Tue Feb 09 2010
By HEATHER BAUGHMAN
Compact disk and MP3 players are being paired with satellite radio for entertainment on the drive to the office or the mall, but when Jeff Weidenhamer was a teen-ager, it was all about the 8-track tape. The cartridges made popular in the mid-60s to the mid-80s are remembered and honored every April 11, which is 8-Track Day.
"Back when I was 16, I would listen to my 8-tracks in my car," said Weidenhamer of rural Defiance. "Driving uptown and along the country roads listening to tunes was one of his favorite pastimes. Growing up back then was great," he said.
With a collection of about 170 8-tracks, Weidenhamer revisits the "good 'ole days" when nostalgia bites and he's in the mood to travel down memory lane.
He and a group of his friends gather a few times a year to reminisce and crank up the 8-track player in Weidenhamer's 8-track shack, a shed behind Weidenhamer's house that has been transformed into an 8-track hangout for 8-track-lovers only.
What used to be an outbuilding dedicated to storage was converted to house a bar, couch and Weidenhamer's collection of 8-tracks.
His diverse collection of oldies but goodies grew unintentionally.
"The guys who came over to see my 8-track shack started bringing over their 8-tracks," Weidenhamer said, which led to his substantial collection today.
Thinking back to the days of his first car and his first 8-track player, Weidenhamer said his first 8-track was "Machine Head" by Deep Purple. "It was just great," he said.
Though he does not actively collect 8-track tapes anymore, his collection started in his teen years.
"I just never got rid of them. I can't throw anything away if it still works," he admitted.
His love for the music cartridges dates back to his adolescence. "It's just what I started out with."
The mutual feeling is shared with many of his friends who come over and hang out in the 8-track shack. "We sit around and pull out the 8-tracks" and listen to a variety of music from the '60s, '70s and '80s. "I have Beach Boys to ZZ Top ... a little bit of everything in the shack," Weidenhamer said.
One of the favorites is Grand Funk Railroad, Weidenhamer said. "I've got a whole bunch of those out there."
At the start of 2000, Weidenhamer took the opportunity to break out a new, never-before-opened 8-track: "Thunder Island" by Jay Ferguson. Though he had had the cartridge since the 1980s, he kept it sealed until just the right moment.
While the rest of the country was concerned about Y2K issues, the 8-track shack was alive with the music of "Thunder Island." It was worth the wait, he said.
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