8-Track Tapes

[CraigGA]

I was thinking the other night about my first listen to the album A Song For You and that it played from an 8-Track tape. My family was on vacation and my cousins had a pool table and stereo quad system with a couch right in the middle of the room. Those harmonies on A Song For You just filled the room and I would escape at every opportunity to run down to the basement and hear it again. I just could not get enough exposure to the captivating sound and emotional high I felt from every song. The little trinket of surprise came each time there was more tape left before it would click to the next track there was filler of Karen and Richard singing tidbits of the songs while waiting for the next click. Has anyone ever recorded those "track fillers"? I was thinking that it would be nice to hear them again. The silly things that entertain us signify a yearn for one more unreleased track ? So again I ask, 8-Track filler anyone?

Craig

 

[Mark-T]

I know what you mean. On Now & Then, I think its Da Do Ron Ron that has an extended guitar fade out.

 

[newvillefan]

The little trinket of surprise came each time there was more tape left before it would click to the next track there was filler of Karen and Richard singing tidbits of the songs while waiting for the next click. Has anyone ever recorded those "track fillers"?

Wow. I had no idea anything like this existed and this is the first time I've ever seen it mentioned on this forum. To my knowledge Richard has never made reference to them. What were they singing? Were they outtakes? How great would it have been to include these on From The Top.

 

[A&M Retro]

I've got a set of the regular version and quad 8-tracks. I need to pull them out now and listen again. The 8-track version of 'Da Do Ron Ron' is certainly different, as mentioned above. It fades out with a much longer guitar solo. Then, when the next program starts, it goes back a bit to capture the regular ending with Tony's patter leading into 'Deadman's Curve'.

There's also a one verse version of 'Yesterday Once More' (the medley version) that was used to pad side one of 'Now and Then' on cassette tape. That version was added so that both sides of the cassette tape would run the same length (exactly 20:00 each side). It was inserted right after 'This Masquerade', and then the full version is on side two, as usual. It's the same recording other than the second verse being removed. I don't remember hearing any snippets on the quad 'A Song For You', which I finally found in 2001 when I was able to purchase a rebuilt quad reel deck with quad 8-track built into it. But now I have to go back and see if I've missed something cool!

 

[A&M Retro]

On another note....
8-tracks are whole different animal with lots of weird surprises contained therein. Ringo Starr's huge 'Ringo' album from 1973 has a track called 'Six O'Clock', which was written by Paul McCartney. A good example would be the 8-track version which includes about a minute of Paul performing the track with his own lead vocal, as kind of a 'reprise' of the song. Neither Ringo or Paul were aware it was included on the tape until somebody pointed it out to them. It was never on the vinyl version. It wasn't included when the album was re-released on CD, which is a shame, because it's really cool.

 

[Simon KC1950]

Hi all,
A few months ago, a fellow Carpenters fan and friend of mine sent me six 8 tracks:
-Horizon x2
-Now & Then
-Close To You
-Passage
-Carpenters

With me being 16 I had never heard of 8 tracks let alone have an 8 track player so I haven't been able to play them yet. I myself have noticed a few interesting things on the track list that I'd love to hear :

Now & Then:
-Yesterday Once More (Short Version)

Passage-
-Man Smart, Women Smarter (Part 1.)
-Man Smart, Women Smarter (Part. 2)
*I'm curious about that, Is it just the song split in 2 ?

Horizon and Carpenters both have a completely different track ordering

Carpenters:
Program 1:
Rainy Days And Mondays
Saturday
Sometimes

Program 2:
Bacharach/David Medley
Let Me Be The One

Program 3:
(A Place To) Hideaway
Superstar

Program 4:
Druscilla Penny
One Love
For All We Know


Horizon:
Program 1:
Aurora
Desperado
Love Me For What I Am

Program 2:
I Can Dream, Can't I?
Happy

Program 3:
Solitaire
(I'm Caught Between)
Goodbye And I Love You

Program 4:
Only Yesterday
Please Mr. Postman
Eventide

Does anyone know why this is? I'm guessing its the timing each program runs for 8:48 on Horizon.

 

[Harry]

Tape formats were notorious for altering the order of songs. It was done by the record companies so that all of the album's songs would be there, and that they'd fit on the tape without too much dead space. On a cassette, an album with one longer side would be split up in different timings so that the sides would be more equal. 8-tracks were worse because they needed four programs of equal length.

No-one ever considers the altered track listings to be anything but what they were - altered. Official LPs always were the gospel when it came to running order.

 

[tomswift2002]

Tape formats were notorious for altering the order of songs. It was done by the record companies so that all of the album's songs would be there, and that they'd fit on the tape without too much dead space. On a cassette, an album with one longer side would be split up in different timings so that the sides would be more equal. 8-tracks were worse because they needed four programs of equal length.

No-one ever considers the altered track listings to be anything but what they were - altered. Official LPs always were the gospel when it came to running order.

I've also heard that, especially with 8-tracks due to them having a superior sound to the regular audio cassette, promotional 8 tracks of full albums would've had altered track listings as an anti-piracy measure to counteract record pirates. The companies would keep a list of which radio stations or DJ's at disco's and clubs got which cassettes in the region, so that if pirate records started showing up before the release date or even after, they would have some idea as to who was supplying the pirates.