Most people think of the eight-track tape as a dinosaur, assuming that it perished alongside other oddities of the 1970s, like leisure suits and pet rocks. But those bulky plastic cartridges containing loops of oft-interrupted–kerchunk!–audiotape continue to inspire Russ Forster, editor of 8-Track Mind, a zine devoted to keeping analog alive in our digital world.
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Forster says his distrust of CD–or “seedy”–technology is a reaction against the “lemminglike consumer culture of the past decade.” His magazine’s manifesto, “The 8 Noble Truths of the 8-Track Mind,” bears out his Luddite sentiments: “New’ and “Improved’ don’t necessarily mean the same thing.”
“Not necessarily,” Forster insists. “The eight-track can have amazing sound because the tape moves at twice the speed of cassettes. The quality can almost be as good as reel-to-reel.” He attributes eight-track’s bad rap to record companies cutting corners when manufacturing the tapes.
So Wrong They’re Right will be shown at 8 PM Friday and Saturday at Chicago Filmmakers’ Kino-Eye Cinema, 1543 W. Division. Forster and Sutherland will be on hand after each screening to answer questions, raffle off eight-track treasures, and give a brief lecture on eight-track repair. Admission is $6; call 384-5533 for more information.
