If you’re a collector of vintage commercially-released tapes, here’s something that might interest you.
A short while ago I received an email from US-based music lover Kabir Bhatia, who had just discovered the reel-to-reel rambler and who kindly offered to share with readers a listing he’d compiled of the tapes that were released by the Columbia House Record Club, a division of Columbia Records, between 1973 and 1984.
So what are we talking about here? Kabir writes, “In 1973, the Columbia House Record Club began releasing Columbia’s reels (as well as those from associated labels such as Epic, Jet, and Masterworks). Although the club was affiliated with Columbia Records – and the majority of releases were from top-selling Columbia artists – most of the other major labels eventually contracted with Columbia House. In 1973, A&M started leasing a few of their best sellers for reel release. Capitol/EMI/Angel followed in the summer of 1975, and then London shortly thereafter….”
Compiling the listing has been something of a labour of love, and Kabir shares a nice story of why he went to all that trouble: in short, as a young lad he was totally fascinated by his father’s audio system, which included an Akai 4000DS tape deck. Looking back he can still remember his father’s neatly-organised rack of tapes and vinyl – as well as recalling accidentally stepping on and breaking a Herb Alpert tape! Fast forward a couple of decades and Kabir had obviously inherited the audiophile gene… so I’ll let him tell you the rest of the story.
Find out more and peruse the listing over on Kabir’s blog: http://kbtime.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-history-of-pre-recorded-reel-tapes.html
Many thanks indeed to Kabir for sharing.
Dave Denyer: The Reel-to-Reel Rambler 