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I’LL TAKE MINE ON 8-TRACK PLEASE

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So Columbia House is calling it quits.

I know, we’re all saying, “Columbia House was still around??”

Yep, although now it was 2 DVD’s for $9.95 each.

They even have a Facebook page, last updated in 2015.

I remember joining Columbia House, probably in the late 1970’s, and probably without mom’s permission. Wikipedia says the 8-track tape had mostly disappeared by 1982, so I belonged before that. I can’t remember if I went to records or cassettes after. I got 8-tracks because my older brother had 8-tracks, and mom and dad had a Telex AM/FM Record player, 8-track player. Kelly and I were talking about music in the house when we were growing up. I’ve mentioned Dad always had the radio on down in the barn, ‘for the cows’, I don’t remember a lot of music besides that. Even having purchased the Telex unit, they didn’t seem to play it alot. Mom did encourage me by getting me all the Disney movie records. And Kelly doesn’t remember a lot of music around either. It’s curious then, I always have music on and love music so much. And Kelly likes music, she just doesn’t have it on as much as I do. Interesting.

Back to Columbia House. I had no idea they’d been around for 70 years!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BiZAtgdNR/

Information here taken from Wikipedia:

Columbia House was started in 1955 by CBS / Columbia records as an experiment for direct mail marketing. But they wouldn’t offer new titles for 6 months, to give the brick and mortar stores the first chance. The operation grew quickly, and soon moved to Terre Haute Indiana, because there was a rail way there and Columbia had opened a record pressing facility. Columbia House grew quickly, and within a year, had sold seven million records and had 10% of the recorded music market by 1963.

They offered select reel to reel recordings until 1984. I didn’t know anyone with a reel to reel deck until I started doing theater. We did sound effects on reels into the mid 1980’s as it was easy to splice in a leader tape, and cue it up. Easier than trying to cue up a cassette tape anyway.

It’s been a throwback reading all the stuff about how Columbia house worked. Things I’d forgotten like, Yeah, I got a dozen 8 tracks for a penny, but didn’t remember I had to buy more within a few years or something. And they sent that monthly recording automatically unless you sent the post card back first and said not to send it.  I remember my mom getting mad about the records we didn’t want. The article also said usually teenagers intercepted the junk mail offer, and legally were not old enough to enter into this agreement. And with no consequences, they would change the names and keep ordering the free records without buying the others. And then in 2001 there was a website breech and the members private data was exposed. Oops.

When I started all this, we had a young bus driver who knew music and probably encouraged me to buy records. Thinking about what I was buying back then, I’d bet it was Styx, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. I know I have an 8-track of their recording, ‘Brain Salad Surgery‘.

Eventually I bought a Craig brand AM/FM eight track player. I thought it was pretty cool.

An EBay photo

At some point I took it into the theater for use and when it wasn’t needed anymore the guys threw it out. I’m still sad about that.

But I had also moved up to a Yamaha stereo receiver and turntable, and Omega 300 speakers. The speakers I have out in the shop now. 40+ years old and going strong.

I remember my first CD’s; I bought the double CD of the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar, and the Moody Blues Days of Future Past.

WHAT BRAND NAMES DO YOU REMEMBER FROM GROWING UP?

FIRST RECORDS / RECORDINGS PURCHASED?

28 thoughts on “I’LL TAKE MINE ON 8-TRACK PLEASE”

  1. All the toy companies of course. Mattel, Hasbro, Parker Brothers, etc. Gold Bond (stamps), RCA, Zenith, GE. All the cereal companies, of course: Quaker Oats, General Mills, Post. And of course, the candy and pop manufacturers: Hershey’s, Mars, Wrigley (chewing gum), Barq’s, Dad’s, Ne-Hi, Orange/Grape Crush, Tab (was it a Coca-Cola product?).

    I’m sure many more if I think longer.

    First record I purchased wasn’t until college. I mooched off my sister’s pop records and my parents’ “all other sources” records. The title was “The Oscar Peterson Trio + One (Clark Terry). Still have it, as do I almost all the records I bought over the decades.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  2. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I do not remember the very first record (s), but I know one of the first albums was Carol King’s Tapestry. In that time period was an album by Bread, lots of John Denver, Chicago, and Blood Sweat and Tears, etc. The record player was heavy and folded up. I had a stack of 45s as well that included the Beatles first recordings, but those are long gone.

    The brand names that elicited debate were cars. Generally, it was Ford Vs. Chevy. That was a hot one. Then tractors were a topic of brand names as well: John Deere was the big one, with Allis Chalmers not far behind.

    McGee and I are headed out for a hike around the dog park.

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  3. The first record I bought was probably a 45, but I don’t remember what it was. I was into John Denver, so it might have been him.

    There was a music store in downtown Faribault called Eastman Music. There were lots of records in half of the store – 45s and 33s. It was so much fun to go there.

    There is a story about a schizophrenic young man who lived in one of the buildings at FRC. He scaled down the wall of the building from the second floor, ala Spider-Man, and sprinted downtown late one night. He shattered the front window at Eastman Music, and grabbed all the Beatles 45s he could get his hands on. Then he ran back up the hill, scaled the wall back to his room on the second floor carrying all those 45s. Eastman’s didn’t press charges. It wouldn’t have resulted in anything due to the man’s incompetence. I don’t know how they got reimbursed for the damages, but the young man had to give the 45s back.

    OT: VS, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this yesterday, but, according to your set of rules, you can’t read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

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  4. I was on the Columbia House thing back in the 70’s too. It was an early version of the now-ubiquitous subscription trap, except that you didn’t have to give them a credit card number. If you slipped up, they sent you the record and a bill. You could pay the bill, or you could write REFUSED on the package, as long as it was unopened, and send it back without paying postage.

    I remember having fun picking out the introductory package – it was something like 13 records, so it was like a pile of riches when it arrived. I think one of them was Every Picture Tells a Story.

    I remember getting Harvest around the same time, but I’m pretty sure I bought that one in an actual store.

    Those two are 70’s records that have held up well. It was a very creative time in music.

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  5. Wonder Bread, of course..
    Pearsons’ Salted Nut Rolls – they’re on my mind because I’ve heard they’re ending business soon…

    One of the first 45s I had was Well All Right by Buddy Holly, flip side of Heartbeat… I think my first album bought might have been Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA. Will be fun to remember more of these through the day, maybe.

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  6. The first album purchased for my sisters and me was “Meet the Beatles”. Others that we had early on were Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’ “Whipped Cream” and “Going Places”.
    I was a member of Columbia House for a while – don’t remember all the albums I bought but I’m sure they included Beatles, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Kinks, Moody Blues, and others of that same era.

    As to brand names, all of the ones Chris mentioned plus Wham-O (I think they made Slip ‘n Slides). My favorite pop back then was Orange Crush.

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  7. I was stupid but the Columbia Record trap hurt my credit for years after 1966.
    My first records were used 45s.
    The father of a junior high school buddy owned a juke box supply company. I’m pretty sure the kid stole the records. At 5 cents each, I guess I received stolen goods in the early 60s.

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    1. You mentioned used 45’s. I know my siblings had a bunch, including some of the beetles with the half apple picture. Wonder what happen to all them?

      We had an album of The Monkee’s greatest hits. It had a big chunk out of the edge, so I would start it in about 2″ to skip that part. That’s why I didn’t know the first couple songs on each side.

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  8. My folks had an 8-track machine – the only tape I remember was the Whipped Cream that Julie mentioned although my dad didn’t like the cover art

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  11. When I think of brands when I was a kid, I think of the TV ads and the crazy “spokespeople.” Alka-Selzer and the guy sitting on his bed saying “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” the manicurist who told clients she was soaking their fingers in Palmolive dish soap, “Who made the salad? Seven Seas,” Mr. Whipple and Charmin, “It’s not fried, it’s Shake and Bake,” “I’d like to buy the world a Coke,” and on and on. No wonder I became a copywriter.

    I didn’t buy my own records until I was a teen. Before that my parents gave me albums by artists I liked, The Fifth Dimension and Glen Campbell (I have eclectic taste). The first album I bought for myself was possibly Neil Diamond. Or Paul Simon. I didn’t have a stereo system or turntable in my room and everything had to be played on the stereo in the living room, subject to parental scrutiny, so I didn’t buy many albums.

    For that reason I didn’t join Columbia or other music “clubs,” but I joined Book of the Month club and a couple of others that sold classics in elegant bindings. I still have most of those.

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  12. I think we usually had Log Cabin syrup, but it seems like at least once we had Mrs. Butterworth’s in the brown woman-shaped glass jar. I thought that was pretty cool.

    We also had soup spoons with the Campbell’s kid on the handles. I wish I still had those. We consumed lots of Campbell’s soup. Tomato, cream of chicken, bean with bacon.

    No Wonder bread as far as I remember. Ours was Taystee.

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  13. The brand name that comes to mind from my childhood is Crest. My uncle was a dentist so dental care was of paramount importance at our house. He said we should Crest so by gosh, we used Crest. When I went away to college, I remember when my tube of toothpaste ran out and I had to go get another. I skipped by the Crest to fast it probably created wind blasts down the aisle. I’ve been an Aquafresh gal ever since. I’m sure my uncle is turning over in his grave to hear this.

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  14. I didn’t have a record player of my own until I moved into my apartment in Northfield – even then it was a castoff from my folks.

    I did have albums in high school that I listened to on the family hi fi. There were some records that I only played when my dad wasn’t around. He was very opinionated. He didn’t like Bridge Over Troubled Water because of the “whores on 7th Avenue” line. Didn’t like the nasal voices of John Denver or Bob Dylan. And the Bonnie & Clyde song was banned because of the violet ending.

    Not sure what album was my very first. Most likely James Taylor or John Denver. I also had all the Monty Python albums!

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  15. wow. memory lane. my 12 selections included the association ( didnt like it) nashville skyline rag (loved it) beggers banquet (was blown away by it) i had already begun collecting lp’s and had access to my folks lps that included lots of broadway musicals herb alpert brazil 66 they also had horible stuff like ferrer and teiner ( dentist office music) i loved the firestone christmas albums with anna maria albrogetti, andy williams, perry como,
    i had 8 tracks in my vw van two shoeboxes full beatles white album (2 cassettes) jessie winchester dylan’s new morning, jose feleciano gordon lightfoot
    fisher amp with fm gerrard turntable sl65 schaak electronic private lable 3 way speakers
    1st record was an afternoon with uncle paul from fargo, he walked me into a record store and said what do you want… i had no clue age 7. he steered me toward a 45 of this old man. i wore it out. then loren green sings ringo and ghost riders in the sky,
    remember jack persells bumper tennis shoes and converse all stars? gant shitrs pendelton shirts. (catholic schools allowed no fashion statements) bonomos turkish taffy( smack it and crack it)

    the wax museum took the hand cuffs off my music starting in the late 60’s miles davis missisippi john hurt all dylan many jazz experiments lots of stuff off towards john prine john fayhe early beatles bootlegs cab calaway

    reel to reel for all my band recordings and personal studio sessions . cassettes never measured up but you could record lps and bring them along and two shoeboxes full was 60 not 20 and that was a huge plus.

    pecan sandies , dr pepper and mister salty pretzels with perry mason at 10 pm with a bong was 1970 in a nutshell

    thanks ben

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  17. My first album purchase was Con Funk Shun / Loveshine on cassette tape from Columbia House Record And Tape Club. I was proud member of their club. I had a lot of cassette tapes and some vinyl records from them. I miss Columbia House Record And Tape Club.

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