How It's Used

“‘Armageddon’ notwithstanding, Criterion was the company that directors sought out, and, as a result, the company was given permission by the studios to put out special versions of their films. This is happening now less and less: studios understand that there's a market for all their catalog titles, and see no reason to let others share in the profits. They are also aware that more people own DVD players than ever owned laser-disc players. There are probably more working eight-track tape players than there are laser-disc units.”

—Elvis Mitchell, “Everyone’s a Film Geek Now,” The New York Times, August 17, 2003.

“At Norman’s, which is 15 years old and just around the corner from New York’s epicenter of punk, St. Marks Place, shoppers with nose rings and dewy cheeks are not unknown. But they may only be looking to use the automatic teller machine. A pair of teenagers—he with ink-black dyed hair, and she in ragged camouflage shorts—wandered in one evening recently and promptly froze in the doorway, stopped in their tracks by an Isaac Hayes cut from the 70’s.

“They had the confused looks of would-be congregants who had stumbled into a church of the wrong denomination; they quickly shuffled off. Most of Norman’s other customers were old enough to remember eight-track tapes.”

—Alex Williams, “The Graying of the Record Store,” The New York Times, July 16, 2006.

“If you haven't seen it, it's well worth checking out the U.K. 'Life on Mars.' In the end, it's not the high-wire premise that wins you over. It's the baggy, low-key vibe the show achieves in its quieter moments—leaving you feeling weirdly nostalgic for 1970s Britain. You'll want to pull on a paisley shirt, pop in a Bowie eight-track, and down lukewarm pints with Sam and Gene at their cozy, wallpapered neighborhood pub.”

—Seth Stevenson, “Life on Mars: Why Americans hated the British hit. Plus: The dumbest finale in TV history,” Slate, January 19, 2010.

Also Known As (AKA)

8-Track Tapes

Links

Related on eAlmanac
33's
45's
78's

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on 8-Track Tapes