How the DIY Cassette Movement of the 1970s and ’80s Changed Music Forever

Often referred to as the godfather of home recording, musician R. Stevie Moore began to release his DIY recordings on compact cassette tapes as early as 1973. This eventually led to hundreds of self-released albums and his own mail-order service known as the R. Stevie Moore Cassette Club.

Art collectives and performance art groups spawned bands like Throbbing Gristle who started releasing recordings on tape in the mid-’70s. Each tape featured sessions and live recordings that the band recorded themselves and copied for their friends. Around the same time, the first hip-hop mixtapes were released by New York City artists DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. These groundbreaking tapes contained live recordings captured at parties and shows. Eventually, underground mixtapes used for self-promotion became part of a multimillion-dollar industry.

In 1979, the TASCAM Portastudio became the first four-track recorder based on the standard compact audio cassette. This landmark innovation led to more home recordings than ever before and perfectly complemented the burgeoning industrial, punk, and post-punk scenes. Electronic experimenters Clock DVA and underground pop project Cleaners From Venus both self-released multiple albums on cassette before ultimately attracting some major label attention.

Daniel Johnston had a similar approach and began self-releasing cassettes in 1982. The original run of 1983’s Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album is one of the most wanted self-released cassettes in the Discogs database. According to the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Johnston would re-record his earliest albums from scratch when making copies for people as he did not have access to a duplication device.

Metallica also released its earliest live and demo recordings on cassette in 1982. No Life ‘Til Leather and Live Metal Up Your Ass are the second and third most wanted self-released cassettes in the Discogs database. However, Metallica was only one of many metal bands self-releasing these types of cassettes. Throughout the ’80s, tape trading helped punk and metal bands connect with like-minded musicians and fans all over the globe. Tape trading helped bands book tours, communicate with interested labels, and — in the case of musicians like Mitch Harris — gave artists the ability to relocate to another country and join a legendary band like Napalm Death.