8 Track Travesties

"The Rascals' Greatest Hits-Time Peace" was a classic 8-track butcher job. Two songs, "Come On Up" and "It's Wonderful" were featured twice on the tape, I imagine to "pad" the running time, and the whole tape had been sped up so that each song was about five seconds shorter than the LP versions. I noticed this "speeding up" business on other 8-tracks, usually greatest hits comps. That for me was truly irritating

 

I agree. Past inventions often seem laughable, but at the time they were innovative and people appreciated them. I took extremely good care of my 8-tracks, cleaned and demagnetized the tape heads regularly, and never had a player eat a tape. In retrospect, the 8-track was something of a forerunner to the VHS video cassette, a format which is now in its death throes, and for which many have had similar complaints (tapes being eaten, poor fidelity etc.) Anything recorded on tape is going to have a limited lifespan and requires more preventive maintenance than most people are willing to give. But the tape medium has been an important part of home entertainment and should be respected.

 

As pop albums became more "complex", they became more difficult to adapt to the 8-track format. Sgt. Pepper did not make for a good 8-track.

 

The Yellow Submarine soundtrack 8-track, however, added "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" as "filler".

 

Sometime last year I compiled a list of Beatles songs that were split on 8-tracks in the US. I'm sure I'm missing a few:

Meet The Beatles: {Nothing}
Second Album: {Nothing}
Hard Day's Night: {Has fake extended version of AHDN}
Something New: {Nothing}
'65: {Nothing}
Early Beatles: {Nothing}
VI: {Nothing}
Help: {Nothing}
Yesterday & Today: Day Tripper
Revolver: Tomorrow Never Knows
Sgt. Pepper: {Nothing, but Reprise has extra lines repeated via weird edit}
Magical Mystery Tour: I Am The Walrus
White Album: {Nothing}
Yellow Submarine: {nothing, but 8-track added Lucy In the Sky}
Abbey Road: {Nothing... Sun King thru The End intact on Program 4}
Hey Jude: Rain
Let It Be: For You Blue
Red Album: {Nothing, but some album one and album two songs got transposed}
Blue Album: {Nothing, but Sgt. Pepper & A Little Help are split on the same program to reduce silence at the end of program 1}
Rock 'N' Roll Music: {Nothing}
At The Holywood Bowl: 3 Songs!(the max) Dizzy Miss Lizzie, Roll Over Beethoven, Help!
Love Songs: {Nothing}
Rarities: {Nothing}
Reel Music: {Nothing}
20 Greatest Hits: {Nothing}


John:
Edding Album: Amsterdam (split twice), John & Yoko
POB: 3 Songs!(the max) I Found Out, Remember, Well Well Well
Imagine: {Nothing}
Mind Games: Tight A$
Walls & Bridges: Scared
Shaved Fish: {Nothing}
Rock N Roll: {Nothing}
Double Fantasy: {Nothing}

Paul:
McCartney: {Nothing}
Ram: {Nothing}
Wild Life: {Nothing}
Red Rose Speedway: {Nothing}
Band on the Run: Bluebird
Venus & Mars: {Nothing}
Wings Over America: Silly Love Songs, Spirits of Ancient Egypt
Wings At The Spped of Sound: {Nothing}
London Town: {Nothing}
Wings Greatest: {Nothing}

George:
Electronic Sound: Under the Mersey Wall, No Time or Space(split twice)
All things Must Pass: Out Of the Blue, I Remember Jeep {Wisely they put albums 1 & 2 on tape 1}
Bangla Desh: Bangla Dhun, My Sweet Lord
Living In the Material World: {Nothing}
Dark Horse: Maya Love
Extra Texture: {Nothing}
The Best of: {Nothing}
33 1/3: {Nothing}
George Harrison: Soft Hearted Hana, Soft Touch
Somewhere In England: Writing's On the Wall
Cloud Nine: Devil's Radio, That's What It Takes

Ringo:
Sentimental Journey: {Nothing}
Beaucoups of Blues: {Nothing}
Ringo: Step Lightly
Goodnight Vienna: {Nothing}
Blast From Your Past: {Nothing}
the 4th: {Nothing}

 

This may steer the thread off course, and I apologize if it has been discussed elsewhere, but didn't the Pink Floyd "Animals" 8-track add a long guitar solo between the two versions of Pigs On The Wing to fill out one of the 4 programs?

I've always been curious to hear that, but maybe a forum member can give it a thumbs up or down to satisfy my curiosity?

Thanks!

 

I have one good memory of 8-tracks - ELO's "Face The Music. There is a bit of string music at the end of "Waterfalls" on side one of the record, and some other string music during the introduction of "One Summer's Dream" on side 2 of the record. Those two songs were sequenced together on the 8-track, revealing that the two bits of string music actually go together as a continuous piece of music.

J. D.

 

That is correct. For more info, follow this link: http://www.8trackheaven.com/animals.html

I personally find the fade-out/fade-in between two programs of an 8-track to be part of the format's charm.

 

It does - it's worth seeking out, if you can find it - do keep in mind it's Snowy White playing the lead, not Gilmour.

 

Toad was snipped on Wheels of Fire. Kinda ruined the mood when you were stoned and listening to Ginger cook and then have all that silence before it started up again.

 

Beast of Burden and Before THey Make me Run had different backing tracks!

 

They also rearranged the track listing...

1
SPLHCB
With A Little Help From My Friends
Fixing A Hole
2
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Getting Better
She's Leaving Home
3
Within You Without You
A Day In The Life
4
When I'm Sixty-Four
Lovely Rita
Good Morning, Good Morning
SPLHCB Reprise

 

I seem to remember my 8-track copy of The Byrd's Greatest Hits had "5th Dimension" split in two parts. That's all I can think of at the moment. I also remember that the weird sticky stuff under the tape ruined it's playing capabilites. Those things weren't built to last.

 

I never bought 8-tracks, either. But I did have some on occasion in 1973.

The ones I remember best:
-- The Beatles Alpha Omega split several songs, including "Baby's in Black" and "Tell Me Why."
-- Superstars of the 70s on 8-track actually had a strange edit of Deep Purple's "Hush" that deleted the last line right before the instrumental break, plus the entire instrumental break. I was pleasantly surprised when I got my own vinyl copy that the song wasn't edited on the record.

 

Billy Joe- Glass Houses

I Don't Want To Be Alone Anymore kicks off program 2. In order to balance out the playing time, the song is repeated at the end of program 3, until the sax solo. The song then fades and clicks over to program 4 and fades back up.

 

All of the 8 tracks ever dropped on the market in my opinion are travesties. Sound was never this bad. In fact, in many ways, '78's and shallac parts as they call them when referring to remastered '78's were way ahead of their time compared to the 8 track. If you think of it, the cassette is a sonic wonder compared to the 8 track. The editing of the songs to accomodate the 4 "channels" is no different than what KTEL (that Canadian, yes, Canadian based company) that edited songs down to a buck o' five and threw more music on poorly recycled vinyl reject rejects than any other record ever made except for Abbey Road.

There's another thread idea, KTEL-the worst of the worst. Elton JOhn's manager John Reid (known as poppa John to EJ) gave KTEL "your song" to KTEL to throw on one of their bargain basement collections in return for a Mercedes SL convertible. True story.

 

Hi,

Back then, cassette tapes weren't any better. Their sound quality wasn't anything to write about. Especially pre-recorded tapes. The 8-Track tape cartridge was the first to give you Stereo music in the car. FM radios in cars were rare then until the early 1970's and still extra-cost then.

 

I agree, it worth checking out. You can only find it two places AFAIK.

1) Animals 8-Track
2) Snowy Whites CD called Goldtop

 

Wow. You'd either have to sit through "Within You Without You"--something I don't normally do voluntarily--or know just when to make the jump from another track in order to get to "A Day In The Life." It would have made a better package if "A Day In The Life" had led off a program--easy to find on the tape.

I had an 8-track recorder on my stereo in the mid to late 70's and made many a tape. The blanks recorded right up to the "click" and then picked up again. Slight annoyance, but nothing like the "fade it out--click--back it up--fade it in" stuff.

My memory of a travesty was "If I'm On The Late Side" from OOH LA LA. Even today, when I play the song, I still wait for the fade out/break/fade in as repeating the last line. Yuck.

JcS

 

You're being much too kind.

Jason

 

I happen to have 5 8-tracks on the shelf right behind me, and two of them are copies of Some Girls! I ripped .wav files from the 8-track when I found out there were unique versions on the tape. The 8-track "Miss You" is about 50 seconds longer than the CD version and "Shattered" is about a minute shorter, but "Beast of Burden" is 40 seconds longer. I think BTMMR was the same as the common CD/LP version, although there is a promo version with different lyrics.

Of the other tapes on the shelf, one is Mott the Hoople's Mott album, and the track "Drivin' Sister" is split. Another is the New York Dolls' "In Too Much Too Soon," and "It's Too Late" is split.

 

No Mr. Kite?

 

I remember reading an interview with Earl Muntz, the inventor of the 4-Track tape who thought that Lear's 8-Track tape was crap. Of course the 4-Track cartridge died much quicker than 8-Track, but I do remember it. I wish I had known two things in the mid 70's, that I was wasting my money on 8-Track and that I could have sold my Q8 tapes if I had held on to them long enough for the internet.

Chris

 

I see it on the end of Program 1 at this site: http://www.rarebeatles.com/8track/8xt2653.jpg

JcS