As important as cassettes would become for me in listening to music at a young age and recording my own radio shows, one aspect of them baffled me during an early recording session. In first grade, I brought my reading class textbook home with me and recorded myself reading one of the stories. My memory of the story is hazy, but I remember it started with two kids sitting outside, counting the out-of-state cars they saw.
I started reading, as if I were one of the kids calling to the other, "How many out-of-state plates did you count?"
I stopped the tape recorder, rewound the cassette, and listened. Instead of hearing the story from the beginning, I only heard, "...plates did you count?"
I tried recording again, figuring I must have done something wrong. When I listened, I only heard the last four words once again. I thought, "Maybe my voice isn't loud enough, and I have to speak louder for the tape recorder to pick up on it and start recording."
Thus, on my next attempt, I shouted, "HOW MANY OUT-OF-STATE PLATES DID YOU COUNT?!!"
Alas, the playback still started with the word "plates."
Figuring I still wasn't speaking loud enough for the tape recorder to capture my voice from the beginning, I tried again, screaming, "HOW MANY OUT-OF-STATE PLATES DID YOU COUNT?!!!!!!"
At that point, my father walked in and explained the concept of leader tape that cleans the recorder's tape heads and appears at the beginning of a cassette.
I then recorded the story in my normal speaking voice, pausing to wait for the leader tape before I started. I was relieved to learn I wouldn't have to scream at the beginning of every recording I made. I could just imagine recording radio shows that way. (i.e. "IT'LL BE MOSTLY SUNNY TODAY, WITH AN EXPECTED HIGH OF 65 DEGREES!!!!!!") On the other hand, it might have made the top 40 format feel like a more natural fit for my voice.
