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A Jem of a Find!

Updated: Jan 9, 2022

First off, I must admit that my wife suggested the title for this post. I couldn't come up with anything better, so I reluctantly concede her hilarity.

"I've got an arcade, and I'm going to use it!"

I found this Jem and Friends Dream Tour tape at our local Salvation Army Family Store. Twenty-nine cents later, it was mine. The tape head had fallen off, but was thankfully still in the tape's case. A little Elmer's Glue-All, and it was playing like a champ. This thing is an '80s New Wave Who's Who, and has some unintentionally funny commentary between songs from Jem's "DJ," who is probably the producer's son. Jem herself introduces and concludes the tape, mixing it up with some of her "hit singles," such as you would hear on her namesake cartoon. These are excruciatingly, hilariously bad. (A side note: I occasionally watched Jem and the Holograms as a kid, but like any self-respecting six-year old boy, would never have admitted to it.)



This tape was a mail-away premium from Hasbro, and has something of a cult following. Here are the unique aspects of the cassette, via the magic of YouTube:


This tape was definitely a worthy investment, and will serve as an heirloom piece. UPDATE: It ranks as one of the more unusual entries in my magnetic media collection, some of which are featured in The Incredible World of Cassette Tapes, an epic entry which puts this early piece to shame. It took me almost two years to include that link, so an article on cassettes holds a record. (OK, I barely got my own joke there.)


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