Halloween is approaching, so Pazuzu made you a mixtape. Don’t mind the pea soup …
Playboy, October 1970: Moving In Stereo
Fifty years ago this month, that venerable men’s magazine of many of our youths put out a “historic” issue, featuring its first pair of Playmates, the identical twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson. We thought this occasion – Playmates in stereo, as it were – might afford us an opportunity to take a look at what of the latest and greatest in hi-fi was being spotlighted and advertised in the pages of Playboy that month.
Retro Tech Spotlight: ELP LT-1XA
A few months back, we featured Koss’ classic Porta Pro headphones and asked if something could truly be “retro tech” if it was still purchased and used on the reg. Now we look at the ELP LT-1XA, the world’s first laser turntable, from the only company that makes laser turntables, a technology that has barely evolved in a quarter century, and ask, “Is it retro?”
Virtual Mixtape: Autumnal Equinox
It’s the first full day of fall, so we made you a mixtape. Because who doesn’t like mixtapes?
ICYMI Album Spotlight: Watertown
Don’t worry, Retro Tech Spotlight isn’t going anywhere; it’s just moving to the middle of the month. We wanted to introduce you to a new monthly feature, the ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) Album Spotlight, where we’ll look at an album that didn’t get its just due at its time of release. To kick things off, we’ll look at Ol’ Blue Eyes’ penultimate album before his first retirement, a concept album curiosity penned by a Four Season and the original writer of “Dazed and Confused.”
Retro Tech Spotlight: Conion C-100F
Once upon a time, dinosaurs roamed the earth, giants that shook the ground with their collective roar. But there was one that stood above them all. That time was the Eighties, and that giant amongst giants was the Conion C-100F.
Retro Tech Spotlight: Pioneer SX-1980
In the late ‘70s, the people wanted more power, and by god, they would get more power. Thus the Receiver Wars were born. And that is how we ended up in 1978 with the Pioneer SX-1980, weighing in at 78 pounds with a whopping 270 watts per channel into 8 ohms. Boom.
Retro Tech Spotlight: Koss Porta Pros
Can something be Retro Tech if it’s still readily available for purchase, used regularly and beloved with almost cult-like fervor by devotees worldwide? Such is the case with Koss Porta Pro On Ear Headphones, introduced in 1984 and largely unchanged 36 years later.
Retro Tech Spotlight: Mr. Microphone
Mr. Microphone was a handheld, battery-operated wireless microphone for broadcasting over FM radio that was first sold in the late 1970s by Ronco, a Chicago-based company that endlessly hawked its assorted devices on television with ubiquitous ads that would become part of that generation’s pop culture.
With the seventh pick of the evening, Desmond Howard selects … Bob Marley
The teleconferenced 2020 NFL Draft offered viewers a peek at ESPN analyst and 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard’s diverse vinyl collection.
