National Eight-Track Tape Day

April 11 every year is National Eight-Track Tape Day, a great day enjoy your old 8 track tapes and tell stories to the younger generation about their confused questions. You know, it was the hottest tech from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, and you love to memorize all the sweet music you have heard with your eight- track from that time.

History of National Eight-Track Tape Day

Did you know that tape number eight was designed by a jet designer? Widely known for his jet aircraft, the Learjet, William Powell Lear also had a new invention to create Eight-Track Tape. This invention has revolutionized music technology and the way we hear our tunes in just a short time. The eight-tape craze only really existed in the United States from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s, when the cassette took the throne.

With the new device, called 8-track tape, content can be recorded with a continuous loop of tape, which you can then preserve by rolling into the cartridge without loss of sound quality. The auto industry was quick to capitalize on the new trend and install eight racers into their new lineups of cars. In 1966, Ford provided eight factory- and dealer-installed tracking devices on its luxury vehicles, and Chrysler and General Motors followed in 1967.

In 1966, more than 65,000 players were sold and their eight tracks are becoming a staple of American driving. In fact, the convenience and portability enjoyed in cars has already begun to spread into homes and beyond. Eight-Track soon overcame driving culture as it made its way to parks and beaches across the country. In 1970, eight racing companies were brought to Europe. Although the attempt was largely unsuccessful and the company failed in just four short years, eight classical pieces can still be found in the UK, West Germany, Italy, and more. The first karaoke machine that was actually made from an eight track!

The number eight track's reputation has grown over the course of a decade. Competitors that created smaller cassettes found ways to increase quality, and the fragility and loss of quality of the eight tracks spurred consumers to embrace a new decade of music technology. Smaller cassettes, only one-third the size of an 8-track tape, were popular in the mid-1970s. Retail stores stopped selling eight-track tapes in the 1980s, and by 1988, the last popular album released on 8 tracks was born and gone. The once-beautiful technology has become a footnote in the history books, but many fans of that era of music and culture can still find the old 8-track tape in the attic and recall fond memories when walk on the open roads to listen to their favorite tunes.

Some reasons for National Eight-Track Tape Day being loved

• It was an unbelievable case from the past

In the modern world filled with music streaming platforms, there is something simple and beautiful about the classic octave. Just pick the tape you want, find out the greatest hits of the good old days… that is what we love about it. Who doesn't appreciate a bit of music history?

• It can make unique decoration!

Check out eight art tracks on Pinterest for some that might make your heart sing. Since the advent of eight tapes as a listening device, aficionados of old technology have been replacing their damaged or outdated tracks with creative works of wall art - a feat Spectacular homage to a lost era.

• It is a great collector's item

While eight pieces of music are very perishable (and being older than forty years will not help), they can make a great collector's item. Tapes of popular albums can sell in considerable numbers and, they are an interesting relic of the 1970s.

Interesting facts about National Eight-Track Tape Day

An 8-track tape has a continuous loop system made up of a quarter of an inch thick magnetic tape. An in-tape program actually consumes two tracks, so the result is recording four songs on each tape.

• Some artists still use 8-track tapes to release their albums. In 2011, US band RTB2 released the album "We Are a Strange Man" which used an 8-track tape to give it a '70s effect. After that, popular American rock bands such as 'The Melvins' and 'Cheap' Trick' published their album in a type of an eight-track tape for a limited time.

• In 1988, Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits was considered the last album to be released on 8-track tape.

• If you love to collect tapes of famous movies such as 'Licensed for Disease' or 'American Sex Trickster', you can only avail the tapes recorded by the clubs themselves.

• In 1971, Daisuke Inoue invented the first karaoke machine and he named it “8-juke”. It includes 8 music players, amplifier, coin box and microphone. It is said that Inoue has sold almost 25,000 of his 8 jukeboxes.

• In 1970, 13 tapes or records were sold for a penny in a Colombian home. It also conditionally delivers tape through mail orders.

• In 1964, 8-track tape was invented by a group of Lear Jet Corporation, Ampex from Ford Motor Company, Radio Corporation of America Visitor records, Motorola and General Motors.

• In 1980, the OMNI Entertainment system, an independent video game system, developed an electronic puzzle machine using 8 song tapes. It plays back the questions and instructions as an analog signal, and it uses magnetic tape to load the correct answers as a digital signal for scoring.

• There are four programs installed in an 8-track tape, which causes the tape player to physically move its player, making it easy for listeners to switch between programs.

How to celebrate National Eight Track Tape Day

If you are an antique collector and if you still enjoy using eight-piece tapes, here are a few tips for you to take care of it.

• Do not attempt to open the plastic box from the 8-track tape.

• Always put the tape in the paper container

• Remove the tape from the player when not in use.

• Periodically clean the music player for better music quality.

• Do not touch the tape inside the cartridge as it leads to dropout and some other scratches.

Here are some common problems that occur in 8-track tape and their repair solutions.

• The most common problem in 8-track tapes is that the glue wears down from the metal foil leading to the separation of the two ends of the tape causing the play to jam. The function of the cards is to let the player know that it is time to switch between programs. A simple solution to this problem is that you have to open the plastic box, glue the metal foil back with the glue that holds the two ends of the tape together.

• Another problem that arises in 8-groove tape is that the foam pressure pad wears down and turns into 8-track tar. If that happens to your tape when you buy some foam, cut it into the desired shape and place some clear tape on top of the foam to give the 8-track tape an even surface to glide over.

On this Independence Day, let us learn how to make our own 8-track tape to celebrate this invention.

• Buy a good 8-track device; fix it to your stereo system. By rearranging and trimming a blank 80-minute tape, you can easily copy any album onto an 8-song tape. Label the top of the eight-track tape to list your favorite shows and songs. You can split the album into quarters, dimming the current song so the program can be changed so the next song will fade out.

You can also play tape as needed from the splice, open it, and trim excess tape to get the exact length you need. Enjoy party time with friends by enjoying songs from your own eight-track tape.

Some ways that you can get eight tracking tapes right now:

• Real estate sales are conducted to sell used equipment from families who previously owned it. You can find information about it on classifieds newspapers. If you are lucky, you might get eight tapes along with stereo players.

• Check to see if there are any thrift stores in your area. At most, they can have eight tapes on the recording section; also look around the video game section and the book section.

You can buy them from the yard sale by watching from the advertisements in the newspaper.

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