Cassette-Only Record Label From 1979

I hate to break it you bedroom record label impresario hipsters out there. You didn't invent releasing albums as cassette-only exclusives. Reach Out International Records was founded in 1979, the same year as the Sony Walkman. The New York centric label concentrated on local acts that have since become important milestones in hardcore punk, no wave, and ska.

I imagine that ROIR's choice to release on cassette (I love their broadsided attack on buying records in this ad) had to do more with supporting this new portable music platform and the DIY support (on a budget) of the bands that they loved, rather than some misguided statement on consumerist irony. Okay, okay... I'll lay off ranking the cassette-waving hipsters for a minute.

Astonishingly, the label still exists today. Many of the cassette-only releases like those listed in this 1982 ad have since been re-released on LP, CD & MP3. I'd love to hear their stories of late night dubbing sessions, ganging together multiple tape decks, but mostly I want to know who drew the gorgeous creature in the ad with the shoulder-slung Walkman, and a ciggy in a holder that fumes lightning bolts. I miss you, the 80s...