Boombox is back
10.01.10
Pop singers Madonna and Lady Gaga featured them in recent music videos. They're on fashion runways in the form of screen-printed T-shirts, gold pendant jewelry and purses. A TV commercial features break-dancing babies skating to boombox beats.
Apparently, they're cool again. Music fans are paying triple their value — as much as $800 used on eBay — just to own a piece of history.
To most kids of the 1980s, they weren't just a box. Boomboxes, or ghetto blasters, forever changed listening habits. People could hear music on the go, said Lyle Owerko, a New York photographer who seems to be at the forefront of this renaissance.
Owerko has collected 40 boomboxes since the mid-'90s and is finishing a book due out this fall, “The Boombox Project,” about his musical treasures. Some work. Some are taped together. And some weigh more than 20 pounds.
“Remembering our first boombox is almost like remembering your first kiss,” Owerko said. “With all the turmoil in the world, people are reaching back to something they can touchstone to a time in their life that brought a good memory.”
Source: Omaha World-Herald