7 ms·

35 Year-Old C64 Easter Egg Hidden on Vinyl [video]

230 points by modinfo 7y ago

neonate 7y ago
There was also Pete Shelley's record with a ZX Spectrum program on it: http://www.bellyfeel.co.uk/2012/07/1983-buzzcocks-pete-shelley-and-the-xl1-zx-spectrum-program/ http://www.bellyfeel.co.uk/2012/07/1983-buzzcocks-pete-shell... https://dangerousminds.net/comments/revisiting_pete_shelleys_groundbreaking_multimedia_album_project_xl1 https://dangerousminds.net/comments/revisiting_pete_shelleys...
pram 7y ago
The explanation and history are certainly neat, but the payoff was very underwhelming. Kinda like finding out it’s just a message to drink more ovaltine ;P
- TravHatesMe 7y ago
  What sort of payoff were you expecting? I was satisfied that this guy managed to extract the binary and run it on a legacy machine. The tools worked as expected and in the end we found the artist's message. I have incredible appreciation for folks that invest their time and effort in tech archaeology.
  - downtide 7y ago
    I had some old Dragon 32 tapes from days of old. And when the emu scene turned up, managed to record the tape onto the PC, play an unfinished game of my youth, snapshot it so I could cheat until I finally completed the damn thing. For all of like two minutes I was king.
- lostgame 7y ago
  Agreed that the result is underwhelming, however, I am amazed that, of all things, a Christian Rock band chose to undertake such a task, even if it was outsourced. I wonder what their motive was? I mean, it’s certainly a bunch of work for a very small result. There’s no way to direct input the vinyl into a C64, so therefore it would be necessary to record it onto tape, such as the case presented here, which would have been fairly expensive at the time, and then, yes, use a tape loader accessory for a C64 at the time...the budget, it seems, for the average listener to have the gear to decode this, much less know to do it, seems to indicate an astronomically improbable level of discoverability.
  - adatavizguy 7y ago
    Most likely they using a vic-20 / c-64 to help make music at a time when hidden messages and b-sides were a fun thing.
    - jacobush 7y ago
      Nope
  - weinzierl 7y ago
    > [..] it would be necessary to record it onto tape, such as the case presented here, which would have been fairly expensive at the time, and then, yes, use a tape loader accessory for a C64 at the time...the budget, it seems, for the average listener to have the gear to decode this, much less know to do it, seems to indicate an astronomically improbable level of discoverability. Oh, no at all, distribution of software as audio was not exactly common but wasn't unusual either. In the Netherlands there was a radio programme that broadcast C64 programs you could record on cassette. Some printed computer magazines included software on flexi discs which were thin, flexible vinyl sheet records. Record players and double cassette decks, like the one in the the video, were ubiquitous back than. Double cassette decks were the means of choice for copying cassette software because this was much faster than on the computer. The Datasette was much cheaper than a 1541 floppy drive. Recording the audio from a record to tape and loading it via Datasette was a minor inconvenience compared to other methods of software distribution used back then. The usual way to get new software, and with that I mean software you couldn't copy from your friends, was to just type it from a computer magazine. A considerable part of the old magazines was printed program code you could type in and run. I deliberately didn't write source code - it was raw hex listings. The typical form, if I remember correctly, was two columns with 17 hex pairs in each line. 16 bytes were program, one byte was a checksum. You would enter it in a program that would make an annoying buzzer sound when you hit enter at the end of the line and the checksum didn't match. The program I used was from a German computer magazine and aptly named checksummer, which is a nice wordplay on checksum and summer which is German for buzzer. So software on records was neither inconvenient nor expensive. EDIT: Dug up an example: https://www.retropoly.de/c64er/1988/64er_1988-05.pdf https://www.retropoly.de/c64er/1988/64er_1988-05.pdf One hex listing starts at page 42. Format is a little different from what I remembered, 8 bytes code plus 1 byte checksum, four columns of that on a magazine page.
- akjetma 7y ago
  this is every youtube video, to me
- mrspeaker 7y ago
  Ha ha, true - but it's in back end of the RUN OUT GROOVE! There are tonnes of C64 programs on vinyl - but this really is an easter egg: hidden from 99% of auto-stop record players. Damn genius... but also, a run out groove is not a lot of BASIC commands!
- zizee 7y ago
  "Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it." - Greg Anderson (Apologies if this sounds condescending, but I thought it appropriate)
- Vaslo 7y ago
  Just wanted to come here and say the exact same thing!
LeoPanthera 7y ago
Chris Sievey (better known as his persona Frank Sidebottom) included a whole Sinclair ZX81 "music video" on the B-side of one of his singles. You were supposed to run the program while playing the music from side A. https://youtu.be/8u9ZyV-BHFA https://youtu.be/8u9ZyV-BHFA
ctdonath 7y ago
Isao Tomita did similar on album Bermuda Triangle. See http://www.isaotomita.net/recordings/bermuda.html http://www.isaotomita.net/recordings/bermuda.html
quickthrower2 7y ago
Did he use a 90 minute tape? Back in the day I used special 15 minute data tapes for loading programs onto my chosen brand of microcomputer. I found them more reliable than 90 minute audio tapes (can't remember brands used). I'm sort of missing tapes now :-).
- LeoPanthera 7y ago
  The longer the tape the thinner it had to be to fit in the cassette shell. It's been a while now but from memory, 60 minutes or less allowed the full thickness tape, 90 minutes had to be slightly thinner, but still fairly robust. 120 minute tapes did exist but almost every player warned against their use because they snapped very easily.
- imglorp 7y ago
  I was yelling at the screen wondering why he didn't run an 1/8" audio cable from his Audacity direct to the Commodore. The tape was fun maybe but more sources of error.
  - jacobush 7y ago
    The C64 has a digital tape connector
    - vidarh 7y ago
      Yes, but only in the sense that it will threshold any input into a 1-bit signal. If you feed it audio you can use it as a primitive 1-bit sampler. You can even get something that you can play back as recognizable music that way. I haven't tried feeding audio straight in the read pin of the cassette port, but the C64 is so resilient that I'd be surprised if you wouldn't get reasonable results with some minor adjustments.
      - jacobush 7y ago
        Still, you would need to cut it up or make an adapter of some sort, then connect that to the 3.5mm audio jack of some smartphone or modern computer. I can see how just copying to a tape may be less fuss. Edit: this adapter suggests it is a bit of hassle actually: http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/documents/projects/interfaces/soundcard2tape.png http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/documents/projects/in...
acqq 7y ago
For those who prefer the text, it's about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Eye_(album) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Eye_(album) And the Commodore C64 code hidden "after the end" of the record (as the sound).
EvanAnderson 7y ago
It's newer, not executable code, and not stored on analog media, but this made me think of the Information Society track "300bps N, 8, 1". It's a recording of a modem. I remember wiring an RJ-11 jack onto some alligator clips to play it into my modem. Background: https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-greatest-hidden-tracks-ever-hidden-on-a-cd/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-greatest-hidden-...
bouncycastle 7y ago
LOAD "*", 8, 1
milchek 7y ago
Be sure to read the top comment. Even though the program itself was very limited, I think the fact that this was something a band took the time and effort to do back in '84, is pretty cool. Must've been a surreal moment for Dan to see his late fathers easter egg finally run. I'm curious if any other vinyls have hidden data or messages like this in the runouts.
- sverige 7y ago
  The six sides of the three record album 'Sandinista!' had a quote from the movie Alien written in the runout, "IN SPACE ... NO ONE ... CAN ... HEAR ... YOU ... CLASH!" Not a program, but I remember being oddly satisfied when I noticed it the first or second time I played it.
- edent 7y ago
  The runout to Sgt Pepper is preceeded by sound only audible to dogs. Monty Python released a triple sided record. One of the sides had two grooves. Depending on where you placed the needle, you would hear either side 2 or 3.
  - vthriller 7y ago
    There's video about looped run-outs and multiple groves as well: https://youtu.be/yIoAYU_r0Uk https://youtu.be/yIoAYU_r0Uk
stOneskull 7y ago
I remember having to turn the screw in the datasette for copied tapes. Like 1 and a half turns clockwise or something
alanpage 7y ago
Radiohead's "OK Computer" box set contained a mix tape with ancient computer code on it, in much the same way: https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/radioheads-secret-computer-program/ https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/radioheads-secret-co...
Starwatcher2001 7y ago
Not an easter egg as such, but I came across a BASIC program for the TRS-80 in the early 80's where the programmer had worked out that program lines of various lengths would produce interference of different frequencies when a radio was placed next to it. Using lines which included long REM statements, and various loops, it would play the William Tell Overture. For background, the Model 1 TRS-80 had virtually no RF shielding and would interfere with many audio devices next to it, so a radio tuned "off station" was ideal.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- s_gourichon 7y ago
  A video demo of that contraption would be great. Searching for it yields a video of a "regular" tune, not a RF hack (music starts at 3 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OW5CkqFvQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OW5CkqFvQ

230 points by modinfo 7y ago

There was also Pete Shelley's record with a ZX Spectrum program on it: http://www.bellyfeel.co.uk/2012/07/1983-buzzcocks-pete-shelley-and-the-xl1-zx-spectrum-program/ http://www.bellyfeel.co.uk/2012/07/1983-buzzcocks-pete-shell... https://dangerousminds.net/comments/revisiting_pete_shelleys_groundbreaking_multimedia_album_project_xl1 https://dangerousminds.net/comments/revisiting_pete_shelleys...

pram 7y ago

The explanation and history are certainly neat, but the payoff was very underwhelming. Kinda like finding out it’s just a message to drink more ovaltine ;P

TravHatesMe 7y ago
What sort of payoff were you expecting? I was satisfied that this guy managed to extract the binary and run it on a legacy machine. The tools worked as expected and in the end we found the artist's message. I have incredible appreciation for folks that invest their time and effort in tech archaeology.
- downtide 7y ago
  I had some old Dragon 32 tapes from days of old. And when the emu scene turned up, managed to record the tape onto the PC, play an unfinished game of my youth, snapshot it so I could cheat until I finally completed the damn thing. For all of like two minutes I was king.
lostgame 7y ago
Agreed that the result is underwhelming, however, I am amazed that, of all things, a Christian Rock band chose to undertake such a task, even if it was outsourced. I wonder what their motive was? I mean, it’s certainly a bunch of work for a very small result. There’s no way to direct input the vinyl into a C64, so therefore it would be necessary to record it onto tape, such as the case presented here, which would have been fairly expensive at the time, and then, yes, use a tape loader accessory for a C64 at the time...the budget, it seems, for the average listener to have the gear to decode this, much less know to do it, seems to indicate an astronomically improbable level of discoverability.
- adatavizguy 7y ago
  Most likely they using a vic-20 / c-64 to help make music at a time when hidden messages and b-sides were a fun thing.
  - jacobush 7y ago
    Nope
- weinzierl 7y ago
  > [..] it would be necessary to record it onto tape, such as the case presented here, which would have been fairly expensive at the time, and then, yes, use a tape loader accessory for a C64 at the time...the budget, it seems, for the average listener to have the gear to decode this, much less know to do it, seems to indicate an astronomically improbable level of discoverability. Oh, no at all, distribution of software as audio was not exactly common but wasn't unusual either. In the Netherlands there was a radio programme that broadcast C64 programs you could record on cassette. Some printed computer magazines included software on flexi discs which were thin, flexible vinyl sheet records. Record players and double cassette decks, like the one in the the video, were ubiquitous back than. Double cassette decks were the means of choice for copying cassette software because this was much faster than on the computer. The Datasette was much cheaper than a 1541 floppy drive. Recording the audio from a record to tape and loading it via Datasette was a minor inconvenience compared to other methods of software distribution used back then. The usual way to get new software, and with that I mean software you couldn't copy from your friends, was to just type it from a computer magazine. A considerable part of the old magazines was printed program code you could type in and run. I deliberately didn't write source code - it was raw hex listings. The typical form, if I remember correctly, was two columns with 17 hex pairs in each line. 16 bytes were program, one byte was a checksum. You would enter it in a program that would make an annoying buzzer sound when you hit enter at the end of the line and the checksum didn't match. The program I used was from a German computer magazine and aptly named checksummer, which is a nice wordplay on checksum and summer which is German for buzzer. So software on records was neither inconvenient nor expensive. EDIT: Dug up an example: https://www.retropoly.de/c64er/1988/64er_1988-05.pdf https://www.retropoly.de/c64er/1988/64er_1988-05.pdf One hex listing starts at page 42. Format is a little different from what I remembered, 8 bytes code plus 1 byte checksum, four columns of that on a magazine page.
akjetma 7y ago
this is every youtube video, to me
mrspeaker 7y ago
Ha ha, true - but it's in back end of the RUN OUT GROOVE! There are tonnes of C64 programs on vinyl - but this really is an easter egg: hidden from 99% of auto-stop record players. Damn genius... but also, a run out groove is not a lot of BASIC commands!
zizee 7y ago
"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it." - Greg Anderson (Apologies if this sounds condescending, but I thought it appropriate)
Vaslo 7y ago
Just wanted to come here and say the exact same thing!

LeoPanthera 7y ago

Chris Sievey (better known as his persona Frank Sidebottom) included a whole Sinclair ZX81 "music video" on the B-side of one of his singles. You were supposed to run the program while playing the music from side A. https://youtu.be/8u9ZyV-BHFA https://youtu.be/8u9ZyV-BHFA

ctdonath 7y ago

Isao Tomita did similar on album Bermuda Triangle. See http://www.isaotomita.net/recordings/bermuda.html http://www.isaotomita.net/recordings/bermuda.html

quickthrower2 7y ago

Did he use a 90 minute tape? Back in the day I used special 15 minute data tapes for loading programs onto my chosen brand of microcomputer. I found them more reliable than 90 minute audio tapes (can't remember brands used). I'm sort of missing tapes now :-).

LeoPanthera 7y ago
The longer the tape the thinner it had to be to fit in the cassette shell. It's been a while now but from memory, 60 minutes or less allowed the full thickness tape, 90 minutes had to be slightly thinner, but still fairly robust. 120 minute tapes did exist but almost every player warned against their use because they snapped very easily.
imglorp 7y ago
I was yelling at the screen wondering why he didn't run an 1/8" audio cable from his Audacity direct to the Commodore. The tape was fun maybe but more sources of error.
- jacobush 7y ago
  The C64 has a digital tape connector
  - vidarh 7y ago
    Yes, but only in the sense that it will threshold any input into a 1-bit signal. If you feed it audio you can use it as a primitive 1-bit sampler. You can even get something that you can play back as recognizable music that way. I haven't tried feeding audio straight in the read pin of the cassette port, but the C64 is so resilient that I'd be surprised if you wouldn't get reasonable results with some minor adjustments.
    - jacobush 7y ago
      Still, you would need to cut it up or make an adapter of some sort, then connect that to the 3.5mm audio jack of some smartphone or modern computer. I can see how just copying to a tape may be less fuss. Edit: this adapter suggests it is a bit of hassle actually: http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/documents/projects/interfaces/soundcard2tape.png http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/documents/projects/in...

acqq 7y ago

For those who prefer the text, it's about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Eye_(album) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Eye_(album) And the Commodore C64 code hidden "after the end" of the record (as the sound).

EvanAnderson 7y ago

It's newer, not executable code, and not stored on analog media, but this made me think of the Information Society track "300bps N, 8, 1". It's a recording of a modem. I remember wiring an RJ-11 jack onto some alligator clips to play it into my modem. Background: https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-greatest-hidden-tracks-ever-hidden-on-a-cd/ https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-greatest-hidden-...

bouncycastle 7y ago

LOAD "*", 8, 1

milchek 7y ago

Be sure to read the top comment. Even though the program itself was very limited, I think the fact that this was something a band took the time and effort to do back in '84, is pretty cool. Must've been a surreal moment for Dan to see his late fathers easter egg finally run. I'm curious if any other vinyls have hidden data or messages like this in the runouts.

sverige 7y ago
The six sides of the three record album 'Sandinista!' had a quote from the movie Alien written in the runout, "IN SPACE ... NO ONE ... CAN ... HEAR ... YOU ... CLASH!" Not a program, but I remember being oddly satisfied when I noticed it the first or second time I played it.
edent 7y ago
The runout to Sgt Pepper is preceeded by sound only audible to dogs. Monty Python released a triple sided record. One of the sides had two grooves. Depending on where you placed the needle, you would hear either side 2 or 3.
- vthriller 7y ago
  There's video about looped run-outs and multiple groves as well: https://youtu.be/yIoAYU_r0Uk https://youtu.be/yIoAYU_r0Uk

stOneskull 7y ago

I remember having to turn the screw in the datasette for copied tapes. Like 1 and a half turns clockwise or something

alanpage 7y ago

Radiohead's "OK Computer" box set contained a mix tape with ancient computer code on it, in much the same way: https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/radioheads-secret-computer-program/ https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/radioheads-secret-co...

Starwatcher2001 7y ago

Not an easter egg as such, but I came across a BASIC program for the TRS-80 in the early 80's where the programmer had worked out that program lines of various lengths would produce interference of different frequencies when a radio was placed next to it. Using lines which included long REM statements, and various loops, it would play the William Tell Overture. For background, the Model 1 TRS-80 had virtually no RF shielding and would interfere with many audio devices next to it, so a radio tuned "off station" was ideal.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
s_gourichon 7y ago
A video demo of that contraption would be great. Searching for it yields a video of a "regular" tune, not a RF hack (music starts at 3 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OW5CkqFvQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OW5CkqFvQ