In 1966 the newest portable music format was introduced to the world (or at least the US), the Playtape. A 2-track tape, it worked much like the 4 and 8-track tapes where the music resided on one continuous loop of tape. The difference was that Playtapes were smaller and were specifically marketed as the portable music option. The format never really took off mainly because as soon as 8-track manufacturers realized how in demand portable music was, they immediately began producing portable players and killed Playtape's only real selling point. By 1972 the company had folded.
I only became aware of the existence of Playtapes when I was attempting to get Revolver in every format it was released in. There are 2 different Revolver Playtapes (I only have 1 so far which I'll share later). For my first Playtape share, I present: The Beatles VI.
Artist: The Beatles
Album: Beatles VI
Release Year: 1967
Country of Origin: United States
Label: Playtape
Catalog Number: 0528
T 2358
Channels: Mono
Tracks:
Channel 1:
Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey
You Like Me Too Much
Channel 2:
I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
What You're Doing
Notes:
* Label lists Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey as "Kansas City"
* Green label with Hello Goodbye picture
Also, before I post the other Playtapes I have, I have a question... When I did the transfer, I was originally going to clean up the audio before I posted it, but I changed my mind. My thought was, if I remove the tape hiss and speed-correct the tapes (they run a little fast), then it's nothing more than just listening to the songs from any format. So my thought is to just present them as is, warts and all. Does anyone have a problem with me posting the raw transfers as opposed to cleaning them up? Let me know so I can proceed with the others. Thanks.
Very interesting, thanks for your generosity with this!
You bring up good points. I think in this case, you'd want to preserve the "quirks" of the "quirky" format, otherwise, as you say, we already have the music (and have it and have it and have it and have it...).
Same goes for other format releases (8-track, R2R, vinyl) – they all color the music in some way so it's best to present them as-is.
For my own collection of the various formats I don't want to hear in-between tracks hiss and crackle (I've heard my share of that decades ago!, and as Paul himself says, there was no hiss in the studio) so I clean that stuff up on the tops and tails, but the meat of each song is left as-presented.
I've seen pictures of these Playtapes before, but this is the first transfer I've heard. I'm a bit appalled though that, to accommodate the format, Capital reduced an 11-song album to four measly songs. Anyone have an idea what the pricing was for these? Were these priced the same (or more) than a regular LP? If so, surely that would've impacted sales and the longevity of the format as much as the increased portability of 8-Track tapes.
bobzilla wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 5:54 pm
Also, before I post the other Playtapes I have, I have a question... When I did the transfer, I was originally going to clean up the audio before I posted it, but I changed my mind. My thought was, if I remove the tape hiss and speed-correct the tapes (they run a little fast), then it's nothing more than just listening to the songs from any format. So my thought is to just present them as is, warts and all. Does anyone have a problem with me posting the raw transfers as opposed to cleaning them up? Let me know so I can proceed with the others. Thanks.
I remember the players, probably around fall 1967, our local department store had a couple, and only about half a dozen tapes, a couple of which were Beatles
20YearsAgo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 6:16 pm
I've seen pictures of these Playtapes before, but this is the first transfer I've heard. I'm a bit appalled though that, to accommodate the format, Capital reduced an 11-song album to four measly songs. Anyone have an idea what the pricing was for these? Were these priced the same (or more) than a regular LP? If so, surely that would've impacted sales and the longevity of the format as much as the increased portability of 8-Track tapes.
Did you read the linked write-up?
According to an article by Frank Stanton in the September 23, 1967, issue of Billboard, the retail prices for PlayTapes in the five color‐coded formats were as follows:
Red (single) $0.99 each Black (EP) $1.49 each
Blue (children)$1.00 to $1.50 each White (8 songs) $2.98 each
Gray (talk/educational) $1.00 to $1.50 each
It also notes that this could be considered EP's, or 'selections' from an LP, not deemed as equivalent to an LP.
20YearsAgo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 6:16 pm
I've seen pictures of these Playtapes before, but this is the first transfer I've heard. I'm a bit appalled though that, to accommodate the format, Capital reduced an 11-song album to four measly songs. Anyone have an idea what the pricing was for these? Were these priced the same (or more) than a regular LP? If so, surely that would've impacted sales and the longevity of the format as much as the increased portability of 8-Track tapes.
Did you read the linked write-up?
According to an article by Frank Stanton in the September 23, 1967, issue of Billboard, the retail prices for PlayTapes in the five color‐coded formats were as follows:
Red (single) $0.99 each Black (EP) $1.49 each
Blue (children)$1.00 to $1.50 each White (8 songs) $2.98 each
Gray (talk/educational) $1.00 to $1.50 each
It also notes that this could be considered EP's, or 'selections' from an LP, not deemed as equivalent to an LP.
After the Vee Jay & 2 Capitol 7 inch EP's in 1964 & early 1965
The Playtapes were US EP's in Mono, more or less
Wow, this is cool! I remember Techmoan's video about this system from YEARS ago. I guess I didn't know how much of The Beatles catalogue was made a part of this format (he showed/played a Sgt. Pepper's EP cartridge in his video if I remember correctly).
