PART OF THE fun of this picture, taken at legendary Glasgow shop Casa Cassettes in August 1973, is trying to spot the famous faces on the tape covers in the background.
Shirley Bassey is definitely there, and Dionne Warwick, Johnny Cash, Lulu - it’s like a Who’s Who of that particular musical moment in time.
(Another source of great joy is the 70s fashions on display in the shape of this gent’s natty check trousers and clashing floral tie. Mary Finlay looks effortly stylish, however, and happy to be opening her third shop in the city, which boasted clever perspex display cabinets where customers could actually see the tapes.
Their original branches in Jamaica Street (also pictured) and Oswald Street had everything behind the desk, because, Mary explained, the trouble with cassettes was that they were so small there was a danger of people slipping them into a handbag or pocket without paying for them.
READ MORE: Photographer finds stranger he took picture of 40 years ago in Partick
At the time these photos were taken, the cassette player was, in the words of our sister newspaper The Herald, the “music machine of the moment”.
According to the British Tape Industry Association, 4.9 million cassettes had been sold in 1972, with prices ranging from around £1.60.
Casa was formed in 1971 by former schoolteacher Janice and Mary, who had a background in music.
It had one of the widest selections of classical music on tape in Scotland, plus pop, rock, jazz, and country and western. Among its innovations was an exchange system, about 40 years ahead of its time, where customers could replace old favourites with new tapes, for a small fee.
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