Friday, January 1, 2010
11:42 PM
Sony Walkman
Walkmans came out during my senior year of high school. I didn't actually get one until later, in college. By that time, cassettes were starting to overtake vinyl records though most of us still had an extensive vinyl collection and turntables at home. Walkmans were so awesome because for the first time ever, we could carry our music around with us. That is commonplace today but it was a brand new dream come true for the music lovers of the 80's. The players were lightweight and they ran on batteries. Everyone loved them. They were the ipod of the 80's. Those of us who were also fortunate enough to add a stereo cassette player to our home stereo systems had the luxury of being able to record our favorite vinyl albums onto blank cassettes rather than having to re-purchase tunes we already owned just to have them in cassette format. I must have taped every song under the sun.
I remember in the mid-80's, the movie, "Iron Eagle" came out and the main character in that movie took his Sony Walkman everywhere. He was a pilot and he used music to help him rhythmically while flying and while practicing simulated dogfights on the naval base where he and his family lived. Obviously, a person who listens to a Walkman while performing air stunts can't very well hang onto the machine so Doug Masters (the movie character) had a super cool holder/case that strapped firmly to his thigh when flying or driving in his car. He would plug it into the plane/car sound system and crank it up. I thought that set-up was AWESOME. I looked everywhere for one of those holders. The car I was driving during my college years had no tape deck so I wanted to do like Doug and strap my rad little Walkman to my leg and cruise down the highway while listening to all of my favorite tunes. Of course, that leg strap was probably something that only existed in that movie. I doubt they were actually marketed but I looked for one everywhere I went for the next few years, until cd players became affordable, causing me to abandon my beloved Walkman for newer technology.
I actually owned three or four different Walkmans during the course of their heyday and I rarely went anywhere without one of them. They had their problems. The batteries didn't last very long and movement often caused the music to waiver horribly. Even the high-dollar player that was specifically designed to be shock proof couldn't completely keep the music playing properly if the player was moving around a lot. Since a lot of people liked using Walkmans when exerising, that was a real problem. But if you were just hanging out by the pool, or driving down the highway in your car, they played beautifully and every music lover I knew considered them indispensable.
Oh, and.....Iron Eagle? One of the most kick-butt movies of the decade. It brings back memories of the time I visited my dad in L***** for a couple of weeks. We rented the movie and watched it over and over again. My dad liked the idea of a son going to such lengths to save his father's life. He told me that he knew I was spunky and determined enough to do the same if he were ever in trouble. I know that probably sounds silly but it was actually one of the highest compliments he ever paid to me. Obviously, I wouldn't know the first thing about swiping an Air Force jet and flying it into hostile territory but then again, I don't expect any of my family members to travel to the middle east. Nonetheless, I love my family more than life, itself, and there is no mountain I wouldn't attempt to move in order to save one of them, if they ever needed me to do so.
This is my music player set-up today. It's the Iron Eagle player on massive steroids and a few thousand cans of kick-a**. It's. AWESOME! Doug Masters only WISHES he had a sweet piece of technology like this!