Cassettes

At the age of 14, living with my dad and siblings, I was in the BMG music club (that's where you get an introductory shipment of several cassettes for almost nothing and then have to buy a few for regular price later on). I remember how happy I was when I received two Eddie Murphy tapes by mail (one is pictured below).

I knew about Eddie from Saturday Night Live and had been looking forward to hearing his act uncensored. I specifically remember listening to these recordings in my dad's bedroom in the house we had back then across from Gabrych park. Everybody was out of the house that afternoon, so I didn't have to worry about my dad or siblings "catching" me listening to it. If you didn't know, Eddie did a lot of cursing on those tapes, every word imaginable, actually. Funny stuff, but I had to be careful when and where I listened to it.

Another tape I had that was pretty explicit was Prince's "1999". I recall listening to this one on my headphones while dad was taking us to a "house of worship" in Hokah. One of the most squirm-inducing tracks was the one called, "Let's Pretend We're Married" (I'm sure you can guess what some of the lyrics were for that song. If you can't, go here and see for yourself).

I bought a lot of tapes back then (I had a paper route, so had plenty of money in which to do so). My dad said one day that he didn't want me buying any more tapes, that I had enough (he didn't know anything about the explicit tapes I had, by the way). Well, it's true I probably had more than 100, but if I couldn't buy any more cassettes, then all I'll have is older recordings. I did try to follow his wishes, however, and not buy any more music, but the soul seeks freedom, so I finally gave in and bought one. The tape I bought against my father's wishes was (you can laugh if you want to) DeBarge's "Rhythm of the Night".

Very shortly thereafter, I moved in with my mother, so my dad's restrictions became irrelevant.