8-Track Moments

Details: Written by: Dave; Category: Music; Created: 29 December 2006

The 8-track Click (or is it Click-Click)

Feel like getting nostalgic by listening to the click-click sound of an 8-track player.

Want to go retro on your mp3 player by adding an 8-track click?

Don't know what the hell an 8-track is or what kind of sound it makes?

Well you've come to the right place.

Hear it for yourself.

For an 8-track quick fix, use the player below to hear that unforgettable 8-track click. If the player doesn't work, click the link below to download the mp3.

Play 8-track Click

For those younger folks unfamiliar with the 8-track click, it is a mechanical click that occurred four times during the play of an 8-track tape. Most of the time the click would be placed between tracks (songs), but sometimes they would place the click right in the middle of a track. That's right, at some point right in the middle of a song, the volume would fade out, then a moment of silence followed by a loud click-click, then a little more silence and the volume fades back in.

MP3 8-Track Click Download

Add it to your MP3 Player or CDRs.

Here is a Downloadable MP3 Version of the 8-Track Click. Just right-click the link and click Save Target As , Save Link As , or Save File As (depending on your browser).

What can you do with it?

Put it on your portable MP3 player or burn it to a music CD and enjoy an occasional flashback whenever it plays. If you want it to play in a certain sequence, you will have to rename it accordingly or add it to the proper folder. Also, since MP3 players and MP3 CDs can hold a helluvalota songs, you may want to load several copies of the file (make copies of the file with different file names) or you may never hear it.

If you really have too much time on your hands, you can use an audio editor program to insert it into the middle of some of your current audio files. I mean, there's no reason that today's music should be immune from having an 8-track click right in the middle of a track (see the Spinal Tap section on this page). Or, to make your new digitally remastered CD versions of your favorite classics sound like they did in 1975 on 8-track, you can go nuts and insert the 8-track click into the exact same spot it was in the old days. I know when I purchased CD versions of some of my favorite 8-tracks, it totally messed with my mind when the song didn't fade into the click.

And just think how much fun you'll have when you give a ride to your middle-age stoner friends and they hear that click come out of your car stereo.

And for you supernerds, you can Download the .WAV Version of the 8-Track Clickand use it as a Windows Sound (set it to click when Windows starts, shuts down, new mail, or whatever). But then again, you probably already knew that didn't you? As an unintentional bonus, I noticed that the 8-track click also sounds a lot like punching a time clock. So if you want to really impress the other cubicle jockeys at work, just assign the click .wav file to you windows shut-down and listen to your PC punch you out when you turn off your PC (assuming you have a sound card and speaker at work).

*License: May be freely used and shared between individuals for non-commercial purposes, but cannot be published on any website or used for commercial purposes.

The way it was.

And now, how about some 8-track clicks the way they existed in their natural environment- right in the middle of a track. These are all examples straight out of my small and deteriorating 8-track collection of songs that were split in two to accommodate the need of 8-tracks to split every album into four equal pieces. Just my way of helping to preserve some special moments in audio history. The quality of some of these is rather poor, but hell, they are almost 30 years old.

Aqualung - Jethro Tull	This one is from 1975s M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull . And can you believe they put the click right in the middle of Aqualung.
Combination - Aerosmith	From Rocks - 1976
Golden Years - David Bowie	From ChangesOneBowie - 1976
Don't Cha Stop - The Cars	From The Cars - 1978
Electric Phase - UFO	From Lights Out - 1977
Little Dreamer - Van Halen	From Van Halen- 1978

Spinal Tap the way it should be heard.

Somehow the geniuses behind Spinal Tap missed putting an 8-track joke in the movie. But have no fear, I've created an 8-track click for them. I thought about placing it right in a key spot in the lyric of a song but then figured I would be a little more authentic and place it during an instrumental part. Imagine them sitting around listening to their album on 8-track only to hear Nigel's guitar solo fade into a loud click-click. Then an extended argument as someone tries to explain to Nigel how that sound got in there. "whu wus at sound? . . . . ats nah me. . . . well ats nah a guitar et all nah is it? . . . is zis a joke?"

Gimme Some Money - Spinal Tap

Cassette and LP Moments?

I pretty much skipped the whole cassette thing by going right from 8-tracks and vinyl directly to Music CDs. But I did have like 3 cassettes in my music collection and since I ripped all my albums, CDs, and 8-tracks (the ones that still worked) to MP3s, I figured I would do the same with my small cassette collection. Lucky for me, in the course of doing this, I was able to experience (and record) the famous "Oh shit, the stereo just ate my tape" moment. Here you go.

Play "the cassette player ate my tape"

Or right click the following link to Download Cassette Player Ate My Tape MP3

And while I'm at it I may as well include some album stuff. Nothing special here, just start and end sounds of playing an album including the turntable sounds and the crackles and pops.

Play "album start"

Play "album end"

Or right click the following link to Download Album Start MP3

Or right click the following link to Download Album End MP3

Old Meets New

I just thought I would include this photo of my 1970s 8-track deck connected to my PC. Isn't it great when different technologies can play nice together.

More Comments

8-tracks popularity ended in the 70's. Which is why I'm surprised when I see titles on 8-track that came out after 8-tracks weren't a thing anymore. Though I think, country music was still coming out on 8-track not too many years ago.

And for you hipsters that swear vinyl records sound better than digital, you're wrong. I remember back in the 80s when I got my first CD player and started listening to CDs, it was amazing, no snap, crackles, and pops, no skips, just clean music.

I suppose, if you're one of thoe anal retentive folks, that cleans your records before every play, and keeps their turntable perfectly balanced and tuned, maybe your vinyl sounds pretty good, But, better than digital? I don't think so.

8-track-moments