Attention K-Mart Shoppers: Collected K-Mart background music tapes | Hacker News Reader

Attention K-Mart Shoppers: Collected K-Mart background music tapes

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31 pointsKye8 comments

There is an entire genre (vaporwave) that is rooted in sampling stuff like this. It’s a treasure trove.

Wow.. I like that at least on a few samples I looked at, the comments have constructed playlists from the constituent songs. Y’know, if you don’t like your songs being interrupted by a smooth voice talking to you about Tupperware.

The interruptions are the best part!

I have one of these stuck on my phone that I listen to occasionally and I giggle a lot when they mention their lifestyle consultant Martha Stewart.

OMG. I didn't believe it, but it's true. Who could possibly be nostalgic for that?

Nostalgia isn't the only or even main reason to archive something. It's hard to tell how a piece of information could be useful in the future. Even the medium it's stored on could be meaningful. Think of all the labels and logos on the scans of the tapes. One of those could be instrumental in connecting two dots on something completely unrelated years from now. The fonts themselves could be important.

Example of this is that one of these recordings, listed as "Kmart 1973 Reel To Reel" has an address of 3020 East Grand Blvd in Detroit. Motown's original studio was on West Grand Blvd. It's intriguing to consider who the voice talent was, and what if any crossover there was during those days.

Googling the address shows that the former recording studio is now a residence.

https://www.howardhanna.com/Property/Detail/3020-E-GRAND-Bou...

>> "This is a 2 bed 1 bath 1700 sq. ft., Mid Century concrete block building which was purposed as a recording studio, called the Danny Dallas Studio and also Special Recordings."

https://soulfuldetroit.com/web01-soulfuldetroit/special.htm

>> "Situated a mere thirty yards along the road from D Town's office, these studios were used frequently by the legendary Producer, Richard Popcorn Wylie."

They're right next to each other: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3714078,-83.0703433,3a,75y,3...

Special Recordings is on there with the address. It's a bit early in the morning for any more in-depth research, but now I'm very curious about the possible intersections of Detroit legends and K-Mart background music recordings.

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