Maybe it’s the time of year (rainy and blah today) or maybe it’s the times we live in but lately I’ve been thinking of the past. Okay, truth be told I do that any time of year but even more so lately.
I think growing older does that to a person, things from the past seem shinier, happier and somehow better. I’ve been afflicted with “pastitis” as I call it since I was a child and because I’ve always felt like an old soul I’ve grown fonder of things from my youth more than ever before.
An illusion I know but here I go again …
Today I’m taking a look back at an album from 1972 called “The Partridge Family At Home With Their Greatest Hits”.
Ahhh 1972.
Nixon, Watergate, “All in the Family”, “Maude”, the Munich Olympics Terrorist Attack and among all the turmoil a little family show about a family rock group called The Partridge Family.
I remember getting “The Partridge Family At Home With Their Greatest Hits” as a gift in 1972 but I didn’t really play it all that much as I owned all the other Partridge Family albums and listened to those quite often.
This greatest hits album did however contain one of the last Partridge Family Top Forty hits, their cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” which reached number 28 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song was only available on “The Partridge Family At Home With Their Greatest Hits” album and the 45. If I played this album I usually played the side that song was on if I played the album at all.
(Note: the version of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” on this lp is actually in mono. It wasn’t mixed into stereo until a recent CD release called “Playlist: The Very Best Of The Partridge Family” which came out in 2015. This CD is the only source for a true stereo version and is well worth seeking out. The entire CD was mastered by the esteemed Bob Ludwig and is one of the best sounding Partridge CDs out there.)
Looking back as an adult I took the album out recently and was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded on vinyl and now give it a spin every now and again as these songs just sound right on vinyl.
Funny enough what prompted this blog post was my recent acquisition of two other formats of this album that came out on in the 1970’s – an 8-track tape version and a truly rare reel to reel version.
Unfortunately I can’t play either version – yet, lol – but since when has logic ever stopped me from collecting music!
At one time I used to own this album on 8-track as my family did have an 8-track player in the 1970’s and I remember owning a few Partridge as well as many other 8-tracks which I played often.
I have no idea where the original tape I owned all those years ago ended up but about 9 months ago I spotted a lovely near mint copy at a thrift store for a $1 so nostalgia took over and voila I have it on 8-track again.
I have a box of about 15 8-track tapes I’d love to play someday so if I ever find a working player for cheap this is one of the first tapes I’m going to play, as long as it still works and hasn’t dried up yet.
(Note 2 : 8-track tapes are prone to having the pads that hold the tape dry up and crack making the tape unplayable.)
My most recent copy of “At Home With Their Greatest Hits” I found on Amazon just two weeks ago. Someone had posted a vinyl copy of the album but when I went to look at the listing it showed a photo of the reel to reel tape version.
It was really inexpensive so I ordered it and to my surprise an unplayed reel to reel copy appeared in my mailbox just this week.
I do have access to an old reel to reel tape player (my father was a Magnavox engineer and I have his old reel to reel player) but it hasn’t worked in years so maybe if I get it fixed someday I’ll pop this baby in to see how it sounds.
Anyway, I thought it might be fun to see the different formats side by side. At least it is for me. I’m sure there are other obsessives out there who may enjoy it as well!
Until next time, be well and remember … Come on, Get Happy!!!
Records, CDs and Music: 