Hilarious and Terrible Pranks

[diamone]

Was dragging around and found an old 1968 MoPar 8-track player that has the capstan as part of a direct-drive motor with its own flywheel built in.

That's the same one that got adapted from a e.g. Fidelipac-type background music cart machine produced by Western Electric in the mid `60's from which Bill Lear may have taken his original design. Both were huge and heavy tanks that ran forever.

Our church had a similar Western Electric tape-based bell-chime system for years on D-size carts (houses an 8-inch reel) and the 4-track 3-3/4 IPS cart configuration player had the same or similar huge direct-drive rotor built into the motor like that.

Thing was also a tank like a Gates radio station turntable and ran forever - like 40 years (with maintenance) until the bell chime system was replaced with special proprietary format CDs the same as the background music systems with which they were interchangeable.

And speaking of interchangeable formats - yes when we were kids we smuggled the self-titled Black Sabbath album from 1970 on the same format 4-track cartridge (albeit smaller Muntz version) onto the bell-chime system at church.

As Evil Woman blasted out over the neighborhood at earsplitting volume at 6 AM on a Sunday morning - we all woke up to the worst whippings over any kind of transgression we can all remember to this day.

We heard tell later on that guys that didn't even have anything to do with the idea and didn't even know about it were getting whoopings from their fathers just cuz ``that's just the kind of craziness they would have come up with''.

The church changed to a 1-7/8 IPS bell chime cart system right after that.

But a year later at the mall we did it again anyway just to be obnoxious.

The phonograph inside the Singing Rotating Christmas Tree in front of the Lazarus Bros Dept Store hadn't been loud enough to hear without standing directly in front of it for years.

Technically-oriented fathers from the neighborhood teamed up to repair the player and the amp, got a new speaker and phono cartridge - found out where to get a newer copy of the Lazarus Bros special Christmas record (a nearby drive in had an extra copy they weren't using) and put it back into service.

Why a drive in near Columbus Ohio that would presumably have long since ended its' season would have a CHRISTMAS record we never did find out - but there it was. That's like a ski lodge having a copy of a beach-party record.

Two weeks later we sneaked over there and replaced the Christmas record with Alice Cooper's Killer. But this time as Halo of Flies blasted out over the neighborhood at earsplitting volume at 6 AM in the morning the day before Christmas Eve - even though people still sprinted at top speed to turn it off and find the original record (propped up in it's jacket just to the side so they could find it) to put back on - apparently people had a better sense of humor in 1971 vs 1970.

For the rest of the season and from then on - they still changed to the same 1-7/8 IPS cart system for the tree as they had done for the church. End of all the fun.

But coming up on 50 years later it's still as funny as when we were 5, 8, and 13.

We had to wait five years for the Lazarus Bros to change to a cassette based system so we could do it again - but this time they were smart - they chose a cassette system like the background music systems that ran 1 13/16 - halfway inbetween the normal 1-7/8 and the half speed decks at 15/16 - which is the same as playing a 33 at 45 - taping it onto a 1-7/8 IPS cassette and changing the tapes out.

This time a younger bunch of quasi-hooligans took the heat for it because everybody in town who remembered when we did it - all thought we were too old to be still pranking people like that.

This was before Pranksters on the Discovery Channel.

[tragwag]

ahahah this sounds great. and took some ingenuity!

[Steve E.]

Hey, everyone.

I agree that this belonged in "The Treehouse." That may mean I disagree with some other moderator on it.

The thread descended into a buncha infantile name calling.

You all get a spanking an an honor-system time out. The dunce cap for all of you!!

Be civil!!

[Stevie342000]

It's not the first time I have been threatened with that, sort of takes this back to the start of this thread. I still do not quite get it but I do see why it could be funny but I figure you have to be in that head space and it is late here in the UK.

I am sorry if I caused the poster any offence and duly apologise for some of my less than kind comments and I hope we can leave it at that. I hope we can all put it behind us and move on.

Steve in the UK

[Soulbear]

Hi There,
Aah, sanity at last!!

I agree that this belonged in "The Treehouse

Which was all I politely suggested in my first post, before being abused!!

Bear Cub-1.jpg

Best Regards
Soulbear

[Steve E.]

You are all expected not merely to not-escalate conflicts, but de-escalate them. Be Buddah.

[Soulbear]

Hi There,

You are all expected not merely to not-escalate conflicts, but de-escalate them. Be Buddah

Er.. um.. well... yes... oh forgive me Jedi Grand Master and seer of All Things, Grand Master SteveE aka Only One Canolli, I hereby renounce the Dark Side, and further pledge to abandon my nefarious mission to become the Dark Side Sith Lord - Darth Vommitt

I'll go and sit on the naughty step, and play with my Light Sabre for a little while, when I come out to play again, I'll try and be good
Soulbear

[Steve E.]

Only One Canoli. I approve of my new name.