Pocket Rockers (by popular request)

If these could also record, I suppose you’d have the analog equivalent of the Yak Bak, which came out in the 90’s. There’s another one for you, I suppose.

Well in Germany my friends and I could go in a record store in the mid 80s (I was born in 1979) because they stored the explicit records and tapes in the back. But as Mat said, we normaly recorded radio programs and my first walkman was a Sony machine. Still own it and it's still working. That's how good electronics from that time periode were!

Life in the US, you couldn't go in a record store in 1988 if you were only 10 years old.

Mat: Ever tried to sum up the total number of magnetic audio tape formats that have come and gone? Must be well over two dozen.

Hi Matt, here's an idea for possible product videos: Pocket knives / multitools. I'm a Victorinox guy because I grew up using Swiss Army Knives and also because they have truly awesome customer service. I always carry either my Swiss Champ or Work Champ. They are not tiny, but I can perform a lot of tasks with a tool that still fits in the palm of my hand. Other very interesting models are the CyberTool series with integrated bit holder and the SwissTools (which contain full-size pliers). Of course, other companies such as Gerber, Leatherman, Böker, Swiza etc. make very interesting multitools as well and there are also things like "keychain tools" or "creditcard tools" that might be fun to look at. Kind regards, Stephan

So much stonewashed denim!

UPDATE - As a result of the feedback, I've replaced the video above with an updated version that now includes references to other endless loop tape systems as well as info on and links to the database of Pocket Rockers titles. Thanks again for your input.

When my daughter was about 13 or 14 (she's 32 now), she found the Pocket Rockers player and the single tape I have in my collection. She would take it every time she did her weekend chores around the house. Since it could only play La Bamba and Tequila, my wife and I would grit our teeth after it played either song for the 18th time.

I wonder how many 'Dads' said, "Hey, Son/Daughter, let me know what tracks you want and I'll re-record your cartridges for you" then found out about the tape backwards situation?

Wow.. This was interesting. I never owned one of these and I had completely forgotten they even existed. However, when you played the commercial it jogged my memory and I do remember these being advertised on TV. However, I suspect since I would have been 13 at the time these were introduced, I think I found them to be somewhat infantile and so that's probably why I didn't pay too much attention. Watching this video, it really annoys me that half the tape is unused. I realize why they did it, probably to save costs by using off the shelf parts that were available. But had they been able to get a 4-track head (such as were used in 4-track audio recorders at the time) they could have put 4 songs on the tape instead of 2. Or at least had two stereo songs.

Love your techodetective skills, Mat. :)

4:24 Wow! No low end whatsoever? That surprised me!

I was around for Hit Clips, but was completely ignorant about this format. Just goes to show there is nothing new under the Sun. In both cases, it seems that for the sake of keeping costs low, they missed out on making the device comprehensive enough to be of real value.

I had forgotten how much denim there was in the late 80s in North America. Ah, fashion. Just like 3 minute singles which play over and over and over. Until kids move on. Interesting point, though, is the use of pre-existing compact cassette parts in this product, which was a technical limitation. Funny, I have fond memories of the 70s splicing cassette tape together after my player mangled it.

Welcome home Mat. Really enjoyed this video, as a child growing up in Britain I’d never seen a Pocket Rockers toy before but it’s something I’d have certainly asked my parents for were it out in the UK. Saying that, as by the late 80s I was well into audio cassettes, dubbing from the radio etc, I’d have probably got pretty bored by the Pocket Rockets limited library and truncated track lengths very quickly! For some reason, watching this made me think about another childhood, audio tape-based toy, but one that WAS available in Britain and I did own. The Talkboy, a chunky personal stereo/dictaphone hybrid with extendable plastic microphone that received extensive product placement in the early 1990s film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Though the device was too big to be considered pocket-sized, I took my Talkboy EVERYWHERE in my early teens, and used it till quite late in the 1990s when I was in the early throes of adulthood and working in college radio. The only disappointing feature of the Talkboy for me was it’s “slow motion” switch that slowed the cassette playback down, ostensibly for funny voice-altering shenanigans. In Home Alone 2 I recall Macauley Culkin using this feature to make his pre-pubescent voice sound older, but in reality it just sounded crap! But that’s Hollywood for you, what you see on screen is rarely what you’d experience in real life!

Doing a quick google after watching your video, this came up - seems to be an even smaller mini tape format for an obscure Japanese made, US licenced Wurlitzer mini jukebox - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J786x-9kORo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J786x-9kORo</a> . If you just want to quickly see the tapes, watch after 2 mins.

Superb video as always, covering yet another audio format completely unknown to me! It would be interesting to see a complete catalogue of available songs, given some of the slightly odd choices you found aimed at quite young kids. I also wonder how current those songs were at the time they were issued in this format as getting a tape of a song that was a hit a few months back may not go down too well. Welcome back from foreign climes, hope you feel well rested!

I don't think these ever made it to the UK; I would have been around the target age for these in the late 80s and I have no memory of them at all.

You surprised me, Mat. Through the whole video, I kept expecting the obvious (to me) comparison to the PlayTape, as the Pocket Rockers tapes are basically an even more compact version of that. Different origins and different designs and materials, sure, but operationally and mechanically they are nearly identical, and they were both aimed at a young market.

My little brother got a Pocket Rockers tape player, the optional external powered speakers, and 2 tapes that came with it, Huey Lewis the News and Tiffany, for Christmas (1989, I think). I was a lot more fascinated with and interested in it than he was. He never wore any tapes on his clothes. Actually, he never got any additional tapes at all, and this went into the bottom of the toy bin after a couple of weeks. I used the external speakers for lots of other things, though, even though they were mono. Plus, they just looked so spiffy.

I would have been 6 or 7 at the time this came out, and already having had a Fisher Price tape player, I'm not surprised I never had one of these. Love seeing how old ideas are made new (1980s new anyway) again.

Even though this may not be terribly obscure, it was enjoyable to see the teardown and learn a bit about the placement of tracks on compact cassette tapes. I'm a bit older than you, and so the first I knew of the existence of pocket rockers was just today with this video. To me, it's an obscure format!