I have hundreds of albums and they're all on cassette. My Dad bought me a cassette recorder back in '75 and you could say that was the beginning of my concrete usage of recording implements {he had a reel to reel in the 60s and as a kid I was fascinated that sound could be recorded. Well, not so much sound, but me and my sisters ! }. Since I got one, I've never been without a cassette player. Excluding walkmans and car systems, I don't think I've had more than 10.
I used to have everything on vinyl and even then, I'd record them all onto tape. A few years back, I put my entire record collection onto CD and sold the vinyl {that was how I funded my VSTs}. I still have everything on tape. In fact, the only time I play CDs or whatevers is when I'm rerecording the albums coz the tape has reached the end of it's life.
My friends laugh at me coz they left tape behind in the early 90s for the most part. But I like the fact that I can fit 3 LPs on a 120. I'm not and never have been an 'analog gives you better sound quality' crusader because I simply don't know whether it does. I'm too busy digging the music contained within to care !
It's a funny thing because the shelf life of tapes vary. Some of mine I've had for 22 years and they still play well. Some last 5 years. Some 10. Some 15. The manufacturers of cassette recorders would always put something like "We do not recommend the use of 120s...." on the manual, something to do with thinner tapes and getting mangled. But that's not been my experience. I've used them for years.
As a teenager in the 70s, when I'd fly abroad, I'd take my cassette player and my earpiece {I can't believe I used to listen to stuff with that. In one ear !!} with me and I loved it. I'm sure I was seen by someone who ended up working for SONY and developed the walkman !
The walkman was like a dream come true for me, whether riding/bussing all over London, driving all over the UK and Europe with bands of rowdy kids or washing up or building, I always had it with me.
I don't know whether the cassette really is making a lasting 'resurgence'. I don't really care as long as they still make blank ones !
When my friends laugh at me and imply I'm a dinosaur, I just laugh and say 'each to their own'. Heck, I may be prehistoric, but I'm still around, unlike the rest of my ilk ! I escaped extinction !!
