4 March 2008--it's...1984

[Gazoo]

So apparently they weren't talking about the laserdisk player.  What was it?  Dave mentioned Selectavision which sounds familiar, but what's the technology?  It did seem odd to talk about laserdisk in 1984, since CDs had yet to come out then, or were just about to.

ETA:  Well, I looked up Selectavision.  It's a bizarre technology using vinyl disks and a real needle decoding both video and audio.  CED, doncha know...

I seem to remember CD players being out before 1984. I remember going to one of those autograph signings I mentioned about before at the old Record Factory and they had a little demo on it with somebody from a local news station (forgot which one, it was about 26 years ago).

They were probably available in 84, but they were very much an audiophile-only, luxury item until 86 or so--I can't say how much they would have cost but probably $700-$800, if not more. And you'd have had to go to a stereo store to buy the discs--I don't think the average record store carried many if any. The first of my friends got a CD player was in 86 after the price had dropped a fair amount, and I got mine maybe six months to a year later for about $250. And I think I was a little ahead of the curve--at that point Tower still carried far more vinyl than it did CDs. Within a year or so that ratio had reversed.

I was *really* late on the curve: I was still buying cassettes up through 1996 and didn't exclusively move to CDs until '98.  Perhaps as a function of growing up in a semi-rural area, I'd never even seen a CD until I went to college in fall '91.

[RGMike]

So apparently they weren't talking about the laserdisk player.  What was it?  Dave mentioned Selectavision which sounds familiar, but what's the technology?  It did seem odd to talk about laserdisk in 1984, since CDs had yet to come out then, or were just about to.

ETA:  Well, I looked up Selectavision.  It's a bizarre technology using vinyl disks and a real needle decoding both video and audio.  CED, doncha know...

I seem to remember CD players being out before 1984. I remember going to one of those autograph signings I mentioned about before at the old Record Factory and they had a little demo on it with somebody from a local news station (forgot which one, it was about 26 years ago).

They were probably available in 84, but they were very much an audiophile-only, luxury item until 86 or so--I can't say how much they would have cost but probably $700-$800, if not more. And you'd have had to go to a stereo store to buy the discs--I don't think the average record store carried many if any. The first of my friends got a CD player was in 86 after the price had dropped a fair amount, and I got mine maybe six months to a year later for about $250. And I think I was a little ahead of the curve--at that point Tower still carried far more vinyl than it did CDs. Within a year or so that ratio had reversed.

I was *really* late on the curve: I was still buying cassettes up through 1996 and didn't exclusively move to CDs until '98.  Perhaps as a function of growing up in a semi-rural area, I'd never even seen a CD until I went to college in fall '91.

I resisted until after I moved to SF in '91. I remember 1990 as the year of the vinyl clearance: Tower and J&R Music World in NYC were selling LPs for a buck or 2.

[RGMike]

Dave (pre-set on Wed morning) just played "Owner of a Loaner Car".

[urth]

03/04/2008 - Tuesday! Good stuff from...1984!!!
 
1.  Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods   
2.  Van Halen - Jump   
3.  Pretenders - Back on the Chain Gang   
4.  Los Lobos - Evangeline   
5.  Nena - 99 Luftballoons   
6.  Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive   
7.  INXS - Original Sin   
8.  Art of Noise - Close to the Edit (BEST OF SET!!)   
9.  Yes - Our Song   
10.  Talk Talk - It's My Life   
 
BONUS TRACK:  The Smiths - What Difference Does it Make?

[RGMike]

03/04/2008 - Tuesday! Good stuff from...1984!!!
 
BONUS TRACK:  The Smiths - What Difference Does it Make?

another bonus that has never actually appeared in an '84 set, iirc. Gotta love any Foghead who chooses the Smiths.  The Audacity of Mope!

[Gazoo]

Gotta love any Foghead who chooses the Smiths.  The Audacity of Mope!

har.   

[mshray]

Gotta love any Foghead who chooses the Smiths.  The Audacity of Mope!

har.   

I'll see your Har and raise you one.

Har Har!

[RGMike]

Gotta love any Foghead who chooses the Smiths.  The Audacity of Mope!

har.   

I'll see your Har and raise you one.

Har Har!

you just KNOW someone's already writing a book with that title.

[mshray]

Gotta love any Foghead who chooses the Smiths.  The Audacity of Mope!

har.   

I'll see your Har and raise you one.

Har Har!

you just KNOW someone's already writing a book with that title.

Really?  You think "I'll See Your Har and Raise You One" makes a good book title!?

 

[RGMike]

Gotta love any Foghead who chooses the Smiths.  The Audacity of Mope!

har.   

I'll see your Har and raise you one.

Har Har!

you just KNOW someone's already writing a book with that title.

Really?  You think "I'll See Your Har and Raise You One" makes a good book title!?

 

your audacity is dope, yo!