DUE REMEMBER: Compact Cassettes (the forgotten format) [Viral Since ‘62]

You’ve probably glanced at the title and thought, “we off that.”  However, the next time you reach for the download now or share buttons for the latest jams, it wouldn’t hurt to briefly ponder just how it got to this point (great for gaining insight on where things are headed as well).  Enter the Compact Cassette!

Audio cassettes, or tapes as many of us went on to call ‘em, take form based on the model of reel-to-reel tape cartridges, dating back as early as the 1930’s.  The idea of storing music on such cassettes hadn’t quite surfaced until the late 60’s (mainly used for storing monologue/ dialog conversations previously).  However by the early 70’s, record labels increasingly considered the format an alternative to their more expensively produced (and bulkier) predecessors, reel-to-reels and 8-track tape.  Once the sound quality was eventually improved, it soon served as a consumer-chosen competitor for the market standard 12-inch record.

All of that is well and good, however, one of the more powerful aspects of the compact cassette was that the (consumer-affordable) format was re-recordable!  Hard to imagine now, but this was huge news to music fanatics around the globe.  Indeed, reels had housed this feature as well; but you could put THIS baby in your pocket.  And to sweeten the deal, manufacturers were quick and adamant to embrace this exact accessibility by constantly developing products that accentuated the frenzy (i.e. portable cassette decks, boom boxes, the Sony Walkman).  The ability to transport large fragments of my musical universe, anywhere, was made official. 

Regardless of what current music genre strikes your fancy, there’s no denying the extent of impact Rap music has had on the masses since the inception.  Believe it or not, much of the credit for this belongs to the compact cassette.  In a time where bits of info are beemed directly to your digital tablet in milliseconds, it’s hard for some to fathom the fact that (in the beginning) there was virtually no way of re-living what was (musically) taking place with the culture of Hip Hop in the South Bronx, unless you were there, at the jams, in the rec centers, parks, rinks, and dives, in the first place.  Thankfully, this forever changed with the explosion of affordable, re-recordable compact cassette usage.  Tapes provided a way for downtown heads to hear what was going on uptown.  And the rest is history. 

Tapes had their day, and regardless of the physical format of choice, as the saying states, what goes up must come down.  The clarity and easy use of compact discs made them the undeniable choice over cassettes.  Eventually, they too would encompass the ability to be re-recorded by the consumer (digitally, this time around, have you).  Fast forwarding to the current state, and humongous chunks of info can be shared with millions around the world with the swift click of a mouse.  These are, indeed, amazing times we’re living in.  But I stand appreciative of what something as simple as the compact cassette, helped do for the advancement of a sub-culture, an industry, and ultimately a generation. DUE REMEMBER.