Music Monday: My Favorite Carts from WGMU

When I was a college radio DJ, we used to keep lots of music on carts. Each cart was a tape in a case that looked like an 8-track tape, but each cart was simply a continuous loop of a single song, announcement, commercial, or other sound bite.

To play a cart, all you had to do was grab a cart off the wall of the studio, jam the cart into one of the cart players, and hit the big, white button. No need to cue up a needle on a record. No need to be gentle with the vinyl. Carts were fun and easy.

We created our own carts from albums and singles we had lying around the station. To record a cart, all you had to remember was "Moo-Bang." This helped with the timing for starting the turntable and hitting the Record button on the cart recording deck.

Anyway, I can't remember most of the carts we had, but here are a few:

• King Crimson: Sleepless
• The Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town
• Psychedelic Furs: Love My Way

Carts have been replaced by CDs and computers in most radio stations, but I have fond memories of them from my time at WGMU.

If anyone reads this who worked at WGMU between 1985 and 1987, drop me a line or post a comment with your memories of carts.