So that’s what got lost in the shuffle—HiFi was, at one time, cool & sexy.
The UK’s Fuel Publishing has put together a lovely softback book tantalizingly titled, in a retro soft porn kinda way—Audio Erotica—filled with pics of hifi brochures from the 1950s-1980s to remind us that hifi was, at one time, cool & sexy.
Setting the tempo are the pipe-smoking, high-end separates (amplifiers, speakers, turntables) of the 1950s, followed by the swinging Dansette record players of the 1960s, the prog-brushed-metal music centres of the 1970s, and the sleek capitalist cabinet stack systems of the 1980s – not forgetting the aerobic stereo sound portability facilitated by the boom-box, and that final high-fidelity, hardware hurrah: the compact disc. All accompanied by questionable fashion decisions and acres of shag-pile carpet.
Hifi, at one time, also fit into a cool & sexy life unlike today’s audiophile image of solitary disheveled basement dwellers in need of sunlight and a good wash.
The thing is, hifi brings music into our homes and listening to music can inspire us to do all kinds of cool and sexy things.
Audio Erotica is available directly from Fuel for £26.95 (+ shipping).
180 x 220 mm softback
240 pages
Screenprinted cover
ISBN: 978-1-7398878-1-0
Exclusive slipcase limited edition
+ 4 special Audio Erotica postcards