Taped Up In the Basement

We love retro. We love nostalgia, novelty and charm. Maybe that’s why audio cassette tape sales are up in 2019 in the UK by a whopping 94%.

The biggest cassette release in the UK this year is Billie Eilish’s debut album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? closely followed by Lewis Capaldi and Madonna in the top five.

Everyone remembers their very own cassette player or boombox mine was pink and blue with a broken ariel that nearly scratched my arm to shreds every time I used it. But on that well loved machine, I played tapes; my favourite music and audio books, recorded the Top Ten songs from the Top 40 and not at all embarrassingly, pretended I was a Radio DJ and would record my own radio shows.

I don’t know to what ratio I’m secretly relieved or actually devastated that I no longer have those tapes. But I know if I did still have them, I would be desperate to hear those songs, those voices and those stories all over again to take me back.

We’ve had a number of tape transfer jobs in the last few months and they are bringing back bittersweet memories for some; one job in particular was very emotive for one customer as it had the singing of her late husband on. Another some songs they’d recorded in their garage when they were in a band in the 90’s.

What will you find on yours?