1984 BASF Chromdioxid Super II 60 Audio Tape

What an attractive beast of a tape this was. Very eye-catching in its black plastic casing with black label and shiny gold lettering, the BASF Chromdioxid Super II 60 of 1984 was a leading Type II consumer cassette of its time. The sound was similar to that of the standard Chromdioxid II, but ‘prettier’, with what I felt was a nicer midrange. Despite the sparkly zing at the treble end, and some nice deep bass, this was still a sweet sounding tape, with a good, full, roundness. Sadly, these were a bit on the pricey side for youngsters to be buying in bulk, so I only got a few of them.

1983 Sony Metallic 60 Audio Cassette

Was there ever a better looking audio cassette on the high street shelves in the 1980s? The Sony Metallic 60 exuded class, with its dark label and gold foil-printed lettering. Even the inlay card in the case looked special, in white, with large gold-foil lettering.

1981 Sony BHF 90 Audio Cassette

This is the old, paper (as opposed to foil-type) label version of the Sony BHF 90, from 1981. I know that I was buying these paper label jobs through 1982 as well as in latter ‘81, but by spring 1983 I was getting the shiny label versions.