I would envy my friends who had deck-loaded cassette players that lay flat and had nifty functions like a number counter and (sigh) a pause button, which ensured a more seamless recording of songs.

A FEW actively listens to the radio nowadays, while hipsters try to revive the cassette tape, an artifact of a bygone era.

We’ve come a long, long way from recording our music off the radio on cassette. I remember it was 1973 when my beloved Aunt bought our first cassette recorder. It came with an AM/FM function, so you could tune in to your favorite AM station (FM was still as barren static-free sonic desert then) and record them on cassette, perusing the many tapes lying around the house that were sent to us as voice tapes from abroad, in lieu of letters, something families did back in the day. It was a haphazardly assembled selection of my favorite songs painstakingly put together over hours upon hours of listening. A mixed tape, if you like. It became a sort of art to be able to catch the song on tape, let alone hope that the DJ would not talk over the intro of the song, which was usually, much to my dismay, not the case. My bedroom had large French type windows where you could sit on the sill next to the screened grills, my tambayan of choice, comfortably planted in front of the radio, twirling the dial in search of songs to record. It wasn’t long before the cassette player gave, what with all the button action, the ceaseless pressing of play/record and the absence of a pause button took its toll on the poor mechanisms. Those were certainly the days.

Today, no one actively listens to the radio anymore and only the hipsters are trying to revive the cassette tape, in an attempt to trigger a nostalgic revival of sorts. Recording off the radio, like the cassette tape itself, is a lost art. The cassette tape an artifact of a bygone tech era; at best, it was an alternative buy to the LP record. Back then, not everyone had record players, but the majority did own tape players, hence the obvious consumer choice.

Cassette tape sales gave healthy competition to LP’s then, due to its lower price and accessibility. It was easier to carry in your shirt pocket than it was to lug an LP record under your arm. Although the LP has undergone a sort of renaissance or rebirth, the cassette tape has yet to make its comeback. Or not.

I would envy my friends who had deck-loaded cassette players that lay flat and had nifty functions like a number counter and (sigh) a pause button, which ensured a more seamless recording of songs. The radio would later fall by the wayside, to be replaced by the LP records and the stereo system. Here, you could creatively put together a cassette tape of songs recorded off LP records in a neat, seamless manner, which added to the pleasure of listening to a selection of songs specifically put together for you, by you. I had a well-to-do soundtripper schoolmate. Like me, we loved music and his room had a neat stereo system setup; stereo receiver, speakers, turntable, tape deck, the works. Every Summer, his Mom would visit relatives in the US and he would always give her a shopping list of LP’s for her to purchase for him. He would always ring me when she would be back home, and I would always make sure to purchase a fresh TDK cassette to tape his new records. These little sound trip sessions kept me abreast of the latest stuff that came out and my ears fresh with new music.

A FEW actively listens to the radio nowadays, while hipsters try to revive the cassette tape, an artifact of a bygone era.

Now, almost everything is streamed accessibly within your reach by a mere touch, swipe and click of a button. Even creating your own mixed tape is possible on streaming services; just a few strokes and swipes and voila, you’ve conjured a playlist of your own. It has been made convenient, but for me, it also negates the joy of painstakingly putting the songs in the tape one by one. The selection process, even the time and effort put into its creation is lost. The art of making a mixed tape, lost.

The last time I remember making a mixed tape, I mean physically, taking a blank cassette tape and filling it with songs was sometime in the 90’s. I had one of those dinky stereo component systems with the multi-tray CD array where you put five CD’s into the spindle and the thing will automatically play all five in succession, which I never used. I made cassettes to listen to in the car because I couldn’t afford to buy a CD player for the car, opting instead for a branded car player with the removable face, sort of a deterrent anti-theft measure. A fulfilling endeavor that brought pleasure in the creation of the mix more than listening to the finished product.

Today, I feigned owning a stereo, let alone one for the car and a car altogether. I take pleasure in listening to (my) music on my smartphone loaded with music files of my choice and not via streaming service, or on my laptop where I concoct mixes using my fave audio software and uploading them on a free online music sharing service. I no longer own a cassette player and I’ve lost all my old cassette tapes, having given into technology and utilizing its convenience as well. But, I do miss the old days. Something the young ‘uns will never know nor enjoy today.