Deutsche Grammophon 3D Classics Series Audio Cassette

This is another of the highly attractive, abundantly classy and sonically spectacular Polydor / Deutsche Grammophon CrO2 pre-records of the 1980s. It’s part of the 3D Classics series, which was released around the cusp of the ‘80s and ‘90s decades, with this particular instalment hitting the shops in 1989.

BASF Ferro Super I Audio Cassette (1989)

One of the problems with striving to improve Type I normal position audio tapes was that whatever manufacturers did with them, they were always still Type Is. That may not have been a problem technically. If the sound and signal to noise characteristics were massively better than those of a very basic, low end Type I, then a higher end Type I would have merit and, in real terms, justify its extra cost.

The Damned – Final Damnation Audio Cassette (1989)

The Damned were one of the ‘big three’ original British punk bands, alongside the Sex Pistols and The Clash. They released the first ever single to be acknowledged as British punk rock, in autumn 1976, and whilst their path was far from smooth and continuous, they remained active and high up in alternative public consciousness right through the early and mid 1980s.

Through the one decade plus from ’76 into the late ‘eighties, the band’s musical style morphed, and I suppose you could say ‘matured’ – although that would imply that original format punk was immature, which I don’t believe was the case.