AL KOOPER "Koopertronics Reel and Spoolie Game"
vintage SONY TC-177SD "3 Headed Dual Crapster"
with "Dopey System"
ONE OF A KIND, SHOULD BE IN A ROCK AND ROLL MUSEUM
This is the legendary record producer, songwriter and musician Al Kooper's very own SONY TC-177SD CASSETTE DECK. Yes, the famous AL KOOPER known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears and discovering Lynyrd Skynyrd and producing their first three albums (ever heard of Free Bird?) and many other big stars. Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970's he was a prolific studio musician, playing organ on the Bob Dylan song "Like a Rolling Stone" and French horn and piano on the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" among many other appearances. Kooper also produced the Super Session album with guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills and later produced solo albums for three of the four Beatles. In the 1970s Kooper was a successful manager and producer and he discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd and recorded their first three albums. Al Kooper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on television last night... New Years Day, January 1st 2024.
In 1986 I was friends with the band POISON's then manager Howie Hubberman, who at the time owned a music store called GUITARS 'R US on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, a coupla doors down from the Hollywood Guitar Center (which moved across the street a few years later). I used to hang out at Howie's store and bought a number of pre-CBS Fender guitar amplifiers from him. Well I waltzed in there one day and Howie had just gone to a garage sale at Al Kooper's house and bought a bunch of items from Al, including this cassette deck. I took one look at this one-of-a-kind deck with the hilarious Dymo Tape labels attached to it (KOOPERTRONICS REEL AND SPOOLIE GAME", "3 HEADED DUAL CRAPSTER", "DOPEY SYSTEM" etcetera) and had to have it. Who knows how many rough mixes of recordings in process which became hit albums were made with this machine.
I have owned this since 1986 and have never attempted in the past thirty-eight years to clean it or polish it up. (I'll leave that option up to the buyer.) It comes as-is, dirt and all. I have never plugged it in either, so I cannot confirm if it even works. But I see no reason why it shouldn't fire up. I do not claim that it works. This is a conversation piece and A PIECE OF ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY that ought to be displayed in a museum somewhere and I hope the buyer will do just that. Earlier this year I consulted with the Hard Rock Cafe's former archivist Warwick Stone (who you might have seen on the Pawn Stars TV show and is now based in Nashville) but he didn't think he knew offhand anyone who wanted this item. The deck shows considerable wear as would be expected, but the hilarious DYMO LABEL MAKER LABELS exhibiting Al's "unique sense of humor" are still firmly attached after all these years and are clearly the main attraction. See pictures. What you see is what you get.
I emailed Al Kooper about twenty-five years ago now to confirm whether or not this tape deck did indeed belong to him and he replied "Does it still work? Because I sure don't!" Unfortunately I misplaced the printed copy I had of this message many years ago. (This was way back when computers used floppy discs!) I have perused old photos of Al working in the recording studio in the 1970's but haven't been able to find any pictures with this deck in the background, but if you are resourceful I'm sure you can track him down and ask him yourself if this belonged to him.
I do guarantee this to be the real deal. This cassette deck did indeed belong to Al Kooper.
BTW, this TC-177SD was dubbed "the most complex cassette deck ever built"
when SONY released it in 1974.
It was also the most expensive cassette deck ever built at the time. In 1974 it cost a whopping $1000.
which using Morgan Friedman's Inflation Calculator would cost you $6,286.89 in today's US dollars.