Feb 21, 2012

When Rock Ruled

Found at an autumn yard sale was a single issue of National Lampoon from 1977. One could't resist to grab it.

Within, one is surprised by --- among other things --- the large number of ads pronoting stereo audiophile components. These brands appeared:

Akai, JVC, Memorex, Maxell, Switchcraft, Optonica, JBL, Sansui, Bose, TDK, Hitachi, BSR, Peavy, Empire, Cerwin-Vega, Technics, AudioMagnetics, Onkyo, Pioneer, Bolivar Speaker Works, Kenwood, Ultralinear, Marantz, Teac, Pickering.

This was a time when rock music ruled the world of your typical American male, aged 18 to 26 or so. A huge % of the discetionary income of this segment was devoted to music hardware (systems) and software (pre-recorded music on vinyl and tape).

This particular magazine was acutely tuned in to this demographic. Do these names ring familiar?




.

No comments: