01 September 2010

Tape, 20 cents
This plain-looking cassette turned out to be a treasure trove of animal-themed songs from the ‘40s to the ‘80s. There’s a folksy, fast-paced Daddy’s Taking Us to the Zoo Tomorrow, a big band arrangement of When I See an Elephant Fly, a husky bass-baritone singing Little White Bull and a slow and sultry rendition of Top Cat. Without this tape it might have been years before I realised my five-year-old was actually partial to a bit of swing, jazz, rockabilly, bebop, country and Hall & Oats; though Maneater isn’t technically about an animal. The tape was one of a jumble without covers in a big old op shop with furniture.

4 comments:

  1. I'm surprised at your age ;) that you even have a tape player! We do have one, it's from our system bought 15 years ago when they still made those things. Oh, that reminds me, at a charity shop my 8-year-old found a Fisher Price cassette recorder---what a great find! You can sing/talk through the speaker along with a tape karaoke style or, better yet, record and re-record your own voice(s) with one or both of its two mikes. And actually have a real recorded copy of it (not a digital file) I don't know what high-tech modern thing is as good as this!

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  2. Hey
    I used to own this cassette long, long ago as a child. I have been trying to hunt down a copy for a long time but it seems to be quite rare. Is there any chance you could post a complete track listing if you have one?
    Many thanks :)

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  3. I used to have this also growing up in ireland in the 1980s. It was a double cassette album. I have the 2nd cassette but have been looking for years for the first. Do you still have it?

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  4. I do! Email me at choi.hatcher@gmail.com. Amy.

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