Divermarv

When I was young, it was having one. And this meant an AM pocket radio. It wasn’t long before this graduated to the inclusion of the wonderful, and stereo — if you had more than one speaker — FM band. When I became of driving age it was what was in, or under, your dash. The typical OEM AM radio had to go. And to do that you had to go. To Radio Shack that is. Oh boy. Now here is where things started changing quickly. At first 8-track was the thing. As in the only thing. Of course my job as a stock boy at the local IGA (a grocery store chain for those of you not lucky enough to have been situated at certain place/times). Not having tools more advanced than a Phillips head screwdriver and a bent to hell butter knife, under the dash that 8-track went. In my groovy ‘66 Mustang. Six cylinder and automatic, so not as cool as it could have been, but now I wish I had that car… 8-track and all.

I recall going into Radio Shack — just to look around — and the fella behind the counter nodded me over.

“You look like an 8-track guy to me,” he said.

“Yep, the one you sold me.” I smirked and started to turn.

“What would you say if I told you you could buy something better, and it would fit in your dash?”

“I’m listening.”

“I know you’ve heard of cassette tapes.” He gave a knowing shake of his head.

“Of course. I’ve got a SoundDesign cassette player I tape all the hits off the radio with. But I don’t wanna –“

He cut me off right there.

“We’ve got a new in-dash AM/FM Cassette player. Just released. I’d love to see you walk out of here with one.”

Of course price came up and stock boy was a glamorous job you know, but the pay was a little on the light side. Ultimately it came down to this.

“Why would I need to spend the money on this? My 8-tracks work just fine.”

With the self-assurance of a master magician he reached under the counter and pulled out an 8-track tape. Tres Hombres by ZZ Top. He laid it on the counter and looked at me. As I was about to say something he pulled four cassette tapes from under the counter. Too many to notice what they were! He stacked them two by two alongside the 8-track.

“No words necessary,” he said unnecessarily.

Friends. I walked out of that store with a brand new in-dash AM/FM Cassette player.

No tapes. Two days later, the band-aids firmly wrapped around my fingers from the sharp edges of the metal dash, I could listen to the taped versions of my favorite songs I’d taped off the radio with my portable tape player. Now if only the DJs would have the common courtesy to not talk over the outro.

Years passed. I joined the Navy. Made a little more money. Which I wisely invested in a 1980 turbo Trans AM. Bright orange with the signature screaming eagle on the hood. Still had that lame stock radio though. Ahhh but this was the ‘80s, and the choices were immense. This fine car deserved the best, which I couldn’t afford. But along came payday so I furthered my investment into my ride with a Blaupunkt AM/FM Cassette player. Need I even say ‘in-dash’? Sadly I had parked it at Newport News Shipyard while the submarine I was stationed on was being worked on and someone had fallen in love with that radio obviously more than I had. I hounded the police with several phone calls, but no luck. The heinous crime went unsolved.

Now let’s flash forward a few more years and I’m in the last phase of my Naval enlistment. I’m living in Idaho and have a cool Toyota 4×4. Yep you guessed it. Stock radio. Oh but not for long. The Sultans of Swing yearned for something much better. This time, living in the Rocky Mountains, I opted for an Alpine… you know its specs. Oh wait. Just a bit too early for the penultimate phase of audio-indulgence (CD).

Whilst in Idaho I did make that paradigm shift though. Not in my car at first. At home. I had a component stereo system. Yeah. Let that sink in. Something I typically led with while cruising chicks at the club. Being a component system it readily accepted my CD player addition. Frankie Goes To Hollywood now sang out in crisp stereophonic glory along with one Mssr Frank Zappa. This was my Frank stage.

This lasted me for a while, but soon after newer cars came with AM/FM CDs stock. Life was good, but there was something just not there. My audio-life has continued to expand. In volume and (supposed) quality. I now have a paid subscription so that I can listen to pretty much any and all music I want. And you know what? I find myself playing the same sort of ambient music ninety percent of the time.

But occasionally, I shuffle My Personal Soundtrack, and enjoy Brandy, such a fine girl, the rains down in Africa, an army for all seven nations, and so many classics. Brian Eno eat your heart out.

Peace and love y’all.

Marv