With Lou Ottens, the inventor of audio cassettes, passing away last week, collectors of tapes share about how they continue to engage with this phased-out piece of music
Stereo
It’s probably been years, decades, even, since we’ve had to flip an audio cassette to hear the songs on the ‘B’ side, or spend hours mixing a tape for a loved one. But when Dutch engineer Lou Ottens, the inventor of the audio cassette, passed away last week, music enthusiasts across the world hit rewind, reminiscing about Walkman days when the pocket-sized piece of music empowered us with a private listening experience, and how pencils were used to re-spool unravelled tapes. In a world now dominated by digital playlists, three cassette collectors from the city, who never let the dust settle on their prized collections, share how they’ve stayed tuned in to this hobby.
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Lou Ottens. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
Rockstars on the shelf
Colin Pinto’s
Vasai-based Colin Pinto, who boasts of a collection of coveted hard rock albums by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, and the likes, remembers that before cassettes came into his house, they only had the radio. “The first cassette I bought for myself was a live concert of Deep Purple in Japan, when I was visiting Kathmandu in 1983.
Collection of rock albums
At the time, I used to borrow my friend’s tape recorder, before buying a Sony stereo system in the late ’80s,” shares the 61-year-old, who continued to tune into his collection late into the 2000s. Relatives in the Gulf and friends who stopped listening to hard rock, contributed to his collection, which has grown to over 100 tapes today. “I was known in the Kalina area, then because of my collection. I used to open, clean and fix them with pencils, because I was very fond of them,” he adds.
Notes from a vintage collector
A stereo and cassettes from Mathur’s collection
For home chef Deepak Mathur, 50, cassettes are an extension of his love for all things music and vintage. “It was a big trend to record your own mixes back then. So, I would head to this shop on Peddar Road to get songs recorded. All my pocket money would go into it,” recollects the owner of around 1,000 tapes, stereos, head cleaners, Walkmans and other old-school musical artefacts that date back to the 1970s and ’80s.
“My first memory of cassettes is listening to Lionel Richie’s voice on tape. But my favourite, and most cherished cassette, is Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy,” he adds. Being an ardent collector, he has maintained his tapes, many of them imported, by periodically cleaning them, lubricating them and testing the sound. “Digital music is easily accessible, but listening to cassettes is something else,” he notes.
Playing memories
Growing up, watching his elder siblings gather rock music tapes and his parents amass Indian classical music cassettes, Malabar Hill resident Darshan Khatau longed for his own collection. Khatau, 50, shares that his collection, which now runs into 1,000-odd tapes, started taking shape in the mid-eighties, when he was in grade eight or nine. “At the time, it was R100 for a cassette. My first one was a medley of Simon & Garfunkel and Dire Straits.” Khatau remembers that as opposed to vinyl records which were cumbersome to carry or lend out, cassettes, if damaged, could easily be fixed with tape. “It was all the rage to have the latest American Top 40 list, and relatives travelling abroad would get them.” While the same music is available on his phone now, his cassettes stand for countless memories. “I’m a proud owner, especially of Indian classical music tapes, as that’s not as well documented online,” he points out.
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