The chronology of 8-tracks, regular cassettes, the Brady Bunch, and the Partridge Family

Attention Matthew Alice! What came first, the cassette car stereo or the eight-track car stereo? My friend and I seem to remember cassette tapes going before eight-track tapes, but we think we remember eight-track players in cars first. What’s the deal? Give us a clue. Do you know? And what show came first. The Partridge Family or The Brady Bunch? — The Inhalers, Pacific Beach

Here’s the chronology. In 1956 Chrysler offers in-dash phonographs (bombissimo!); 1959, Motorola makes first mass-produced FM car radios; 1965, first eight-tracks available in cars; September 26, 1969, ABC installs The Brady Bunch; September 25, 1970, The Partridge Family arrives; August 30, 1974, the Bradys go away, followed by the Partridges on August 31, killing career of Jeremy Gelbwaks (the original Christopher); simultaneously, car cassette players begin to replace eight-tracks. September ’74 to ’75, the animated Partridge Family, 2200 A.D. bores us; January to May of’77, The Brady Bunch Hour is more than we can take; February to April ’81, no one fooled by The Brady Brides; 1984, first car CD players, TVs, and phones appear; 1991, Danny Bonaduce punches out transvestite prostitute, and we have reunion dreams of A Very Brady Flag Day or A Perfectly Partridge Halloween; September 1995, Danny Bonaduce gets talk show — first guest, Jeremy Gelbwaks.