My first ever CD was sadly Luke Skywalker and the 2 Live Crew and a tamer MC Hammer featuring Can’t Touch This. What may be even better than that was the hardware on which I played it. This took some Google searching to come up with, but I located a photo that very nearly matches the huge Magnavox console stereo that I was given by my parents to use. This thing was as probably 4 foot wide by 2 feet deep by 3 feet high. That’s right, about 24 cubic feet of stereo goodness.
As you can imagine, this beauty did not include a CD player as standard equipment. It had an AM\FM radio with the smooth analog dial to tune in Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 on Sunday morning (pre Ryan Seacrest kids). It also featured a dual speed record player, complete with pennies taped to the needle to keep skips to a minimum. It even had an 8-track player. I only recall listening to two songs on 8-track: 1) Puff the Magic Dragon and 2) Double Vision on K-tel record label.
The real treat on this was the auxiliary RCA connections on the back. I purchased a used Sharp brand single tray front loading compact disc player from a neighbor for around $75. Once connected to the 24 cubic feet of Magnavox sweetness with those 10 inch paper woofers, that thing hit. CDs came on the scene just as super-loud bass was all the rage. Man did I have the fever too. I shook the house and rattled pictures off the wall. My mom used to get upset with the ‘noise’ and crooked pictures.
It’s amazing I can hear anything as an adult after what I’ve subjected myself to. I could go on to document the crazy stereo system my brother’s car once sported, but I’ll leave that post for him to write.
Check out the other Magnavox console style stereos of the day. I bet Chuck had one.
– steve
* Thanks Travis for the inspiration for this post.
March 6th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
SWEET! Chuck probably did have one…I bet 2 Live Crew rocked on that thing!
March 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Listen whippersnapper, I never had one of those huge consoles. However, I have one of these.
I played my records on a portable player where the speakers hinged on the player and the whole thing folded to look like a briefcase. It included a tape deck. Cassette. Not 8-track.
March 12th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
This is funny! I remember my grandma had one of those huge stereos. Yep…those were the good ol’ days…when stereos were actually FURNITURE.