''The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape'' is an album by American
punk rock band
Big Black. It was released in 1987 by
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. ...
. The album is a
CD compilation of Big Black's ''
Atomizer'' album (minus the song "Strange Things"),
"Heartbeat" single and ''
Headache'' EP. ''Atomizer'' is pictured on the cover artwork as an eight-track tape playing in a
Panasonic
formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
TNT portable player.
The title of the album, and the liner notes by
Steve Albini
Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...
, show the band's low regard for compact discs, drawing parallels between CD and the
8-track tape
The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...
of 1970s, preferring to release all of their material on
vinyl LP records.
Reception
Track listing
All songs written by Big Black, except where noted.
#"Jordan, Minnesota" - 3:20
#"Passing Complexion" - 3:04
#"Big Money" - 2:29
#"Kerosene" - 6:05
#"Bad Houses" - 3:09
#"Fists of Love" - 4:21
#"Stinking Drunk" - 3:27
#"Bazooka Joe" - 4:43
#"Cables (
live)" - 3:09
#"
Heartbeat" (
Colin Newman
Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire.
Early life
Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire ...
) - 3:48
#"Things to Do Today" - 1:44
#"I Can't Believe" - 1:03
#"My Disco" - 2:52
#"Grinder" - 2:23
#"Ready Men" - 3:51
#"Pete, King of the Detectives" - 2:42
"Heartbeat" is a cover of the
Wire
Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm
A wire is a flexible strand of metal.
Wire is c ...
song.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich Man's Eight Track Tape, The
Big Black albums
1987 compilation albums
Homestead Records compilation albums
Touch and Go Records compilation albums
Blast First compilation albums
Au Go Go Records compilation albums