Ahhh, the sound of nostalgia. Every now and then I stumble across something that instantly transports me back in time. Cassette tapes do just that!
Now before the vinyl enthusiasts come after me, let me make a confession – I’ve never really been a fan of records. I appreciate the artwork, the large album covers were fantastic and there was something special about holding a physical record in your hands. But as a format? They never did much for me. You couldn’t exactly play them in the car, and unless you had a very expensive turntable setup (which few of us young music fans had), I always thought they sounded fairly average.
These days, if I want to look at album artwork, I can find thousands of photos, videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes clips online. The artwork alone isn’t enough to make me want to collect records.
Cassettes, though, are a different story. Part of it is nostalgia, of course. I grew up making mix tapes, carefully selecting songs and recording them in exactly the right order. There was something satisfying about creating a soundtrack for a road trip. Most of my serious music listening happened in the car on long daily commutes. Long stretches of road with a cassette player whirring away in the dashboard. I also spent many months tramping around New Zealand with a Walkman listening to 808 State – early acid house music.
What I love about cassettes isn’t just the memories, it’s the sound. A lot of people talk about “analog warmth” and immediately think of records. What many don’t realise is that before digital music was recorded onto analogue tape before ever reaching a record. The record was simply another stage in the process, often adding another layer of analogue vibe.
Without diving too deeply into the technical details, records come with a number of physical limitations. There are equalisation curves and mechanical constraints involved in getting audio onto a vinyl disc. Some aspects of the original master reel-to-reel tape recording inevitably change along the way.
With cassettes the music was recorded on tape, mastered on tape, and then duplicated onto cassette tape. That tape saturation became part of every stage of the process. The result wasn’t necessarily better. It was just different. There was a softness, a warmth, and a character that came from the medium itself.
Of course for my generation cassettes were huge because we could tape songs off the radio, and other’s records as well as our own. Sure, not legally but we all did it – not justifying it, just stating a fact. We could even make copies of cassettes and the first few times I came out of a recording studio a cassette as all we had of our band’s recording. It wasn’t until the early 90s CDs became as option and even then they were expensive.
Today I still have a few brand-new cassette copies of our albums. We also happen to own a very old car with a cassette player, so occasionally that’s how we listen to our albums. No Bluetooth, no streaming, no playlists… just a cassette sliding into the dashboard and a familiar mechanical clunk as it starts playing.
When our music comes through that system, something changes. Not objectively better but different enough to create a feeling. And I suspect that’s really what nostalgia is. It’s not that the technology was superior, it’s that it reminds us of being young and how music sounded.
Would I release an album on cassette today? No. Would I encourage everyone to rush out and start collecting them? Not really. I can completely understand why younger music fans are discovering cassettes and enjoying them. There’s something tangible and rewarding about the format that’s appealing in an age of endless streaming. But for me, they’re more of a pleasant reminder than a serious listening format.
Like records, perhaps it’s time for them to quietly return to the shelf of history.
