8-Track culture has evolved to the
point that it has a mythology and a pantheon of its own. Certain tapes have developed a
fame, a cachet, even a notoriety in the 8-track community. It's time to honor some of
those cartridges. Here they are, the winners of the 8-Track Heaven Hall of Fame:
If you would like to vote for a tape that has been nominated (see listing below), please Contact Us. When sufficient evidence exists that a tape has made the grade, it will receive official induction. Final choice rests with the 8-Track Heaven panel of experts, naturally!
Sorry, we are accepting no new nominations at this time. Please vote for the listed nominees.
| Artist: Cart |
Nominated by: | Excerpts from Nomination Speech: |
|---|---|---|
| Nirvana Nirvana |
Tom Fornof | Uhhh, not that Nirvana. I believe this Nirvana is a British band from the late 60's and early 70's. The music on my 8-track is fairly light rock/pop but it does have one good rocker on program 4. But one weird song is called Illinois. What is a British band doing writing/playing a song about mid-USA? |
| Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack |
Jimkac | In my never-ending search thru the thrift stores of America, in search of 8-tracks, I have found that if the store has ANY 8-tracks available, at least one of them will be Saturday Night Fever. This must have sold at least a million copies. I've also found this recorded on many blank tapes. Definitely should be in the hall of fame, for frequency if for no other reason. |
| ZZ Top Fandango |
B Parker | I think the song "Heard it on the X" primed me for what was to come later (punk). Used to listen to this one at my friend's house on his big bro's 8-track and some of the songs did cut which at first was annoying but then it was cool cause you knew when the cuts were coming and you would look up while playing Sorry or some such game and go..."Click! |
| Frank Zappa Lumpy Gravy (Capitol) |
Michael Arlt | According to Zappa himself, the Capitol 8-track tape of Lumpy Gravy is one of the rarest official Zappa releases - if not the rarest. It contained only orchestral music, and none of the dialoge or band music. (The only words uttered on the tape were "I don't know if I can go through this again", which was spoken by one of the orchestral musicians, and not part of the piano dialogue.) If it contained only the orchestral music from the vinyl, it would have to have been very short; if it contained otherwise unreleased orchestral music, it would have been sensational. |
| Bob Welch Paris |
"Candys" | In the early days, BEFORE they became super- stars,the most important member of the Fleetwood Mac was BOB WELCH. When he quit, he formed a band called "PARIS". I searched for years to replace the 8 Track tapes of this band. To my knowledge,only two albums were recorded by PARIS,The first was self titled "PARIS:PARIS"And the second was"PARIS- BIG TOWN, 2061"I have since found both copies on vinyl,and have recorded them onto 8-track.This band ROCK(ed)! Just try to find either on any format. |
| Sly & The Family Stone Greatest Hits. Quad |
M. Arlt petsounds@NOSPAMprodigy.net |
Those quad mixes give the music new justice especially the 3 newly mixed songs (previously in Mono) which open up and come alive. You can feel the funk from start to finish and not a bad song to boot. |
| New York Dolls New York Dolls |
Lin Toney lintoney@NOSPAMmindspring.com | Some 20 years ago I my little brother pissed me off about something so I went over to his car and pulled THE NEW YORK DOLLS from his eight track player, tossed it onto the driveway of our parents house and stomped on it several times but it refused to break. So I took a 20 pond sledge hammer from the back of my pickup truck and busted it up real good. That was one tough eight track tape and I'd like to nominate it to your HALL OF FAME. |
| Cheap Trick at Budokan |
Joseph Shafir jshafir@NOSPAMnetscape.net | Cheap Trick At Budokan was recorded live in Japan in April, 1978, and features some of the best renditions of the songs by guitarist Rick Nielson. At Budokan is truly a classic live album and rocketed Cheap Trick to stardom shortly after its release. Some consider this to be the best "live" LP (8-Track) of all time. |
| Kansas Leftoverture |
Magnus Florin anthem@NOSPAMhome.se |
"An easy way into the music of Kansas. I discovered them with this album, and it still rocks. By me considered to be one of the best albums ever made by a rock group. You just can't deny a fact like that. Gotta love it" |
| Deep Purple Machine Head |
Jim Churchill Bcmoondog@NOSPAMaol.com |
"With the eight track player in my friends Impala convertible the somewhat deliberate muddled sounds of Deep Purple cannot be distinguished from the muddled playback of his old and severely overused without cleaning the heads of the 8 track machine, or was it the wind blowing the sound all over the neighborhood? Therefore it is the perfect candidate for the Hall of Fame. It is the quintessential effect of the early 70's of not being able to tell if something sounded good or was meant to sound that way on purpose, or was that important, but what the heck we loved every tune. It never sounded as good on vinyl." |
| Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti |
TAFFY82761@NOSPAMaol.com | "The album that stands out in my head the most is LED ZEPPLIN---PHYSICAL GRAFFITI. I could not decide on a ZEPPLIN favorite because they are all AWESOME. The bands idols were ole "blues singers" from way back when, so they learned from the backbone of our country. I am sure many people agree with me and would also nominate some "LED FOR THE HEAD" but the only problem would be deciding on the best!!!" |
| The Beatles Yellow Submarine (white cart) |
"The very first issue of YS on 8-track included the bonus track "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" (not included on any other format). Later the same year, Capitol replaced the original issue of YS with one with the standard playing order. My recollection is that YS was the last 8-track issued in the original pink-on-white Capitol format, and that the entire Beatles catalogue was reissued in the black shell configuration later that same year" | |
| Chicago Hot Streets |
Anthony Pizza a.pizza@NOSPAMMworldnet.att.net | 8-track may be one of the only formats to get this unique album in Chicago's history. The Hot Streets album was unique in that it was not given the numeric title that had been the band's trademark, and featured group members on the cover rather than some conception of the group's legendary logo. The album scored two Top 20 hits ("Alive Again," and "No Tell Lover") and went gold, praised as a return to the horn-based rock and roll sound the group had been founded on. But Hot Streets' history takes a left turn from that; the album was hard to find on Columbia's Chicago reissues, then deleted when the group bought its masters back from the label in 1995! The album is out of print (the group has held a number, 12, for it just in case), and the CD unreleased, making the 8-track a great find for Chicago's legions of fans. |
| Peter Frampton Frampton Comes Alive |
Michael Tacik tropicalt@NOSPAMearthlink.net | If you were a teenaged boy in the 'mid 70's, chances are you had the tape in your car to keep your girlfriend or your "Michael Tacik" date happy. |
| MC5 Back in the USA |
Duran, Bill wduran@NOSPAMi-comm.org |
I still have my MC5 Back in the U.S.A. 8 track. It was a must listen back then. Rock and Roll was supposed to be about rebellion. Boy did these guys (MC5) fit the bill. They were from Detroit and we were from the Detroit area so they were also hometown hero's. They were something of a legend back then. "Did you hear what the MC5 did last night?!" Just listening to them made us feel more dangerous. And the 8-track was still a young person's format then.We only had them in our cars then, there weren't many home players. Anyway, this cart just screamed rock and roll and that was what it was all about. |
| Lonnie Liston Smith Visions of a New World |
Simon Harrell bbbcafe@NOSPAMaol.com |
Truly one of the best albums for 8-Track to play, portable or otherwise. Like most of the Pink Floyd albums it makes any music box sound good. It was also one of the best albums, if not the best album, produced by that artist. It is only available on cd now which, in opinion, does not do it any justice with its too precise reproduction. I hope you agree if ever you have chance to listen. |
| Gary Wright The Dream Weaver |
pullycat@NOSPAMearthlink.net | If for nothing else -- the cover art. There's Gary on the cover,
snoozing away underneath that airbrushed futuristic retro-art-decodream-capturing helmet.
His feathered locks and silk scarf wafting on the winds of space. His REM-fluttering
eyelids androgenously tinted a frosty blue. And lipstick. Oh yes, the lipstick too. David
Bowie was definitely striking out into uncharted territory, and Gary wasn't aboutto let
him risk it alone. But just because Gary's dozing on the cover doesn't mean that his synthesized music doesn't rock. Because, I assure you-- it Rocks. Do yourself a favor. Pick up The Dream Weaver, admire the cover art fora moment or two, and then, get mellow. |
| Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits |
"jgs" jgs@ipa.net | Well, well, well, how forgetful we've become in our old age, if you've truly partied in the mobile dimension during the 70's, then surely you have grooved to The Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits, (just try and find it on ebay, I dare ya!). |
| Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon |
1. Todd Saldivar todd.saldivar@worldspan.com | 1. I was sixteen when I |