Sony CHF tapes were among the very first I used for my own recordings after I hit my teens. They were good, if basic, normal bias cassettes with quite a warm sound, but also an acceptable amount of definition for a Type I range-propper. Pretty noisy though.
The two other cassette models in the 1981 Sony Type I range were the Sony BHF, and the Sony AHF. The BHF was a noticeable upgrade on the quality of this CHF. And the AHF was a hugely improved, essentially pro-grade product of very high quality – coming with a much higher price tag.
I’ve got a fair old few Sony CHFs, and the material on them ranges quite widely. At one end of the scale there are some all-too-clear renditions of my own instrumental tracks, played on a Bontempi B370 organ. At the other, performances by chart bands of the day, recorded from the TV, with a cheapish tape recorder placed in front of the set’s speaker, and my family jabbering away in the background.
Not many people could afford a video recorder in 1981, and over nine out of ten households didn’t own one. Therefore, even such visual transmissions as TV comedies would end up being preserved on audio tape. This red and white Sony CHF 60 serves as a reminder of all that.
Another of the uses UK teenagers would have for these cheap all-rounder cassettes in ’81 would be to record snippets of John Peel’s radio show. Almost everyone’s favourite band did live sessions for John Peel, however obscure an act they were. And since the performances were often markedly different from the records, putting them onto tape was almost like buying completely new material. Radio was a massive thing in ’81. Live concerts, interviews with your favourite acts, music documentaries… Much of it’s still there, but it’s not such a big part of people’s lives in the age of the Internet.
There’s a more evocative image of the 90 minute version of this cassette in the 1980 Sony CHF 90 post.
Tape Tardis 