It's taken a few years to get them all, but here's a set of not commonly seen Q8 tapes from Radio Shack! (A Tandy Corporation)
Nothing really to write home about, mostly what I would call "Chamber" Music, Big-Band interpretations of then-contemporary songs. One thing I find a little odd about them is the fact that the mix will change for every song. One song, the bass is in Back Left, the next song: it's Back Right. Program 2 might have the Bass front-center for the entire program - - it really doesn't make a lot of sense and the only reasoning I could imagine why is simply to show off the format. Something over here.... Something over there. The more interesting or entertaining is the first tape with the Channel Tests and frequency response. The announcer sounds very much like Gary Owen's slightly more enthusiastic brother being annoyed at what he has to read. "This is Channel 2! Right Front" followed by an uncomfortably long 5khz tone. Following that, there's a "Man in the Street" style segment, where the announcer now has a ridiculous amount of reverb and his voice comes from all four channels. He's trying to explain to the man (dry vocal, trapped in Front-Right Only) the wonders of four channel sound. I get the distinct impression the parts were recorded separately, because the man in the streets' responses.... don't seem to make sense? At one point, the announcer goes: "I'm going to take you to the Indianapolis Speedway! Are you ready?" The man in the street responds very enthusiastically: "RIGHT!" Not the response I was expecting from a yes/no question. But then, jazzy music plays while very phony car noises race around the room. I wasn't aware that the Ramsey Lewis Trio was appearing at the Indianapolis Race track. But I suppose that's the sort of thing that makes items like this so charming.
To my knowledge.... these are all that there is. I've never seen any other ones beyond 3205. If there are others, I'd love to know about them!
Nothing really to write home about, mostly what I would call "Chamber" Music, Big-Band interpretations of then-contemporary songs. One thing I find a little odd about them is the fact that the mix will change for every song. One song, the bass is in Back Left, the next song: it's Back Right. Program 2 might have the Bass front-center for the entire program - - it really doesn't make a lot of sense and the only reasoning I could imagine why is simply to show off the format. Something over here.... Something over there. The more interesting or entertaining is the first tape with the Channel Tests and frequency response. The announcer sounds very much like Gary Owen's slightly more enthusiastic brother being annoyed at what he has to read. "This is Channel 2! Right Front" followed by an uncomfortably long 5khz tone. Following that, there's a "Man in the Street" style segment, where the announcer now has a ridiculous amount of reverb and his voice comes from all four channels. He's trying to explain to the man (dry vocal, trapped in Front-Right Only) the wonders of four channel sound. I get the distinct impression the parts were recorded separately, because the man in the streets' responses.... don't seem to make sense? At one point, the announcer goes: "I'm going to take you to the Indianapolis Speedway! Are you ready?" The man in the street responds very enthusiastically: "RIGHT!" Not the response I was expecting from a yes/no question. But then, jazzy music plays while very phony car noises race around the room. I wasn't aware that the Ramsey Lewis Trio was appearing at the Indianapolis Race track. But I suppose that's the sort of thing that makes items like this so charming.
To my knowledge.... these are all that there is. I've never seen any other ones beyond 3205. If there are others, I'd love to know about them!
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