When I think about the 80’s and portable radio culture, I realize how different the world is today. The world of sharing music in parks and on city streets now resides in cyberspace as we share in anonymity online. The radio that marked this change from public music “broadcasting” to private consumption was the JVC PC-100 a mini unit with a detachable walkman. Now you could share your music in the public sphere, or keep it private by ejecting the cassette deck and plugging headphones into it. In many ways the descendant of the walkman today is the MP3 player, the ubiquitous Ipod. Indeed, all the radios I have mentioned here were all built with the ability to plug a portable media player into them, so you can easily plug your IPOD into these radios and mix the digital age with the warmth of analogue amplification and sound.
As portable radio desires changed, so did their design. JVC again was back in the driver’s seat in 1982with the multi piece PC or portable component systems. The PC-5, divided into five pieces with a separate radio, tape deck, and amplifier. This radio was promoted by that other famous quintuplet, the Harlem Globetrotters. JVC followed up with another superb “executive” component system, the PC-55/550. These units were portable, but really they were meant to be separated and used at home as high quality mini stereos. This unit had many special features, Dolby B and C, a 5 band EQ, speakers with ceramic woofers, wooden speaker cases for better quality sound, and most innovatively an illuminated LCD panel display that showed the many functions and options of the unit. Great sound, although ever so slightly bass shy, this multi component unit was a wonderful sounding for all sorts of music, and has one of the best tape decks ever constructed in a portable.
Other lesser known companies also weighed in and perhaps the most famous boombox of its time was one of these and was made so by Spike Lee. “Do the Right Thing” was a seminal film about broiling racial issues in Brooklyn and the object that sparked the riot on the hottest day of the summer was the giant radio belonging to Radio Raheem. He strutted the streets, conquering all those he met with his main weapon—a volume slider. The radio he used to slay all comers was a Promax J-1 Super Jumbo, a monster with a ten band EQ and 3 pairs of speakers including 8” woofers. In reality, the cheaper build quality of this radio is less than impressive, but its black case and crazy light display win it style points for certain. Despite its great size, the cheaper plastic makes it ½ the weight it could be—much easier to carry around and duel unsuspecting rivals!
Toshiba also produced a monster very similar to the GF-777 called the WX-1 Boombeat RT-S983. This unit had a very unusual configuration for detachable speakers, dual decks, woofers, tweeters and passive radiators similar to the one in the Aiwa. This is perhaps the heaviest radio in existence, also with pitch control and a bass booster system as well, great looks and a great name, Boombeat! Toshiba again showed their innovation with another model, the RT-S932, which has one of the most significant technical and design innovations: a built in wireless remote control that ejects from the unit with the push of a button.
Sharp also had the famous GF-777, a giant 4 woofer (two mid ranges) and 2 tweeter monster with twin decks in the upper left corner, and removable speaker grilles. The other innovation was that the main woofers had individual bass controls as well as a general bass control and a loudness button.
Sharp was again a leader in design and innovation with the VZ-2000, a massive, heavy unique player that had a single cassette deck, radio, and a dual stylus linear tracking turntable. This unit allowed one to play BOTH sides of the record without turning the record over, essentially an autoreverse feature, but with a record.
Fisher also made a very unusual unit called the SK-300, a cassette deck with detachable speakers and a removable synthesizer keyboard! You could adjust all aspects of your synth sound--pitch, tone, and length of notes, you could change the sound so it can be almost any instrument as well. You can also use the onboard beats to provide a backdrop while you play the keyboard overtop and record the whole arrangement using the cassette deck! Other companies also made keyboard synthesizers as well, not surprisingly, Casio made the KX-101, and Sharp made the GF-990Image 10.5) with a double deck and a pop out “music processor.”
Fisher also got into the game, but a bit late, their contribution was the massive PH-492, over 30” long, and 15”tall, this unit that had two very significant innovations: one, they had detachable speakers, so the speakers could be placed further apart to get true stereophonic sound, and they had individual cases so they could resonate with better acoustics having their own cabinets. The other important feature that they brought to the industry was a 5 band equalizer to further refine sound to the individual taste. With an EQ, it essentially had a pre-amp and enclosed speakers, so the Fishers were great sounding, large, heavy units that reeked of quality. Audio track for PH-492
Getting back to the street, we have to include one of the biggest and most famous radios of the early 80’s, the Conion C-100F from Coney-Onkyo(called Clairtone in Canada). This was a beast! 31” long 16” tall, it had all the street cred one could imagine, as well as some design innovations. First of all, it had two cassette decks, but instead of making them tandem, they were stacked on top of one another with the top deck being a horizontal slot for the tape to slide in through a spring loaded door. It had 3 pairs of speakers, two 8 “ woofers, two 4” midranges and two 2” tweeters—a full range of sound production. Two analogue VU meters, and LED meters as well, it was designed to not just catch eyes but hold them hostage! As if this was not enough, in case its size, loudness and killer blinged out looks overcame your morals, it had an incredibly loud motion alarm feature that when set, went off if someone moved the radio. Despite the political incorrectness of the term, this was a ghettoblaster, a consummate example of its time and was featured in several films including “Beatstreet” and “Breakin". Audio track for C-100f
Aiwa released several beautiful units, but perhaps the best one was the CS-880. Medium sized(22” long), it had its single cassette deck thrust up in the left hand corner and in the middle had a 7” passive radiator designed to enhance the sound coming from the twin 5 “ woofers and 2” tweeters. The Aiwa had an amazing tape deck, this unit boasted wow and flutter on par with high end home cassette players, which resulted in amazingly clear sound. Great build quality, elegant, compact design and amazing sonic performance, Aiwa made a name for themselves as smaller, high quality players. This was again a unit that seemed more at home in a home, portable yes, but not for the street. Audio Track for the CS-880
In terms of design innovation, one needs look no further than the Panasonic RX-7200, a beautiful single decked, logic controlled player that boasted both a stylistic variant—the upside down design whereby the radio tuner was located along the bottom portion of the unit—and a technological innovation, a digital tuner for the radio with a green LED readout. Sized between the M70 and the M90, it also had wood paneled sides and could be purchased with a matching record stand that the 7200 mounted on top of to create an unbroken wood panel—this was not a radio for the streets, but a radio for a posh study or library, a beautiful combination of high technology and organic warmth.
JVC was not done yet as they introduced their top of the line RC-M90, the radio that inspired the LL COOL J song. This was it, 8” woofers, 3” tweeters, a full logic two motor cassette deck(meaning computer chip controlled as opposed to mechanical buttons), 8 radio bands, a more sophisticated LED lit music search, and huge dimensions, 26” x 14”, this radio was perhaps the best performing loudest radio of its time. It also had Super ARNS(Dolby B) noise reduction to further refine its sound, as Dolby was all the rage. The unit also had an optional wired remote control with a 16 foot cord to enable long distance(somewhat anyway) manipulation of the cassette deck.
JVC followed up the success of the RC-550 with another great radio destined to become the classic model for most design, the RC-M70. This radio was a stereo player, with 4 speakers, two 6” woofers and two 2” horn tweeters. All the slide controls and buttons were on top, including a click down music search function and a loudness button. A great sounding(40 watts of power), cool looking unit it had tremendous build construction( a JVC trait), and great bass response at a time when bass heavy music, funk and R & B were merging their flavors to begin the Rap/ Hip Hop movement. This radio also had a special seat belt styled click in shoulder strap and even had a special carry bag as well.
JVC, or the Japan Victor Company launched themselves into the portable radio cassette player/recorder market in the late 1970’s when they released the amazing RC-550(Image 2). Dubbed “El Diablo” by the Latino community, this giant monobox was devilish. It had a 10” woofer, a 4” midrange, and a 2 “ tweeter, separate bass and treble controls, and a big strong handle as well as a shoulder strap. It had roll bars on the sides that extended forward to protect the speakers and even had shortwave bands as well. This unit was built for the streets, and signaled a change in the mindset of portable design, although not a stereo player, this unit was BIG!
When I think about the 80’s and portable radio culture, I realize how different the world is today. The world of sharing music in parks and on city streets now resides in cyberspace as we share in anonymity online. The radio that marked this change from public music “broadcasting” to private consumption was the JVC PC-100 a mini unit with a detachable walkman. Now you could share your music in the public sphere, or keep it private by ejecting the cassette deck and plugging headphones into it. In many ways the descendant of the walkman today is the MP3 player, the ubiquitous Ipod. Indeed, all the radios I have mentioned here were all built with the ability to plug a portable media player into them, so you can easily plug your IPOD into these radios and mix the digital age with the warmth of analogue amplification and sound.
