1986 Dwight Yoakam Guitars, Cadillacs, etc. release by Columbia House record club.
In the world of 8 track tape collecting, RCO means Record Club Only, and refers to tapes that were released through the popular music clubs like Columbia House, RCA Music Service (now BMG), or others. These record clubs would sometimes release an album under license from an artist’s own label that contained a different playlist than their current album, under a different title, or a complete album of material never released that was only available to subscribers of the record club in question. Because it is unclear when labels and distributors stopped offering 8 track tapes to retail outlets, and there is no list of RCO 8 track tapes from the 1980’s, the notion of what is RCO is left up to individual collectors to argue amongst themselves about.
Here at 8 Track Shack, we usually do not differentiate between RCO and non-RCO 8 track tapes except for some releases up into the 1980’s by Columbia House and RCA. There are lists that can be found online that attempt to list the tapes that were only put out by record clubs, but these lists are incomplete and often inaccurate, as is to be expected since there was never a list published by the record clubs / labels.
The origin of the record club goes back to the mid-1950’s. They originally were meant to spread the sale of albums into rural areas that did not have quick access to retail music or department stores. The clubs were a success and achieved their purpose and today there are still a number of record clubs operating. Record clubs began offering 8 track tapes sometime in the 1970’s and continued up through the end of the 1980’s. The most rare, valuable and sought after record club 8 track tapes were issued after 1985, when 8 track tapes were no longer being distributed to retail stores. Starting in 1980 8 track tapes in general become much more scarce as cassette tapes gain popularity, and they get scarcer as they approach their final mainstream end of production at the end of the 1980’s.
Identifying record club 8 track tapes is pretty easy. The label on most will state that the 8 track tape is being released under license by the record club from the original label. Below are some examples of label style of different record clubs. For the most part, the record clubs were consistent and produced 8-track tapes with those style labels.
Record Club of America RCOA 8-track with red lines and boxes.
Columbia House 8 tracks have border around label art.
RCA Music Service 8 tracks bear this type of label design.
Book of the Month club 8 tracks all had similar labels such as this.
Value of Record Club 8 Track tapes: Generally record club issued 8 track tapes are not more valuable than those issued by the artist’s label, but there are exceptions. Much in the same way that the albums released near end of the production life of Edison Diamond discs and cylinder records are worth more, some of the youngest 8 track tapes have more value. This is largely due to the fact that cassette tapes had already taken over and few of these 8 track tapes from the late 1980’s were produced. The last years of the mainstream production of 8 track tapes also coincided with the beginning of New Wave music and alternative rock, driving some prices higher.
Other record clubs include Reader’s Digest and music catalogs such as Heartland, who both released 8 track tapes up to the end of the 1980’s.
Today’s album of the day goes to 
