My uncle's mixtape collection made me realize I've been too careful with tapes

Talked with my uncle Dave at a family gathering last weekend and he pulled out a box of his old cassettes from the 80s. He had this beat up copy of Purple Rain with the tape literally held together by Scotch tape in two spots. I told him he was crazy for not storing it better and he laughed and said tapes are meant to be listened to, not preserved in a museum. It hit me different because I've been so obsessed with keeping my collection mint that I barely play them anymore. I got like 60 tapes I've listened to maybe once each because I'm scared of wearing them out. Uncle Dave's tapes all sound fine though, even the ones that look like they survived a flood. He said the worst thing you can do is let them sit in a box for decades. Has anyone else loosened up about keeping their tapes perfect and just started enjoying them more?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_martin931d ago

Dude, same thing happened to me with my dad's old Zep tapes. He had this Houses of the Holy that was basically transparent from being played so much, tape flaking off everywhere. I used to get on him about it too but he called me a museum curator with no real music to enjoy. Made me realize I was treating my records like rare artifacts instead of music. Now I play the hell out of everything. If a tape snaps or a record gets scratched, so be it. They cost like five bucks at a thrift store and my enjoyment is worth more than some theoretical resale value. Your uncle is right, tapes that sit are tapes that rot.

wren9761d ago

Respectfully disagree, some of us can't just replace scratched records for five bucks anymore.