Recently I bought a 1981 car that to my delight housed a tape deck.

Cassettes are truly cool. The indestructible translucent plastic, the frailty of the spool, the undeniable hiss and of course the technological back flip – the ‘auto-reverse’.

My son also looked bemused. It reminded me of when he saw his first VHS player was whilst visiting his grandparents. The front loading machine with the Fisher Price-esque tapes were a constant source of intrigue. ‘You have to wait while it rewinds, that’s cool’. Thank God Betamax never took off. Video cabinets would require their own conservatory.

Cassettes are ingrained in our memory. For me, parties at my mum and dad where people came around with cassettes (or was it keys?). A pile of E-coloured BASF tapes each with the words ‘Various’ scribbled on in Bic. I remember fondly the Maxell ads where the David Byrne suited model gets hit by a tsunami of sound. And surely the tape was the first to introduce breaking the laws of piracy en-masse. The record/play manoeuvre whilst trying to tape the latest Modern Romance hit without the intervention of Steve Wright was truly an art. Like trying to catch water with one hand with a push button tap. Reactions of steel required.

C90, C30 or C120 (always snapped) was the first decision, then the brand. I was always a TDK man, Germanic, efficient. The hard man of all tapes. I always went for Chrome – which pre-laser disc or CD was as good as it got. So, to the coolest eject ever, the mini-gatefold and the illegal download pioneer – we salute you.