Ever wondered how we went from recording sound on steel wire to streaming millions of songs with a tap on our phones? In this nostalgia-filled episode, I take you on a journey through the forgotten audio formats that shaped how we listen to music.
Starting with wire recordings of the 1800s—thin steel wire capturing military communications and business meetings—we explore an array of fascinating technologies that time has largely forgotten. Remember Tefafone with its grooved plastic tape? How about the RCA tape cartridge that promised reel-to-reel quality without the hassle? We'll listen to actual recordings from these obsolete formats while discussing what made them unique and why they ultimately failed to capture the market.
Between deep dives into audio history, I share memories from my recent trip back to Chico, California, where I once lived. The bittersweet experience of returning to find beloved landmarks like Tower Records, Burger Hut, and the Oyve Bagel Company now gone speaks to how quickly our physical world changes—much like our music technology.
For Sacramento listeners, I'm thrilled to announce an exclusive partnership with Rock and Soul Diner at 1825 10th Street. Mention "Pat's Peeps" when you visit before September 30th and receive two-for-one dinner entrées Monday through Saturday from 5pm to close! It's a perfect example of how supporting local businesses creates a win-win for everyone in our community.
Whether you're an audiophile, a nostalgia buff, or simply curious about how we arrived at today's streaming services, this episode offers both technical insights and personal reflections on our ever-changing relationship with recorded sound. So grab your headphones (not your wire recorder!) and join me for this sonic journey through time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome my friends to the Pat's Peeps podcast.
Thank you, hey feels like aSaturday or Sunday to me.
It's August 25th 2025.
I'm looking out the studiowindows into the beautiful
foothills of Northern California, where it is hot out.
(00:41):
Man, it is a hot one today.
I have not spent a lot of timeoutside today because it's hot
and I'm trying to stay cool andrelaxed, which is something I
rarely do.
I rarely have an opportunity tojust relax and now I am.
Firmly, I am convinced, 100%,that all God's children have a
(01:08):
podcast.
As I've said that before,because I just saw this on TV,
pauly Shore has a podcast.
So when we have reached thosedepths, I'm sorry, I'm not a fan
.
I'm not a fan of this guy.
Pauly Shore is one of the onlypeople I've ever had to hang up
(01:28):
on my radio show.
I say you know what Click yougot to go, and if you're going
to come on my show, you have tohave at least, just at least a
slight bit of class.
Anyhow, I don't know himpersonally, but anyhow.
So that again is proof that weall have a podcast.
But I appreciate you listeningto mine.
(01:49):
This is number 321.
And the reason it feels like aweekend to me, and boy do I have
big news, big news, some of themost exciting news I've shared
with you on my podcast Number321, I'm on my vacation.
This is basically day one of myvacation because we just came
(02:11):
off the weekend, so I'm notdoing my show, by the way, I'm
the host of the Pat Walsh RadioShow, as heard on KFPK.
Well, the Pat Walsh Show heardon KFPK Radio in Sacramento,
93.1 FM 1530 AM.
Do you know, I am so very proudto be, as I understand it, the
last remaining.
It's kind of scary in a way,when the rest of the deck has
(02:33):
fallen and you're the last cardstanding nighttime local radio
talk show host on terrestrialradio.
So, thank you so much.
I'm applauding for myself.
I'm drinking ice water rightnow soon to become, I don't know
(02:54):
yet if I'm a beer mood or awine mood, but one or the other
I will be, uh, consuming herethis evening.
So there's the turkeys in thefront yard.
I got these turkeys, hi,turkeys, oops, scared him, sorry
, kind of startled me.
I looked up when I live, in themystery hut in the forest.
(03:16):
It's like Mutual of Omaha'sWild Kingdom, except Jim isn't
up in the tree wrestling somekind of a python, but it's.
It's like.
Yeah, it really is.
It's amazing, there's animalseverywhere.
I walk out my door.
I scare a buck.
He's sleeping on my propertyafter he's consumed all my
(03:36):
plants.
So thank you, little Bambi.
And well, bambi's not a buck.
Bambi was out there too, butall the the critters come
through.
In the morning I love standingout in the kitchen with my
coffee.
I do the French roast, the pourover, grind my beans and then I
have a little teapot and I domy pour over my French roast.
(03:59):
That's all I drink is Frenchroast.
I'm a coffee snob, that's all Ilike.
And I look outside and I seeall the little critters enjoying
their morning.
Little squirrels.
Squirrels are amazing, man,these things can climb.
Nothing can climb like asquirrel.
Be a couple little squirrelsout there playing with you know,
playing.
You know.
(04:20):
You'll see a whole bunch ofquails hanging out and they just
sit there and they peck at theground in a group.
The turkeys, like I say,they'll mosey on up here and you
look over there and you see thecat from next door and he's
eyeing the birds and the birdsare.
They don't have a sprinklergoing and they'll be like a
little hummingbird diving in,dive-bombing the water so we can
(04:46):
get a drink of water.
I love it.
I love seeing all the littlecritters up here.
So didn't mean to scare thelittle turkeys off.
Okay, you know I'm alwaystelling you about the businesses
we support.
I am very, very excited aboutthis.
Please do yourself a favor.
So there was this place.
I had a great meeting with Matt.
(05:07):
Yeah, matt, where's my buttons?
Huh, what if I can use mybuttons here?
Matt, there we go.
Matt owns some restaurants intown.
You probably know hisrestaurants.
I'm going to tell you about allof them soon but one of the
ones he is very, very proud ofis Rock and Soul Diner.
(05:31):
Rock and Soul Diner that'sR-O-C and Soul S-O-L Diner Okay
Diner and Bar where theycelebrate art and music.
Where they celebrate art andmusic.
This is at a beautiful location.
This is at 1825 10th Street,downtown Sacramento.
You can go online to rockrocn.
(05:52):
So it'd be rockrocn, just aletter N.
You don't have to get confusedabout all this.
I'm not trying to confuse you.
I promise Soldinerlife.
Now, that might be.
Maybe you can remember that,maybe you don't, but here's what
I recommend.
Please do yourself a favor.
(06:13):
You want to talk about awin-win.
You know how I was saying.
We're trying to support localbusiness and we're trying to
give you deals in inflationarytimes and always here at Pat's
Peeps.
Here is one great example Go inthere between now and September
30th.
This is Monday through Saturday5 pm to close Rock and Soul
(06:39):
Diner through September 30th.
If you go in there and you sayPat's Peeps, but you have to say
heard about you on Pat's Peeps,saw you on Pat's Peeps,
listened to, heard your name onPat's Peeps, pat vouches for
this place.
Whatever you want to say, butPat's Peeps is key.
And guess what?
(07:00):
You get two for one dinner.
Two for one.
Where's the button?
Okay, do you know how proud Iam of this Two for one entree?
This shows my friends that thisidea is now starting to work and
(07:20):
you will find great deals onall of our businesses which we
are growing.
And boy, wait till you hearwhat we're doing beyond this.
But two for one entree at thiswonderful place, rock and Soul
Diner.
Again, this is 1825 10th Street.
(07:40):
They'll win because you will gothere for their business.
You will find out about greatfood, art.
So they win because they getyour business.
You win because you get greatfood and you're going to get a
great experience.
Sacramento wins because we'resupporting local businesses.
(08:02):
If we support local businesses,people, you know what?
Hey, you're going to have toput people to work.
It's going to create a rippleeffect and we win as a business
at Pat's Peeps.
In that I could continue tosupport more and more businesses
, because every time someonelike Rock and Soul Diner and
Matt Haynes joins up with Pat'sPeeps, that tells another
(08:27):
business hey, wait a minute,what is this now?
This is an affordable way to beadvertised and endorsed.
Absolutely so, please.
Today is we're still in August,I take advantage right now.
Is we're still in August, Itake advantage right now.
I would say right now, go inthere this week, this weekend
(08:57):
and you know I'm never trying tobe selfish on my podcast, never
asked anyone for a penny for mypodcast.
If you would go in there, callhim, go in eat.
Yeah, hey, is it true I can gettwo for one dinner entree by
mentioning Pat's Peeps?
It is Hi, my name is Phil inthe blank.
Go in, it would mean so much tome.
Thank you, all right, I was soexcited to tell you guys that.
(09:19):
Wow, so please go.
Yesterday I went to visit my oldstomping grounds.
My brother needed to get out ofthe house and my brother, steve
and I decided we'd take a tripup to Chico.
We lived there for I don't know.
I think I lived there 12 years,maybe a little, between Orland
and Chico.
(09:39):
I lived there a number of years.
We'll put it that way Let meget a drink.
That ice water tastes so good.
I've been drinking so muchwater.
Hope you are too.
You know, orlin has kind ofstayed the same.
It's kind of just exactly how Iremember it, but there's some
new businesses that are poppingup there that are really great.
(10:01):
Chico, on the other hand, haschanged a lot.
It was nice to be there.
I have such good memories.
But one of the great memories Ihave of Chico, and one of the
things that has changed, isBidwell Mansion.
Isn't there?
Remember the fire?
What was it last year when somemoron decided, well, he
(10:21):
personally had had enough of thehistoric Bidwell Mansion right
by Chico State and went over andtorched it.
That beautiful bit of historythere in Chico.
So anyhow, that was kind of sadto see that.
You know things to me, thingsthat have changed since I was
there.
There used to be the TowerRecords gone.
(10:43):
I sound like Armand Muellestahlin Avalon.
I was there, I know it wasthere.
I wasn't dreaming.
Sundance Records used to bethere.
I didn't see Sundance Recordsanymore.
That was a big hangout.
Morning Thunder Cafe it was areally nice cafe Gone Oyve Bagel
(11:07):
Company, the Oyve Bagel Cafe orRestaurant.
Originally it was Oyve Bageland Company.
They did the bagels and thenopened this restaurant right on
the corner.
They're in downtown Chico,right near Madison Bear Garden,
and I remember eating there themorning after Buster Douglas
(11:28):
shocked the world and beat MikeTyson, who seemingly was
unbeatable at the time.
Isn't that weird how he canstick certain memories with
places where we were, things wewere thinking that day Anyhow.
So that's gone.
If anyone lives in Chico orlived back there in Chico in
those days, you know what I'mtalking about.
Then we go down the one street.
There was a town lounge.
(11:49):
I didn't even look up in timeto see if it was still there.
I think it might be.
But then there was anotherplace on the corner which used
to be the Monta Vista at onetime.
Then it became third and up andthen it went from third and up
to the top flight ballroom andthis was the place man you would
make the rounds in Chico duringa certain time in the 80s, in
(12:13):
the 90s, maybe even into the2000s maybe, but I was back in
Sacramento by then, so not somuch I don't know what was going
on.
I'm sure it was still going on,but it'd be Madison Bear Garden
.
You know the Grad?
Oh man, I remember watchingThriller on the big video screen
.
At the Grad You'd have a Gradburger and a beer.
(12:35):
How about Haywan Burritos?
I don't think the Grad is stillthere.
Don't hold me to that, but Ididn't check on that.
I don't think it's still there.
Burger Hut is gone.
Man, I used to love this place.
Burger Hut, right there onHighway 32, had these great
flame broiled burgers.
You get a big basket of friesGone, our Fish and Company
(13:01):
chicken lips businesses thatmean nothing to anyone.
I hope the Italian cottage isstill there, but they are
memories to me.
The downtown plaza has changed.
There's one of those big circleroundabouts in town now Never
used to be there Bidwell Park,the original Sherwood Forest in
(13:24):
the movie Robin Hood, in theoriginal Robin Hood.
It is a beautiful park.
My brother Steve, who loves tocrank his music man.
Anyhow, I think they have shutdown the road.
We went to one mile and then wedrove through Bidwell Park as
far as we could, but you justcan't drive through there
(13:45):
anymore.
There's no driving throughthere like there used to be.
I don't know, maybe they'veopened it back up.
I don't think so.
We cut out because I think wethought that it was closed off
to cars.
We didn't see it closed.
But so much good time in thatpark and that's up there before
you get to Bear Hole and BrownHole and all those places where
(14:05):
the guy decided he'd push hisburning car down the ravine and
start the largest fire in thehistory of California.
So a couple of terrible arsonfires that happened up there at
that time.
But it was nice to get up there.
I know that my brother neededto get out of the house.
All the music that my brotherplayed all the way there which
(14:25):
was, by the way, just rock, onlyno breaks, like no.
I mean just you know he's intothe rock, but anyhow what he
played he goes.
I got like 6,000 songs.
It's amazing.
And you know these are allthings that he downloaded off
Spotify.
And so the entire drive toChico we're listening to a
(14:47):
Spotify.
My Spotify is very eclectic andagain, that's as if I'm driving
by myself or, depending on whoI'm driving with, I'm very
selective.
But I don't just listen toSpotify.
I listen to all kinds ofdifferent things, but I'll mix
(15:07):
it up a little bit.
I can be listening to DeanMartin, even I can be listening
to Led Zeppelin, whatever, butSteve, it's straight up rock the
whole way, the whole way, whichis fine.
I mean, that's what he's into.
I'm the, I'm the passenger, sothat's fine.
But I was thinking about itbecause, you know, here he is
playing it on Spotify.
You know, we used to play it offof 8-track.
(15:29):
We used to have that, craig,you know cassette or 8-track
play in our cars.
Remember that If we grew up ina certain time, you know what
I'm talking about.
You get that, craig.
My brother, steve, is like yeah, man, I remember when you had
that stereo system in your GrandTorino, your 76 Torino, and you
had those big house speakers inthe backseat, I had literally
(15:51):
these big house box speakers.
I'd go down the road crankingUFO, zappa, all of these, and I
said, yeah, that sounded good.
He goes yeah, it sounded reallygood, it inspired me.
Now I always have great stereosin my car.
He said.
And I was thinking about someof the other formats.
(16:17):
Of course there's been therecord player.
Yes, many of us grew up.
Many of you don't even knowwhat I'm talking about when I
say an 8-track.
Now cassettes, of coursecassettes.
There was laser discs, I don'tthink for music, but CDs okay,
you know iPods.
But now we are to the pointwhere you can just use your
(16:41):
phone and there's all thesethings.
But looking back over time, Ithought about some of the other
ways that people listened tomusic and recorded themselves.
Some of them, very, very all ofthem, interesting to me.
If you go back into the 1800s,for instance, let's go back.
Then you had the wirerecordings.
This was the earliest practicalapplication of magnetic
(17:09):
recording technology and itrecorded the audio on this very
thin steel wire that passedacross the recording head.
But although the concept of themagnetic recording dates back
to the late 19th century, thesewire recorders became
commercially viable and verypopular in the 1940s.
They actually served asessential tools for military
(17:32):
communication, dictation,documentation, recording
meetings, taking inventory andsuch.
But despite their innovativedesign, these wire recordings
had limitations.
They were fragile, very lowfidelity, difficult to edit on
these things, which led to theirreplacement, of course, by the
(17:53):
magnetic tape of the 40s and 50s.
Well, let's take a listen toall of these.
This is a wire recording here.
Let's take a listen to a wirerecording 1800s.
Wire recording on Pat's Peeps321.
(18:45):
Then came the 1930s and a newtechnology.
It was called Tefafone.
Tefafone was a very uniqueaudio format introduced from
Germany in the 1940s.
Can you imagine Combiningelements of both tape and vinyl
(19:06):
technology?
Unlike conventional tapecartridges, the Tefafone
cartridges contain an endlessloop of plastic tape with some
grooves which allow playback ona stylus, kind of like a
phonograph, like a record.
It was originally developed formilitary use to transmit long
messages.
Tefafone was later thenmarketed to the public, offering
(19:27):
up to four hours of music percartridge, which was ideal for
classical works, compilationsand if you wanted to continue to
listen.
But format struggled, at leastcommercially.
Vinyl records took over.
Here is a Tefafone recording.
By this time vinyl records hadbecome the dominant medium,
(20:19):
supported by the artistcontracts, widespread consumer
adoption.
So the tefafone machines andthe cartridges remained just
kind of a niche product and thenin the 60s they fizzled out.
That was the end of theTefafone.
Then in the 1950s 1958, it wasinvented.
(20:44):
The RCA tape cartridge wasdesigned.
This was supposed to be veryconvenient.
This is kind of an alternativeto these big, bulky reel-to-reel
tape machines, which is another, and by the way, those were
really good sound quality.
I always thought the tapemachines, the reel-to-reels, but
they were cumbersome and toughto deal with.
But this offered high-fidelityaudio in a preloaded
(21:08):
ready-to-play format.
And these cartridges containedhalf-inch magnetic tape which
was housed in a rectangular case, allowed listeners to enjoy
reel-to-reel quality without thehassle of threading the tape
manually the hassle of threadingthe tape manually.
(21:30):
So here is a recording from theRCA tape cartridge.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Here's a little commercial for it.
Actually A baby's first wordsthe glory of stereophonic sound.
You can record both on tapewith this RCA Victor tape
cartridge recorder.
Rca Victor tape recorders areso easy to operate.
You can actually do itblindfolded.
Just snap in the cartridge,turn the dials and you're all
(22:03):
set to record or play.
What you're hearing now is apre-recorded tape cartridge.
This is the newest way to enjoyfine music.
See the full line of RCA Victortape cartridge recorders.
They start from as little as$99.95 for this monophonic model
At your RCA Victor dealersMonophonic model.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
That is cool, but despite the technical promise it
suffered this format from badtiming.
Five years later, in 63,phillips launched the compact
cassette smaller, more versatile, and that of course, as we know
, became the standard.
In 1964 there was a new thinginvented, was called the Saba
(22:47):
mobile, again from Germany,german electronics Saba.
This company from Germanyattempts to stake its claim in
the emerging market for in-carstereo with Saba mobile.
Almost sounds like something wehear now.
The format itself a magnetictape cartridge resembling a
hybrid between a VHS tape and acompact cassette compatible with
(23:13):
four-track tapes.
That's another format wehaven't talked about and
designed specifically forautomobile use, specifically for
automobiles.
And so these players.
They included a built-in radioand speakers usually, and had
like a self-containedentertainment system for drivers
, very expensive at the time.
(23:34):
But ultimately they lose out tothe more affordable, widely
adopted yes 8-track, which againbecame the standard for the 60s
and the 70s.
But I thought we could listento some.
Saba Mobile 1964.
Here you go Saba Mobile, pat'sPeeps 321.
(24:27):
Moving into the later 60sPlaytapes Compact two-track
magnetic tape cartridges 1921,.
Moving into the later 60s playtapes Compact two-track magnetic
tape cartridges introduced in66.
Smaller, more portablealternative to the larger
four-track cartridges.
Tiny little size Made them veryappealing for your home, for
(24:50):
the car and even some carmanufacturers, even Volkswagen,
offered Playtape players as anoption for their audio equipment
.
They got a modest lineup ofartists who actually released
recordings specifically onPlaytape.
So for a little bit there theywere kind of popular.
But again the 4-track, the8-track, eventually the compact,
(25:12):
this whole stuff overshadowedthem and by the 70s they were
gone from the market.
Here's some play tape, if youask me.
(25:36):
It almost sounds like ananswering machine.
That kind of quality.
All right, continuing on here.
How are you?
Happy Monday, by the way.
Mighty tinies this isincredibly odd.
Following the introduction ofmajor audio formats, children's
novelty recordings often emergeas an offshoot.
(25:59):
In the era of vinyl, thisinnovation came in the form of
Ohio Art Company's Mighty Tinies.
It was originally released byPointer Products and this
company was known for gimmicktoys.
As you'll find out, I guess itwas later licensed to Ohio Art
and these miniature records.
(26:19):
They were little tiny records,vinyl records in little mini
vinyl record covers.
They were pretty cool looking,actually Just two inches in
diameter and each held 30 to 40seconds of music.
And you get this accompanyingrecord player, a little tiny
handheld record player opened uplike a flip phone, with a
(26:44):
built-in stereo sound.
Air quotes ran on a single AAbattery.
These were sold in multi-packs.
Over 50 titles were produced intotal.
Here you go.
Here's a little mighty tiny,smallest record player in the
world.
You know, as I move on to thisnext one, this one to me sounded
(27:22):
really nice, but the 70s analogand stuff to me sounded
beautiful, beautiful.
This is a good example of it.
I had never heard of the ElCassette.
El Cassette, mid-70s, compactcassettes surging in popularity.
Sony, panasonic and TIACgrowing concerned that the small
(27:45):
cassettes audio quality couldnever match that of a
reel-to-reel tape.
So what are they going to doabout it?
Well, they're going to inventElcalax, elcassette, elcalax,
elcassette, elcalax, a largercassette-like format combining
convenience of cassettes withwider tape and higher fidelity.
So if you were an audiophile,they were looking for you,
(28:11):
looking for superior soundwithout the complexity of
reel-to-reel decks.
This had its technicaladvantage.
However, the L-Cassettestruggled to gain mainstream
popularity when it was released.
The advancements in standardcassette technology, better tape
(28:31):
formulations, noise reduction Ialways remember that, so that
kind of narrowed the quality gap.
So the L cassette said bye-bye.
But listen now I think thissounds really good.
Here's the L cassette 1978.
Oh, skip, edge, I love thissong.
(29:10):
Oh galoo.
So that is the El Cossette 1978.
And a couple of final thingshere.
(29:31):
If you go to 88, this is alittle bit different, actually,
pocket Rockers, an 80s noveltyby Fisher Price.
Pocket Rockers I don't know,fisher Price was a kid's toy,
wasn't it?
Mini cassette-style tapesdesigned for elementary school
kids, smaller than an 8-track.
(29:52):
Each cartridge contained twomono tracks, typically featuring
contemporary pop stars Madonna,michael Jackson, some others.
They had these really nicemulticolored players which
little girls maybe would wear asaccessories.
Put them on their clothing,clip them on and they would turn
(30:14):
music, listening into apersonal and fashion statement.
And this was launched in themid-80s, discontinued in the
1990s, by the way.
Today these little thingsremain highly collectible.
They love these.
Here's a commercial for thePocket Rockers 88.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Introducing Pocket Rockers Tiny tapes, tiny players
Down on the corner, out in thestreet, pocket Rockers Playing
with music.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, that's before Fogarty had the rights to his
songs there.
Huh, Feel the beat PocketRockers Playing here.
Where On anywhere Down?
Feel the beat Pocket RockersPlay them here?
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Wear them anywhere Down on the corner.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, because all the kids are listening to remade
Creedence songs done by somerandom pop group production
group.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Out in the street.
Pocket Rockers Play it when themusic feels the beat.
Tiny players, tiny tapes.
Pocket Rockers.
Tapes and accessories soldseparately.
Batteries not included fromFisher.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
From Fisher Price, wow.
And finally in 2000,.
Hit Clips, late 90s, 2000,.
Tiger Electronics, targetingthe teen market with Hit Clips.
It was a compact, collectiblemusic player, served as a well,
I guess, I guess Is it like apocket rocker, I mean, I think
(31:33):
maybe the successor, since itcame later.
These devices played 60-secondsong snippets.
Can you imagine that You'rejust getting into the song and
it stops?
Whoa, wait, 60-second songsnippets via a microchip
cartridge designed specificallyfor the player featuring britney
(31:55):
spears in sync pink.
And the cartridges includeclips for attaching to backpacks
or maybe to your keychain oryour belt loop.
So they were portable and,again, fashion accessories and
(32:17):
they were around for a while.
But their affordability, theiraccessibility, helped this
format achieve some prettyimpressive sales.
They sold over 30 million ofthese Hit Clips.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Hit it.
Coming at you right between theears is Hit Clips, music to get
you grooving.
Hit Clips with the micro boombox.
Load the mother load.
(32:48):
You could see he's the way youlove me.
Some of these songs availablenow More this fall.
You can collect them all Hitclips, each sold separately.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Or at least 60 seconds of the song.
Anyhow, speaking of music, Ipulled this record from my rare
45 shelves.
Welcome my friends to the Pat's Peeps podcast.
Thank you, hey feels like aSaturday or Sunday to me.
It's August 25th 2025.
I'm looking out the studiowindows into the beautiful
foothills of Northern California, where it is hot out.
(00:41):
Man, it is a hot one today.
I have not spent a lot of timeoutside today because it's hot
and I'm trying to stay cool andrelaxed, which is something I
rarely do.
I rarely have an opportunity tojust relax and now I am.
Firmly, I am convinced, 100%,that all God's children have a
(01:08):
podcast.
As I've said that before,because I just saw this on TV,
pauly Shore has a podcast.
So when we have reached thosedepths, I'm sorry, I'm not a fan
.
I'm not a fan of this guy.
Pauly Shore is one of the onlypeople I've ever had to hang up
(01:28):
on my radio show.
I say you know what Click yougot to go, and if you're going
to come on my show, you have tohave at least, just at least a
slight bit of class.
Anyhow, I don't know himpersonally, but anyhow.
So that again is proof that weall have a podcast.
But I appreciate you listeningto mine.
(01:49):
This is number 321.
And the reason it feels like aweekend to me, and boy do I have
big news, big news, some of themost exciting news I've shared
with you on my podcast Number321, I'm on my vacation.
This is basically day one of myvacation because we just came
(02:11):
off the weekend, so I'm notdoing my show, by the way, I'm
the host of the Pat Walsh RadioShow, as heard on KFPK.
Well, the Pat Walsh Show heardon KFPK Radio in Sacramento,
93.1 FM 1530 AM.
Do you know, I am so very proudto be, as I understand it, the
last remaining.
It's kind of scary in a way,when the rest of the deck has
(02:33):
fallen and you're the last cardstanding nighttime local radio
talk show host on terrestrialradio.
So, thank you so much.
I'm applauding for myself.
I'm drinking ice water rightnow soon to become, I don't know
(02:54):
yet if I'm a beer mood or awine mood, but one or the other
I will be, uh, consuming herethis evening.
So there's the turkeys in thefront yard.
I got these turkeys, hi,turkeys, oops, scared him, sorry
, kind of startled me.
I looked up when I live, in themystery hut in the forest.
(03:16):
It's like Mutual of Omaha'sWild Kingdom, except Jim isn't
up in the tree wrestling somekind of a python, but it's.
It's like.
Yeah, it really is.
It's amazing, there's animalseverywhere.
I walk out my door.
I scare a buck.
He's sleeping on my propertyafter he's consumed all my
(03:36):
plants.
So thank you, little Bambi.
And well, bambi's not a buck.
Bambi was out there too, butall the the critters come
through.
In the morning I love standingout in the kitchen with my
coffee.
I do the French roast, the pourover, grind my beans and then I
have a little teapot and I domy pour over my French roast.
(03:59):
That's all I drink is Frenchroast.
I'm a coffee snob, that's all Ilike.
And I look outside and I seeall the little critters enjoying
their morning.
Little squirrels.
Squirrels are amazing, man,these things can climb.
Nothing can climb like asquirrel.
Be a couple little squirrelsout there playing with you know,
playing.
You know.
(04:20):
You'll see a whole bunch ofquails hanging out and they just
sit there and they peck at theground in a group.
The turkeys, like I say,they'll mosey on up here and you
look over there and you see thecat from next door and he's
eyeing the birds and the birdsare.
They don't have a sprinklergoing and they'll be like a
little hummingbird diving in,dive-bombing the water so we can
(04:46):
get a drink of water.
I love it.
I love seeing all the littlecritters up here.
So didn't mean to scare thelittle turkeys off.
Okay, you know I'm alwaystelling you about the businesses
we support.
I am very, very excited aboutthis.
Please do yourself a favor.
So there was this place.
I had a great meeting with Matt.
(05:07):
Yeah, matt, where's my buttons?
Huh, what if I can use mybuttons here?
Matt, there we go.
Matt owns some restaurants intown.
You probably know hisrestaurants.
I'm going to tell you about allof them soon but one of the
ones he is very, very proud ofis Rock and Soul Diner.
(05:31):
Rock and Soul Diner that'sR-O-C and Soul S-O-L Diner Okay
Diner and Bar where theycelebrate art and music.
Where they celebrate art andmusic.
This is at a beautiful location.
This is at 1825 10th Street,downtown Sacramento.
You can go online to rockrocn.
(05:52):
So it'd be rockrocn, just aletter N.
You don't have to get confusedabout all this.
I'm not trying to confuse you.
I promise Soldinerlife.
Now, that might be.
Maybe you can remember that,maybe you don't, but here's what
I recommend.
Please do yourself a favor.
(06:13):
You want to talk about awin-win.
You know how I was saying.
We're trying to support localbusiness and we're trying to
give you deals in inflationarytimes and always here at Pat's
Peeps.
Here is one great example Go inthere between now and September
30th.
This is Monday through Saturday5 pm to close Rock and Soul
(06:39):
Diner through September 30th.
If you go in there and you sayPat's Peeps, but you have to say
heard about you on Pat's Peeps,saw you on Pat's Peeps,
listened to, heard your name onPat's Peeps, pat vouches for
this place.
Whatever you want to say, butPat's Peeps is key.
And guess what?
(07:00):
You get two for one dinner.
Two for one.
Where's the button?
Okay, do you know how proud Iam of this Two for one entree?
This shows my friends that thisidea is now starting to work and
(07:20):
you will find great deals onall of our businesses which we
are growing.
And boy, wait till you hearwhat we're doing beyond this.
But two for one entree at thiswonderful place, rock and Soul
Diner.
Again, this is 1825 10th Street.
(07:40):
They'll win because you will gothere for their business.
You will find out about greatfood, art.
So they win because they getyour business.
You win because you get greatfood and you're going to get a
great experience.
Sacramento wins because we'resupporting local businesses.
(08:02):
If we support local businesses,people, you know what?
Hey, you're going to have toput people to work.
It's going to create a rippleeffect and we win as a business
at Pat's Peeps.
In that I could continue tosupport more and more businesses
, because every time someonelike Rock and Soul Diner and
Matt Haynes joins up with Pat'sPeeps, that tells another
(08:27):
business hey, wait a minute,what is this now?
This is an affordable way to beadvertised and endorsed.
Absolutely so, please.
Today is we're still in August,I take advantage right now.
Is we're still in August, Itake advantage right now.
I would say right now, go inthere this week, this weekend
(08:57):
and you know I'm never trying tobe selfish on my podcast, never
asked anyone for a penny for mypodcast.
If you would go in there, callhim, go in eat.
Yeah, hey, is it true I can gettwo for one dinner entree by
mentioning Pat's Peeps?
It is Hi, my name is Phil inthe blank.
Go in, it would mean so much tome.
Thank you, all right, I was soexcited to tell you guys that.
(09:19):
Wow, so please go.
Yesterday I went to visit my oldstomping grounds.
My brother needed to get out ofthe house and my brother, steve
and I decided we'd take a tripup to Chico.
We lived there for I don't know.
I think I lived there 12 years,maybe a little, between Orland
and Chico.
(09:39):
I lived there a number of years.
We'll put it that way Let meget a drink.
That ice water tastes so good.
I've been drinking so muchwater.
Hope you are too.
You know, orlin has kind ofstayed the same.
It's kind of just exactly how Iremember it, but there's some
new businesses that are poppingup there that are really great.
(10:01):
Chico, on the other hand, haschanged a lot.
It was nice to be there.
I have such good memories.
But one of the great memories Ihave of Chico, and one of the
things that has changed, isBidwell Mansion.
Isn't there?
Remember the fire?
What was it last year when somemoron decided, well, he
(10:21):
personally had had enough of thehistoric Bidwell Mansion right
by Chico State and went over andtorched it.
That beautiful bit of historythere in Chico.
So anyhow, that was kind of sadto see that.
You know things to me, thingsthat have changed since I was
there.
There used to be the TowerRecords gone.
(10:43):
I sound like Armand Muellestahlin Avalon.
I was there, I know it wasthere.
I wasn't dreaming.
Sundance Records used to bethere.
I didn't see Sundance Recordsanymore.
That was a big hangout.
Morning Thunder Cafe it was areally nice cafe Gone Oyve Bagel
(11:07):
Company, the Oyve Bagel Cafe orRestaurant.
Originally it was Oyve Bageland Company.
They did the bagels and thenopened this restaurant right on
the corner.
They're in downtown Chico,right near Madison Bear Garden,
and I remember eating there themorning after Buster Douglas
(11:28):
shocked the world and beat MikeTyson, who seemingly was
unbeatable at the time.
Isn't that weird how he canstick certain memories with
places where we were, things wewere thinking that day Anyhow.
So that's gone.
If anyone lives in Chico orlived back there in Chico in
those days, you know what I'mtalking about.
Then we go down the one street.
There was a town lounge.
(11:49):
I didn't even look up in timeto see if it was still there.
I think it might be.
But then there was anotherplace on the corner which used
to be the Monta Vista at onetime.
Then it became third and up andthen it went from third and up
to the top flight ballroom andthis was the place man you would
make the rounds in Chico duringa certain time in the 80s, in
(12:13):
the 90s, maybe even into the2000s maybe, but I was back in
Sacramento by then, so not somuch I don't know what was going
on.
I'm sure it was still going on,but it'd be Madison Bear Garden
.
You know the Grad?
Oh man, I remember watchingThriller on the big video screen
.
At the Grad You'd have a Gradburger and a beer.
(12:35):
How about Haywan Burritos?
I don't think the Grad is stillthere.
Don't hold me to that, but Ididn't check on that.
I don't think it's still there.
Burger Hut is gone.
Man, I used to love this place.
Burger Hut, right there onHighway 32, had these great
flame broiled burgers.
You get a big basket of friesGone, our Fish and Company
(13:01):
chicken lips businesses thatmean nothing to anyone.
I hope the Italian cottage isstill there, but they are
memories to me.
The downtown plaza has changed.
There's one of those big circleroundabouts in town now Never
used to be there Bidwell Park,the original Sherwood Forest in
(13:24):
the movie Robin Hood, in theoriginal Robin Hood.
It is a beautiful park.
My brother Steve, who loves tocrank his music man.
Anyhow, I think they have shutdown the road.
We went to one mile and then wedrove through Bidwell Park as
far as we could, but you justcan't drive through there
(13:45):
anymore.
There's no driving throughthere like there used to be.
I don't know, maybe they'veopened it back up.
I don't think so.
We cut out because I think wethought that it was closed off
to cars.
We didn't see it closed.
But so much good time in thatpark and that's up there before
you get to Bear Hole and BrownHole and all those places where
(14:05):
the guy decided he'd push hisburning car down the ravine and
start the largest fire in thehistory of California.
So a couple of terrible arsonfires that happened up there at
that time.
But it was nice to get up there.
I know that my brother neededto get out of the house.
All the music that my brotherplayed all the way there which
(14:25):
was, by the way, just rock, onlyno breaks, like no.
I mean just you know he's intothe rock, but anyhow what he
played he goes.
I got like 6,000 songs.
It's amazing.
And you know these are allthings that he downloaded off
Spotify.
And so the entire drive toChico we're listening to a
(14:47):
Spotify.
My Spotify is very eclectic andagain, that's as if I'm driving
by myself or, depending on whoI'm driving with, I'm very
selective.
But I don't just listen toSpotify.
I listen to all kinds ofdifferent things, but I'll mix
(15:07):
it up a little bit.
I can be listening to DeanMartin, even I can be listening
to Led Zeppelin, whatever, butSteve, it's straight up rock the
whole way, the whole way, whichis fine.
I mean, that's what he's into.
I'm the, I'm the passenger, sothat's fine.
But I was thinking about itbecause, you know, here he is
playing it on Spotify.
You know, we used to play it offof 8-track.
(15:29):
We used to have that, craig,you know cassette or 8-track
play in our cars.
Remember that If we grew up ina certain time, you know what
I'm talking about.
You get that, craig.
My brother, steve, is like yeah, man, I remember when you had
that stereo system in your GrandTorino, your 76 Torino, and you
had those big house speakers inthe backseat, I had literally
(15:51):
these big house box speakers.
I'd go down the road crankingUFO, zappa, all of these, and I
said, yeah, that sounded good.
He goes yeah, it sounded reallygood, it inspired me.
Now I always have great stereosin my car.
He said.
And I was thinking about someof the other formats.
(16:17):
Of course there's been therecord player.
Yes, many of us grew up.
Many of you don't even knowwhat I'm talking about when I
say an 8-track.
Now cassettes, of coursecassettes.
There was laser discs, I don'tthink for music, but CDs okay,
you know iPods.
But now we are to the pointwhere you can just use your
(16:41):
phone and there's all thesethings.
But looking back over time, Ithought about some of the other
ways that people listened tomusic and recorded themselves.
Some of them, very, very all ofthem, interesting to me.
If you go back into the 1800s,for instance, let's go back.
Then you had the wirerecordings.
This was the earliest practicalapplication of magnetic
(17:09):
recording technology and itrecorded the audio on this very
thin steel wire that passedacross the recording head.
But although the concept of themagnetic recording dates back
to the late 19th century, thesewire recorders became
commercially viable and verypopular in the 1940s.
They actually served asessential tools for military
(17:32):
communication, dictation,documentation, recording
meetings, taking inventory andsuch.
But despite their innovativedesign, these wire recordings
had limitations.
They were fragile, very lowfidelity, difficult to edit on
these things, which led to theirreplacement, of course, by the
(17:53):
magnetic tape of the 40s and 50s.
Well, let's take a listen toall of these.
This is a wire recording here.
Let's take a listen to a wirerecording 1800s.
Wire recording on Pat's Peeps321.
(18:45):
Then came the 1930s and a newtechnology.
It was called Tefafone.
Tefafone was a very uniqueaudio format introduced from
Germany in the 1940s.
Can you imagine Combiningelements of both tape and vinyl
(19:06):
technology?
Unlike conventional tapecartridges, the Tefafone
cartridges contain an endlessloop of plastic tape with some
grooves which allow playback ona stylus, kind of like a
phonograph, like a record.
It was originally developed formilitary use to transmit long
messages.
Tefafone was later thenmarketed to the public, offering
(19:27):
up to four hours of music percartridge, which was ideal for
classical works, compilationsand if you wanted to continue to
listen.
But format struggled, at leastcommercially.
Vinyl records took over.
Here is a Tefafone recording.
By this time vinyl records hadbecome the dominant medium,
(20:19):
supported by the artistcontracts, widespread consumer
adoption.
So the tefafone machines andthe cartridges remained just
kind of a niche product and thenin the 60s they fizzled out.
That was the end of theTefafone.
Then in the 1950s 1958, it wasinvented.
(20:44):
The RCA tape cartridge wasdesigned.
This was supposed to be veryconvenient.
This is kind of an alternativeto these big, bulky reel-to-reel
tape machines, which is another, and by the way, those were
really good sound quality.
I always thought the tapemachines, the reel-to-reels, but
they were cumbersome and toughto deal with.
But this offered high-fidelityaudio in a preloaded
(21:08):
ready-to-play format.
And these cartridges containedhalf-inch magnetic tape which
was housed in a rectangular case, allowed listeners to enjoy
reel-to-reel quality without thehassle of threading the tape
manually the hassle of threadingthe tape manually.
(21:30):
So here is a recording from theRCA tape cartridge.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Here's a little commercial for it.
Actually A baby's first wordsthe glory of stereophonic sound.
You can record both on tapewith this RCA Victor tape
cartridge recorder.
Rca Victor tape recorders areso easy to operate.
You can actually do itblindfolded.
Just snap in the cartridge,turn the dials and you're all
(22:03):
set to record or play.
What you're hearing now is apre-recorded tape cartridge.
This is the newest way to enjoyfine music.
See the full line of RCA Victortape cartridge recorders.
They start from as little as$99.95 for this monophonic model
At your RCA Victor dealersMonophonic model.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
That is cool, but despite the technical promise it
suffered this format from badtiming.
Five years later, in 63,phillips launched the compact
cassette smaller, more versatile, and that of course, as we know
, became the standard.
In 1964 there was a new thinginvented, was called the Saba
(22:47):
mobile, again from Germany,german electronics Saba.
This company from Germanyattempts to stake its claim in
the emerging market for in-carstereo with Saba mobile.
Almost sounds like something wehear now.
The format itself a magnetictape cartridge resembling a
hybrid between a VHS tape and acompact cassette compatible with
(23:13):
four-track tapes.
That's another format wehaven't talked about and
designed specifically forautomobile use, specifically for
automobiles.
And so these players.
They included a built-in radioand speakers usually, and had
like a self-containedentertainment system for drivers
, very expensive at the time.
(23:34):
But ultimately they lose out tothe more affordable, widely
adopted yes 8-track, which againbecame the standard for the 60s
and the 70s.
But I thought we could listento some.
Saba Mobile 1964.
Here you go Saba Mobile, pat'sPeeps 321.
(24:27):
Moving into the later 60sPlaytapes Compact two-track
magnetic tape cartridges 1921,.
Moving into the later 60s playtapes Compact two-track magnetic
tape cartridges introduced in66.
Smaller, more portablealternative to the larger
four-track cartridges.
Tiny little size Made them veryappealing for your home, for
(24:50):
the car and even some carmanufacturers, even Volkswagen,
offered Playtape players as anoption for their audio equipment
.
They got a modest lineup ofartists who actually released
recordings specifically onPlaytape.
So for a little bit there theywere kind of popular.
But again the 4-track, the8-track, eventually the compact,
(25:12):
this whole stuff overshadowedthem and by the 70s they were
gone from the market.
Here's some play tape, if youask me.
(25:36):
It almost sounds like ananswering machine.
That kind of quality.
All right, continuing on here.
How are you?
Happy Monday, by the way.
Mighty tinies this isincredibly odd.
Following the introduction ofmajor audio formats, children's
novelty recordings often emergeas an offshoot.
(25:59):
In the era of vinyl, thisinnovation came in the form of
Ohio Art Company's Mighty Tinies.
It was originally released byPointer Products and this
company was known for gimmicktoys.
As you'll find out, I guess itwas later licensed to Ohio Art
and these miniature records.
(26:19):
They were little tiny records,vinyl records in little mini
vinyl record covers.
They were pretty cool looking,actually Just two inches in
diameter and each held 30 to 40seconds of music.
And you get this accompanyingrecord player, a little tiny
handheld record player opened uplike a flip phone, with a
(26:44):
built-in stereo sound.
Air quotes ran on a single AAbattery.
These were sold in multi-packs.
Over 50 titles were produced intotal.
Here you go.
Here's a little mighty tiny,smallest record player in the
world.
You know, as I move on to thisnext one, this one to me sounded
(27:22):
really nice, but the 70s analogand stuff to me sounded
beautiful, beautiful.
This is a good example of it.
I had never heard of the ElCassette.
El Cassette, mid-70s, compactcassettes surging in popularity.
Sony, panasonic and TIACgrowing concerned that the small
(27:45):
cassettes audio quality couldnever match that of a
reel-to-reel tape.
So what are they going to doabout it?
Well, they're going to inventElcalax, elcassette, elcalax,
elcassette, elcalax, a largercassette-like format combining
convenience of cassettes withwider tape and higher fidelity.
So if you were an audiophile,they were looking for you,
(28:11):
looking for superior soundwithout the complexity of
reel-to-reel decks.
This had its technicaladvantage.
However, the L-Cassettestruggled to gain mainstream
popularity when it was released.
The advancements in standardcassette technology, better tape
(28:31):
formulations, noise reduction Ialways remember that, so that
kind of narrowed the quality gap.
So the L cassette said bye-bye.
But listen now I think thissounds really good.
Here's the L cassette 1978.
Oh, skip, edge, I love thissong.
(29:10):
Oh galoo.
So that is the El Cossette 1978.
And a couple of final thingshere.
(29:31):
If you go to 88, this is alittle bit different, actually,
pocket Rockers, an 80s noveltyby Fisher Price.
Pocket Rockers I don't know,fisher Price was a kid's toy,
wasn't it?
Mini cassette-style tapesdesigned for elementary school
kids, smaller than an 8-track.
(29:52):
Each cartridge contained twomono tracks, typically featuring
contemporary pop stars Madonna,michael Jackson, some others.
They had these really nicemulticolored players which
little girls maybe would wear asaccessories.
Put them on their clothing,clip them on and they would turn
(30:14):
music, listening into apersonal and fashion statement.
And this was launched in themid-80s, discontinued in the
1990s, by the way.
Today these little thingsremain highly collectible.
They love these.
Here's a commercial for thePocket Rockers 88.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Introducing Pocket Rockers Tiny tapes, tiny players
Down on the corner, out in thestreet, pocket Rockers Playing
with music.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, that's before Fogarty had the rights to his
songs there.
Huh, Feel the beat PocketRockers Playing here.
Where On anywhere Down?
Feel the beat Pocket RockersPlay them here?
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Wear them anywhere Down on the corner.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, because all the kids are listening to remade
Creedence songs done by somerandom pop group production
group.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Out in the street.
Pocket Rockers Play it when themusic feels the beat.
Tiny players, tiny tapes.
Pocket Rockers.
Tapes and accessories soldseparately.
Batteries not included fromFisher.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
From Fisher Price, wow.
And finally in 2000,.
Hit Clips, late 90s, 2000,.
Tiger Electronics, targetingthe teen market with Hit Clips.
It was a compact, collectiblemusic player, served as a well,
I guess, I guess Is it like apocket rocker, I mean, I think
(31:33):
maybe the successor, since itcame later.
These devices played 60-secondsong snippets.
Can you imagine that You'rejust getting into the song and
it stops?
Whoa, wait, 60-second songsnippets via a microchip
cartridge designed specificallyfor the player featuring britney
(31:55):
spears in sync pink.
And the cartridges includeclips for attaching to backpacks
or maybe to your keychain oryour belt loop.
So they were portable and,again, fashion accessories and
(32:17):
they were around for a while.
But their affordability, theiraccessibility, helped this
format achieve some prettyimpressive sales.
They sold over 30 million ofthese Hit Clips.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Hit it.
Coming at you right between theears is Hit Clips, music to get
you grooving.
Hit Clips with the micro boombox.
Load the mother load.
(32:48):
You could see he's the way youlove me.
Some of these songs availablenow More this fall.
You can collect them all Hitclips, each sold separately.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Or at least 60 seconds of the song.
Anyhow, speaking of music, Ipulled this record from my rare
45 shelves.
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