Mad Not Mad

Here is a tape I wore thin in the 80s: Mad Not Mad by Madness. No, I didn't take this picture. I don't have the tape anymore, so I'm using Grooveshark for my dopamine fix. (Someone was selling the pictured cassette tape on eBay.)

So, it was 1985. My brother and I were hanging out at our grandma's apartment. Around the corner from her building was a store that sold office supplies, books, and tapes. If memory serves me well--haven't thought about it in over 25 years--my brother bought the tape at that store for a minuscule amount of money, perhaps even with some change left over after getting grandma ciggies at the grocery store next door. How come the tape was so cheap? You wonder as you sit at the edge of your seat awaiting the big reveal. Well, guess what? The tape was spun in its plastic case BACKWARDS. Well, how in the world could you listen to it? I can just hear the youngest of my readers scratch their heads. Listen up. All you need is a tiny screwdriver and some patience. We opened the cassette and re-spun the tape as it should have been done by the factory machines, put it back together, making sure each little screw was back in its place, stuck the tape in the cassette player, and voila.

Some side notes:

Repeatedly listening to an album full of beautiful songs with very literary political-personal lyrics will seriously aid you in learning English, especially if you're not a native speaker.

I think the boys from Madness hated the slick production here. But I think it's gorgeous.