History

I got my musical education in the 80s.
My first purchase was a compilation called called "Now that's what I call music volume 1"(Michael Jackson - Thriller was also bought around this time, can't remember which came first, need to research a bit)

. This was a double cassette with all the big hits
from 1983. In fact one of the things I remember from playing this
tape (or cassette if you prefer, I always called them tapes) was that
after about 3 or 4 plays it unravelled in my Dad's silver Sanyo radio
cassette player. This was my first introduction to the joys of
analogue audio. To those of you born in the 90's, let me explain what
happens when a tape unravelles (is that really a word - must check).
Inside a tape, there are two reels and magnetic tape runs from one
reel to the other while passing through the players playing head. So,
as with all analogue audio media there is physical contact between the
player and the media. This is where the problem or the beauty lies
depending on your opinion.
Ok? Sorry, rambling a bit..
So, basically the magnetic tape jams in the tape head and because the
player keeps playing and the tape keeps spooling, all of the magnetic
tape comes pouring out of the tape. Ok, maybe I should switch to the
name cassette at this point , rather confusing otherwise.
You are alerted to this unravelling by the gradual slowdown of the
song you are listening to, to a kind of spooky satanic weirdness and
then normally the player stops or else you run to the stop button as
quick as you can.
This is where the fun begins.
So, you carefully eject the cassette to survey the damage. If you are
lucky then the cassette will come out and the unravelled tape also
without difficulty. You may have been fortunate at this point and the
tape will only have been slightly damaged.
If you have been f*&ked over by the Gods then you may have trouble
getting the cassette out of the deck as the tape will have become very
mangled and twisted and stuck. At this point you will have become
quite angry and bitter.
You may have a problem like the guy in the video below

ok, probably not as bad as that!
So, after a few minutes of careful jiggery-
pokery with the tape you manage to get the cassette out of the deck and
you are holding it upside down in your hand with the now loose
magnetic tape hanging in a long loop from it. Two jobs now left to do.
First, untwist and flatten the tape and secondly get a pen to wind the
tape back into the cassette. Of course, your cassette of your
favourite album is now irreconcileably damaged and you are forever
doomed to hearing a sonically mangled portion of the album on both
sides (that's right kids! I said sides - more on that later) of the
cassette. How's that for value for money? Ok I know you can scratch
CDs but you have probably ripped it already and you are probably
hardly ever playing the actual cd anymore.
Ok, more to follow.....