track in Japan, and then opening up two new-old-stock Japanese National RQ8 8-Track players) By the way... Wonderful sense of humor! That rocky cartridge was flippin' hilarious! We all couldn't stop laughing! Ride on!! Thank you!
Cheers! 😊🎙📻❤
I still have my blue one,i have not played it in years.I smile each time i see it.
We had a red one…good times
I was thinking, I've gotten one recently as I've started getting more in depth in my electronics hobby. You should look at getting a variable DC power supply for battery operated hardware. That way when you have the hardware open, you dont have to worry about turning components over to insert the battery and possibly damage something. Just clip the alligator clips to the battery terminals.
this is a great idea,
i need to hurry up and get one as well. super useful.
I agree if I were a museum curator or a repair person. I think the whole idea of playing with old equipment is experience including the weight of the batteries and even the process of putting them into the battery compartment.
This unit had a DC jack already so you don't even need the clips.
He may have one. I seem to remember him using one a while ago. Maybe I'm getting senile.
The Imax B6 charger is quite good for that, as it also has an option to use it as a DC power supply, though from memory I think it's a minimum of 3V. You can also set the maximum current, which is quite handy if the device you want to power up could be iffy. They can also be easily powered by a (higher voltage) battery if needed.
I love all of the second hand knowledge I get from your channel. Like how 8 track was the perfect format for karaoke which is why it did so well in Japan. The rambling is totally welcome!
In the 1960s & 70s, my parents drove luxury cars---though, as a little kid, I just thought of them as Mom and Dad's cars.
Mom's was a top-of-the-line Pontiac Grand Am, and it had an 8-track player. The cartridges it came with were all classical: 10,000 Strings, Strauss Waltzes, Ivan Rebroff & the Red Army Chorus, Beethoven Sonatas... No tacky rock & roll in that posh car!
I'm presently collecting 8-track tapes because I'm retrofitting a Delco GM tape deck in my 79 GM Chevrolet that I bought new. 8-tracks are not dead; long live the 8-track! Thanks for the video, Matt!
I love the 8 track, used them for years!. about 1973-1982 I had a tnt player just like the one in the back.
'It seems people want to collect the different colors' one minute later 'I got to different colors'
really showing that Mat is a true collector !
I literally just woke up and thought “Think I’ll watch some TechMoan” and I was graced with a new video. You’re the best Mat!
same, practically spit my breakfast out when I saw those batteries held charge
Great video as always. My Dad had an 8-track in his Mk1 escort with about four cartridges …. Elton John ‘goodbye yellow brick road’, The Rolling Stones ‘Let it bleed’, Steeleye Span ‘And then we were six’ and another I can’t recall….. it was the mid 70’s 🫣
Brilliant, as always, although I kinda hope for a repair video on the blue one. Solidified grease is my bet. Maybe a compilation of quick repairs video in the future? :)
That's the most I have ever enjoyed the Rocky theme.
Good stuff Mat, thanks for showing us all this cool stuff!!
In the U.S. at least, Chrysler Corp. had CASSETTE (player AND recorder!) as an option as far back as 1971. This kept them different from G.M. and Ford. Chrysler also had CAR RECORD PLAYERS in the 1950's.
I was just talking with my wife and she said the page with the photos of people were probably all compères. They had singing shows and those compères would tell the story of the song and entertain the crowd. Interesting.
"This thing is only a few years younger than myself, but it's certainly in better condition". Absolutely brilliant ☺️
Great video! I love the 8-Track format but that’s mostly nostalgia talking. Having said that, the right cartridge on the right player can sound amazing! As a kid in the 70s, I had one of those Panasonic “Dynamite” 8-Track players in red. I would love to locate one again, but they are too much money for someone in my financial situation.
Years following your channel and I never left a comment...
Your videos are now a classic on my saturdays mornings. I want to say thank you to you and for your content sending you a big hug from Buenos Aires Argentina.
I love all the videos you do on 8 Track history. There's something you never mention and I wonder if I've imagined it. When I was a kid, cassettes had already displaced 8-tracks and my parents would explain about their old 8 tracks cartridges that they still had laying around as a "more than stereo" sort of surround sound thing. They fawned over how awesome it was to have the music mixed for 4 speakers instead of 2 - they said the 8 tracks played 4 different chanels of the music and it was specially mixed to be "quad mix" (I think, cant remember if that was the right word) instead of 2 stereo mixed channels and it was "far out, man!" - I'm from the USA if that has any bearing on it, but I wonder if I misunderstood or made it up in my head since I've never seen it mentioned when you talk about 8-tracks. ? Your talking about 8-track being primarily for car systems in the US made me think of how that made sense, though. I'm not sure what the early sound systems were like in the rest of the world, but here they've always been 4 speakers - 2 in the front and 2 in the back, which seems ideal for this 8-track quad mix story.
Also, I love those TNT players and how they look. I always thought they were "new retro" products rather than genuine vintage. That's pretty cool.
It was a real thing… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_tape#Quad_8_and_Q8
Quadraphonic 8-tracks were certainly a thing but probably not as common as your parents made it seem. I remember hearing about quadraphonic media from way back in the day, far predating 5.1 surround. And it was something 8-tracks made it easy to do which would've been much harder with cassette tapes, requiring a modified mechanism with 4 read heads to treat the 2 tracks going in either direction as 4 tracks going in one direction, which would've increased the cost and since it was niche, the market probably wasn't there to justify mass producing such a thing.
Yes, there was such a thing as quadraphonic, or quad for short, 8-tracks that had two programs and used 4 tracks per program. Quad was also available on records through at least a couple of different methods as well as reel to reel. Quad was even built into the cd specs.
@@thomaswilliams2273 There's a Techmoan video about quadrophonic records, they didn't take off partly because there were 3-4 competing "formats" for splitting the stereo signal into four, and they weren't compatible.
More recently, somebody's been trying to bring it back, reviving only one of the old formats.
I just watched this man talk about 8 track, again, for over 30 mins. I cannot express how enjoyable this is.
These are so cool. What a great idea and design
I had just finished watching "Rocky" as I was hooking up my new media player. I saw the movie in files and decided to watch it for the heck of it. After I went to TH-cam to check for any new videos and landed on your channel. When you played to 8-track of the movie songs, I could not believe it. Anyway, another fine video of course. It's amazing how you find all these old stuff. Absolutely brilliant!!
Cool! My father bought a home 8-track tape player in early 1972. The sound was the best we ever heard up to that time. And our first stereo! All our record players were mono portables. We didn't have one in our vehicle until 1981! You could still get 8-track tapes in the early 80's.
All record players were portable mono???
@@ziggarillo Ours was. I did once have a Stereo portable in late 1977. Up to that time, all of our phonographs were mono.
@@markmarkofkane8167 You could listen to Stereo broadcasts transmitted by the BBC from 1958 on a stereo radio gramophone in the UK. Stereo record decks and Portable stereo record players were common in the 1960s. My first stereo record player was a Garrard Sp25 bought in 1967
@@ziggarillo We didn't have a Stereo receiver until 1978.
I know they were all available. My father just never bought anything stereo (players) until that 8-track player in 1972.
I'm 37 and grew up in the states. Still to this day I have never seen nor touched an 8 track lol. This format fascinates me, this video is the closest I've been to one!
Considering doing a whole bunch of remixes of famous tracks in the style of your broken Rocky theme, just to see how much sonic degradation is needed to avoid the content match. Bing Crosby doing Silent Night first :)
I bought a Soundesign 8 track stereo back in 1977 for 88.00 usd. I still have it, but have not used it for a long time. Also, I bought a used 1983 Ford Escort Wagon that had an 8 track player, factory installed. It always worked fine. Late time period for this format. Thanks for the video.
I really enjoyed watching this, and as mentioned, the rocky theme was priceless. I concur with your comments about 8 track in Uk cars, not many to be seen. It was interesting to hear about the difference between USA and Japan .
Pay no attention to those who think it's a rubbish format. Keep the tech alive.
As always - you bring to discuss interesting topics and gear. I had to let you know - this one made me cry like a baby...in a good way. Growing up - we would go on vacation in dad's pickup with the camper on the back, listening to the 8-track in the truck. A all-time favorite of mine was this tape of tv hits of 'current' shows - It appears you are holding up the companion tape - to one I have been searching for - for 40 years. The tape was a bargain bin special and at this point resigned myself to never finding. One of the shows openers was redone on the Moog synthesizer to great effect that has been with me for all those years. Now I know that 'album's name - 'Big T.V. Hits - as performed by The Film Festival Orchestra' on Springboard records. I also never could find any of the exact audio - so could totally unable to use sound hound or other services to find - was always in my head. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Tony
Once 18 and passed my car test in 1986 I fitted an 8 track to my parents car. Which my mum loved as the unit came with a few tapes like Elvis, slim Whitman and some prog rock. I acquired the 8 track while fitting cassette units to other peoples cars as working in auto electrical to fund student life.
I fitted a relay to switch between 8 Track and radio to please my dad.
I love it whenever I see a home stereo with an 8 track deck in it. I even had one of those bookshelf systems with one in it when I was in high school.
The Blue one is now your very own personal Vaporwave machine. ^^
18:38 "Rocky, you cannot do it! Stop whatever you doing, because you won't succeed!" xD
Glad someone else thought this, perfect vaporwave material out of the box lol
I collect vintage GSM1900 mobile phones (from 1992 to 2001-ish), and recently found a brand new still sealed in box Ericsson GF768 from 1997 and to my absolute amazement not only did the original NiMH battery not leak, but it actually still had a small enough charge to power the phone on. However, you 1978 vintage D-Cell batteries absolutely takes the cake! I can't believe nearly all of them had a full state of charge! Amazing!
I still own over one hundred 8 track tapes and still listen to them to this day! I have three 8 track players to play them on. Two of the three are 8 track changers which really make listening to them really cool in 2022. 👌🏾
"I don't think anyone's used it in anger" What a fitting description for an 8 track player! I love it!
Loved this. Anytime we get a 30+ min Techmoan, that is a good Saturday :) Thanks Mat!
Not sure if it was already mentioned, but the three flyers with karaoke cartridge listings were from three different record labels: Teichiku, RCA and King Records. I guess National/Panasonic were not affiliated with any particular label, unlike Victor/JVC or Sony
Victor Company of Japan (JVC) had a peculiar relationship with Radio Corporation of America (later RCA Corp.). JVC was founded in the early 1900s as the Japanese affiliate of Victor Talking Machine Company. When Victor's business was acquired by RCA in 1929, RCA assumed Victor's ownership percentage of JVC and retained this until shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, when the Japanese government seized US-owned assets and nationalized JVC. I have not been able to find factual information specifically explaining how RCA and JVC resumed their business relationship after World War II, given that JVC had been nationalized.
@@peacearchwa5103 RVC was formed in 1975 which was a joint venture between the American RCA and JVC - that is the "RCA Record" label featuring Japanese artists in the flyer that came with one of these players. It later became part of BMG and subsequently SME so is no longer associated with JVC.
The Hi-Top batteries seem to last quite awhile. I had one that expired in 1987 that recently ran a clock for nearly two years.
It’s cool to think electricity can be stored for decades and still work when needed.
@@markm0000 well there is no electriciy stored actually. Just the chemicals that produce a current when you connect the poles if and when you decide to connect. They last as long as the seals, that separate them, are able to last.
My dad got a new Rover V8 in 1975 & that was fitted with an 8-track player. A few days after he got it the family drove down to the Costa Del Sol for a holiday. The only problem was he only had one tape, Carly Simon's "Hot Cakes". By the time we got home, I knew every word to every song, in perfect timing. Well, as much as you can be with the wow & flutter of an 8-track. The "old man" never seemed to notice the W&F, but I certainly did.
Damn it Matt! You made me spill my coffee listening to Rocky trying to fly! I'm curious how much the Japanese stock cost compared to the US counterparts. Obviously, a much better value.
He did say in the video the price was similar, but in the US case the price was for refurbished units, and the Japanese ones were brand new (which doesn't guarantee they'll work better, since they've been sitting in a box and never tested)
love the "Sad Rocky Theme"!!
About Japanese music companies - they were bit late to the entire youtube thing. Because of that for years youtubers were using Japanese music as "safe" background for their videos naively beliving Jp companies simply did not care. But then Japanese companies finally realized that and went completely ballistic with the content matching. I remember youtubers taking down literaly half of their videos just to replace the supposedly "safe" Japanese music. I don't blame JP for being overly enthusiastic with copyright strikes, this is what happens when you discover youtube is riddled with your content :)
Their copyright are really aggressive in other regards as well.
@@romangiertych5198 do you have any examples? I heard that before few times but always as general statements without any proof. I mean, it is country where you can legally sell otherwise copyrighted figurines and doujins during wonderfest and comiket, their copyrights system doesn't seem that bad.
Love the new outro music 🤣
As always, thanks for the great video!
You always sound so enthusiastic about all your gear, it makes me wanna get them too 😋
An 8-track version of Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express has been catching my eye over on eBay for days. Suddenly this video drops.
What do you think, guys? Divine intervention?
Get it!!! 🚝
Now watch out for the tech moan effect. That price is going to triple.
Love the audio over the closing credits
My uncle had one in the early 70s, in a Ford Grenada (Mk I), which I suppose were nearest thing we had in the UK to US-sized cars. He'd worked over in the US, so I'm guessing he'd had one in a car over there and wanted the same thing when he came back to the UK.
I'd say 2nd nearest. There were these giant estate cars -- made by Toyota of all people -- with a vast back seat and then another seat which folded out of the boot floor. Great for families with lots of kids or for when, like, 3 families get together. They were very rare in the UK, I only ever saw 2. I guess they didn't sell well for obvious reasons. I rode in both. They were US-styled with V6 engines.
@@eekee6034 probably thinking of a Toyota Crown, which were sold in Europe in the '70s but not popular. They had straight-6 engines and were still small compared to a Detroit "compact" of the time (they weren't sold in the US either).
Oh. I got one for Christmas when I was a teen. Loved it. Thanks for posting this.
Ampex made some clear 8 Track cartridges (blank). I have a few of them. They are nice because you can watch how the tape is pulled from the center of the reel, and back onto the outside when playing. Great to use with the 1,400 $ clear TNT / Dynomite player.
Sounds cool! I wish they made more clear 8-Track tapes. I guess the reason they didn't was so they looked different from 4-Track cartridges to avoid any legal problems.
I saw these at the Panasonic museum in Osaka. If anyone is ever in Japan... specifically Osaka....I highly recommend a visit to the Panasonic museum. It's a really fantastic walk through the history of the company, its products, and the industrial development of Japan. And it's free!
I've been using 8-Tracks since about 1984, (when I bought a recorder and a box of carts), always been a fan. I have been after one of these players for many years, far too high of a price for me though.
I'm a big fan of 78', we hit peak fashion, personal computers were happening, the Keytar moved beyond its prototyping stage..:::
There's always a subject detail that's escaped me, usually some missing link that would blow my mind; the Detonator might be the best example yet.
In bright primary colors no less,
with ufo grade minimalism; what a beautiful human audio artifact, wow.
Evolving the design into an modern player seems like a good project, so many possibilities off the top of my head..:::
Thank you Techmoan, again, for an unexpected puzzle piece!
its amazing how well stuff is looked after in Japan. i think its just part of the culture to respect your belongings. plus as kids, parents will treat items as if they have personalities like ''don't hit mr table, he doesnt like that'' and so kids grow up treating things better generally. I saw a bunch of second hand games consoles like gameboys and snes's ect, and despite all being preowned, they all looked brand new with barley any, if any, scratches or marks. And also the batteries still working was no surprise. they really do care about their stuff more. so when buying stuff from Japan, 9X10 its gonna be in great condition.
Preowned but looking brand new...Wouldn't say that abouth those portable mini disc players Techmoan ordered in bulk and unboxed in a video some time ago.
It’s not just parents; Japan’s native religion, Shinto, is animistic, and holds that objects can be the seat of divine beings.
@@andreasu.3546 Those were unclaimed lost property, though. They'd probably been shunted around a lot, taken less care of each time, as it became more and more clear they weren't going to be claimed.
@@guspolly yep, that is where the culture of taking care of things comes from.. the aesthetics of everything are so beautiful and satisfying in that country.
Ya those batteries were so well taken care of lol
8-track were fairly popular in Argentina. We called them "Magazines". We used it mostly in cars. They were all aftermarket units made by Sharp, and redistributed here by a company named "Kenya". They were also adapters to use the car unit at home. I'd one of these in my bedroom when I was young, in the 70s. By then all the music were released in LP (records), Casettes, and Magazines (8-track), even local titles.