Sigue Sigue Sputnik's old portastudio

CASSETTE WEEK: Old 4-track portastudios are now very, very cheap on eBay, rarely selling for more than £50. Ancient 80s models are even cheaper. The Teac 144 was the first ever Portastudio, launched in 1979. It's a cool looking thing, with big analog VU meters and loads of knobs. But it is very old. The last three on eBay went for £16, £30 and £17. However, if the machine has a 'celebrity' past, it can be very different. this auction for a Portastudio owned by Martin Degville (seen here in the fur coat) from Sigue Sigue Sputnik (it "comes with a 4 track master of one of their sessions circa 1980") is currently selling for £162 - and it still hasn't beaten the reserve. I can only imagine how SSS must have sounded before Giorgio Moroder got hold of them. And yes, you read that right. £162!

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

Go on Sabastian, you buy it and turn it into some kind of circuit bent multi-dimensional tribute to SSS... Then sell it on eBay!

# posted by

Tom Whitwell : 1:25 pm

Speaking of circuit bending... Not only could a second hand Portastudio be repurpose into a mixer, but the tape section could be hacked into a tape echo. Alternatively, through the magic of cassette loops, a four track loop recorder/player. £17 quid, did you say? Hmmm...

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:55 pm

check out the 5kg cellphone - dude, thats style

easier to grip with fingerless gloves - yeh!!

# posted by

Awakened Yeti : 9:32 am

Chris Thorpe -

can you provide more info? I just dumpster-dived a (mostly) working 144...

Housepig

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:12 pm

Sadly all my suggestions were hypothetical as I don't have such a generous dumpster nearby! But for the lowdown on cassette loops, you can't beat this article - http://www.loopers-delight.com/tips/multitrack.html. Otherwise, you could just ignore the cassette portion and use it as a mixer.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:03 pm

Just cam across your post...Few years ago Martin Degville was in the habit of picking up guys from a pub in Maida Vale...luckerly I escaped.

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:57 pm

I remember Sigue Sigue Sputnik best for the naked roadies!

# posted by

Anonymous : 10:03 pm

Cool Sputty site...

http://www.zardsputnik.com

LOADS of free sSs Mp3's !

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:02 pm

Thier album "Flaunt It" is a masterpiece. Having said that, SSS were only great because of Georgio Moroder,everything else by them pretty much suxxx.

Also interesting(IMO), what is Georgio Moroder without Harold Faltemeyer? Just thought I'd put the idea out there...

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:57 pm