Cassette Gazette - Issue #1 (revista | fanzine | journal)

 

Trata-se de um fanzine / revista que iniciou agora (2021) a sua publicação, sendo este o número inicial. É editado por um vendedor de K7s do ebay, apresenta apenas 20 páginas em papel grosso/pesado, branco mate, de muito boa qualidade.

É verdade que são apenas 20 páginas mas os artigos são interessante (ver abaixo a respectiva lista).

É um início. Esperemos que vingue, e que expanda o seu número de páginas e artigos.

 

Artigos:

- Apresentação (ler abaixo) – página 3

- Tarantula Tapes – artigo sobre esta editora canadiana de cassettes, mais ligada ao punk – páginas 4 e 5

- The 2000 Man: Jean-Jacques Perrey – artigo sobre este músico underground, nascido em 1929, pioneiro nas gravações e manipulações sonoras em cassette (interessante) – páginas 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 e 11

- Recensão à nova cassette dos Cabaret Voltaire “Shdaow of Fear” – página 12

- Cassettes Of Distinction (coluna) – começa com a Cassette dos The The – “Soul Mining”, que tem a particularidade de ter todo o álbum gravado no lado A da cassette (grande ideia!) – página 13

- Music on a Budget – coluna sobre a famosa editora Chevron Tapes – página 14, 15 e 16

- Lou Ottens (1926 – 2021) – Artigo / obituário do inventor da cassette (ler artigo abaixo) – página 17

- Recensão da  cassette de Paul Weller – “On Sunset”, de 2020 – página 18

- Explicação / justificação do aparecimento deste fanzine / revista – página 19

 

623

Cassette Gazette – Cassette Pirate (REVISTA)

Issue #1 £3.00

Editors: Mathew Woodall Contributors: Matthew Woodall, Terry Wilson, Dr. Andrew Weber Thank you: Joyce Materego, Marco Zanoni, Gary Knight, NRC Handelsblad, Koninklijke Philips N.V and all the cassette pirateers Contacts: cassettepirate@yahoo.com Printed by: Mixam UK Ltd. All contents © copyright Cassette Pirate 2021 ebay

N/aA

2021

Cassette Pirate (UK)

20

Revista / Fanzine / Cassette / Música / Suportes Musicais

N/A

Comprei no ebay por £3.00 + £3.00 de portes à +/- 8€ Em Maio / Junho de 1991   Cassette Pirate é mesmo o “nome” de um gajo que vende cassettes no eaby e que decidiu agora lançar esta revista…

 

Cassette Pirate

Cassette Gazette # 1

 

Welcome to the first issue of the Cassette Pirate ‘Cassette Gazette.’

For a potted history of how Cassette Pirate came to be here, please refer to the last page. Much like the origin of Cassette Pirate itself, the idea for a cassette-based journal has been knocking around in the back of my mind for some time.

I have always been an advocate of the fanzine, not only because it is free from the limitations of mainstream publications but also because its DIY ethic lends itself perfectly to the subversive glamour of home-taping as well as the warmth and intimacy of the home-made mix-tape.

Just the cassette tape (whether old or newly released) is niche and no longer mainstream, this journal is proud to be of similar standing.

As cassettes are portable, tactile and eminently analogue, I figured that most readers would appreciate the significance of a publication that imbues similar qualities.

That said, this journal is not intended to simply be a tedious nostalgia trip, but something more constructive and wide ranging, that can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for music and recorded sound in general.

Thank you again to all my loyal supporters over the years, who have inspired this title venture and welcome to the future of the cassette tape!

M.W.

 

LOU OTTENS (1926-2021)

It wouldn’t be right to launch the first issue of a cassette-based journal without mentioning Lou Ottens, the Dutch engineer responsible for the invention of the cassette tape, who died aged 94 at his home inn the village of Duizel in North Brabant on 6 March.

Ottens revolutionized the music industry, firstly with the cassette tape and later when he became involved in the invention of the CD. He remained modest about both accolades saying: ‘We were little boys who had fun playing. We didn’t feel like we were doing anything big. It was a kind of sport.’

Born in 1926, he demonstrated an early interest in engineering and electronics, building a radio as a teenager, enabling his family to receive Radio Oranje broadcasts during Germany’s wartime occupation of the Netherlands.

After the war, Ottens gained an engineering degree, and in 1952, began working at the Philips factory in Hasselt, Belgium. He became head of Product Development, and within a year had launched the EL 3585, a portable, battery-powered reel to reel recorder with a microphone. Although the EL 3585 sold well, handling reel to reel tapes remained fiddly. It was desire to create a simpler format that led Ottens to make the biggest breakthrough of his career.

‘The cassette tape was invented out of irritation about the existing tape recorder, it’s that simple,’ he said. His idea was to create something that would fit comfortably in his inside jacket pocket. In 1963 the first cassette tape was unveiled at an electronics fair in Berlin with the tagline ‘Smaller than a pack of cigarettes!’

Ottens had anticipated that cassettes would prove useful for industry or enthusiasts to record sound outdoors. He did not foresee the benefits of the home recording of music. ‘We expected it to be a success, not a revolution,’ he said.

An agreement was reached with Sony for the Philips patent to become standard. Since then, more than 100 billion cassette tapes have been sold.

Ottens revealed only one regret, which was that Sony and not Philips launched the first Walkman. ‘It still hurts that we didn’t have one,’ he said.

Regarding the renewed popularity of vinyl and more recently, cassette tapes, he said: ‘Nothing can match the sound of the CD. It is absolutely noise and rumble-free. That never worked with tape. I have made a lot of record players and I know that the distortion with vinyl is much higher. I think people mainly hear what they want to hear.’

M.W.