Were their vinyl,cd's or wut? Was 1999 released on cd?

It was all about vinyl back then. CDs were first issued in late '82, but they weren't really well-known until about 1986, I'd say. They probably passed vinyl (and cassettes) as the most popular medium in around 1989-1990.

Music was also issued with 8-tracks (60s-70s) and cassettes (70s-90s).

In the beginning there were 78s


Then came LPs:


There were also Reel to Reels


Then 8-tracks came along:


Then cassettes:


Then cds

daPrettyman said:

And on the 7th day, God said, "Screw it! I'm just going to rip a copy from limewire like everyone else."

Moonbeam said:

8-Tracks were issued until around 87 or 88. That is when cassettes became the most popular portable medium.

daPrettyman said:

?! So, before 1987/ 1988 8 tracks were more popular than cassettes?!

That's nonsense, dude!

rocknrolldave said:

Yes, for portable music. 8-tracks were extremely popular until the early 80s (around 81 or 82). Then cassettes became the norm for portable music. However, they were still manufactured until around 87 or 88. That is why you see 8-tracks for Prince's Parade album, and Sign O' The Times. Sure, there aren't that many, but they are out there.

Moonbeam said:

Don't you mean Napster?

for real?

you need to get a record player and get it popping.

minneapolisFunq said:

daPrettyman said:

8-tracks may have been available but they were not popular at all in the 80's. cassettes ruled the 80's.

Wowugotit said:

In the early 80s, they were popular. Sure, cassettes ruled in the 80s, but only after around 82 or 83. That's when car manufacturers started making cassette decks "standard". Before then, cars came standard with 8-tracks.

8 Tracks were more popular than cassettes up until around 1982. There were cassette players on stereos but they were too expensive to buy and the price didn't go down until around 1982. Up until around 1982, you could an 8 Track/Turntable/AM/FM combo tabletop stereo for around $99 as opposed to one with a cassette player that was around $200. Other than that, as far as cassettes went, you had to stick to the boom boxes. Also, cars didn't start putting cassette players in them until around 1982.

vainandy said:

Yes, 1982, I agree. But the original post said "1987/ 88" was when tapes took over in popularity, which is what I questioned.

rocknrolldave said:

True. I never said they were more popular in 87/88. I said they were manufactured until around that time here in the US.

Here's an article I found on cassette sales in the UK. It pretty much applies to the US also for the time frame.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/?p=8070
BBC quotes some numbers on cassette tape sales. In 1989 83 mln cassettes were sold in the UK. In 2004 only 900,000 units were sold in UK. Globally the sales peak arrived in mid-80s, when 900 mln cassettes sold represented 54% of the total music sales. Turkey still sells 88 million cassettes a year, India 80 million, and that cassettes account for 50% of sales in these countries. In Saudi Arabia, it is 70%. Third of all audiobooks is still sold on tape.
[Edited 9/1/09 9:14am]

Actually, I'm shocked that 8 Tracks lasted until around 1977 or 1988. My last knowledge of 8 Tracks was back in 1982 when I finally got enough money to buy a stereo that had an 8 Track recorder (since I only bought vinyl and refused to buy a tape whether it was an 8 Track or cassette, if I could record one myself). The very next year, it got harder and harder to find blank 8 Track tapes in the stores and I stopped seeing the pre-recorded ones altogether. I was pissed.

Come to think of it though, there were always television commercials on up until around 1988 or so that was selling gospel albums and the album was always available on 8 Track even though they were considered out of style. Old people buy a lot of gospel music and old people will refuse to change with the times and go with the new format of music. I think that's why they were still around until 1988 because you couldn't find an 8 Track anywhere in the record stores after 1982.

vainandy said:

Can you believe Radio Shack still sells blank 8-tracks? They use them in radio frequently, so they have really never left.

Also, I remember those commercials. They were not just for gospel, I fondly remember this CCR commercial from the mid-80s.

I wish I had known that before I got rid of my old tabletop stereo in the mid 1990s. But that damn thing was so old and worn out that the recordings I made only played through one speaker. A pre-recorded tape played through both speakers and also older recordings, but not newly recorded stuff. My current cassette deck has been doing the exact same thing lately.



I had a friend who worked as a radio DJ back in 1993. The station was completely computerized and the DJs had recorded their voices into the computer hours in advance. He worked the graveyard shift and his job was to simply be in the station in case the computer broke down and go on the air live if it did.

Anyway, he did DJ live on their old AM station on Sunday mornings playing gospel music. He used to sneak me in sometimes late at night and I would make mix tapes using their AM station's turntables (the AM station played their FM station's signal after 6 p.m.) I noticed what appeared to be 8 Track tapes that they used to play their commercials. They called them "carts". They also had some of their old vinyl recorded onto the carts that wasn't available on CD yet since their FM station had completely done away with their turntables at the time. I never dreamed they still used the "carts" in this day and age though. I would think that nowadays, they would just record their commercials onto CDs since CD burners are now available.
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[Edited 9/1/09 13:26pm]

daPrettyman said:

The last thing i had on 8 track was the Gap Band IV album.

My dad had two 8tracks, Marvin and AL Green. Cassette's were the most popular until the early 90s.

TheKing662 said:

all 3. and then some. we even had these stores you went to that sold them. music. in a physical place, on a physical object that you had to use a special player to hear. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! i don't know how we survived.

One interesting thing about 1999: when CDs were first pressed for the album, they didn't have the capacity of a little over 80 minutes as they do today. As a result, they took of "D.M.S.R". Only later editions of the CD include all 11 songs. Being the dork I am and the huge fan of 1999 album that I am, I have both the 10-track and 11-track versions.

Oh, and the track order was different on the cassette version. I think the cassettes ran in the following order:

Side A

1. 1999
2. Little Red Corvette
3. Delirious
4. Let's Pretend We're Married
5. D.M.S.R.
6. Free

Side B

7. Automatic
8. Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)
9. Lady Cab Driver
10. All the Critics Love U in New York
11. International Lover

There was even a single vinyl edition of the album issued in some countries with only 7 tracks:

Side A

1. 1999
2. Little Red Corvette
3. Delirious
4. Free

Side B

5. Let's Pretend We're Married
6. Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)
7. Lady Cab Driver

Moonbeam said:

So how many minutes does the version with DMSR run (I'm to lazy to find my disc.) Don't most CD fit 79.57 on them?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

The 1999 album clocks in at around 70 and a half minutes. However, CDs didn't used to have such a long capacity, so they had to make a cut. I guess they figured "D.M.S.R." might be available on the Risky Business soundtrack, and hence chose to cut it.

Moonbeam said:

so 1999 came with two tapes

TheKing662 said:

No- 1 tape that has two sides. It was issued as 2 vinyl records though.

minneapolisFunq said:

exactly what I was thinking

Moonbeam said:

No, early cds didn't go up to 80 minutes. They were only 650mb and held about 72 minutes of material and not 700mb.

daPrettyman said:

Yes, which is why I said that didn't have such a long capacity.