On this week’s episode of The Occasional Podcast we don our Halloween costume as a true crime show. We explore the insane history of Crazy Eddie’s HiFi stores on the east coast, and all the fraud, hijinks and fallout of one of the biggest retail scams that just kept getting bigger and bigger.
What started as a small electronics chain grew into 43 stores in four states and an alleged $300 million in sales. If you were around the area in the 80’s, the signature high energy “crazy Eddie” commercials saturated the popular culture at the time. The podcast walks through the meteoric rise, and inevitable fall of iconic HiFi chain wrought with unethical business practices and corruption.
The Occasional Podcast has launched into it’s 8th season with our Halloween special of Crazy Eddie’s HiFi, but you can also check out our interview with Andrew Jones from AXPONA 2022 about the new move to MoFi Electronics and our interview with turntable reviewer Michael Fremer plus last season’s Anatomy Of An Amplifier and earlier episodes like A Beginners Guide To Wireless HiFi, How Records Are Made plus A Guide To Tube Amplifiers and our season 6 opener What Is Accuracy and Why Audiophiles Love Jazz? but don’t miss last season’s finale TOP’s Best Of Season 5 Awards Plus A Visit to Van Halen’s 5150 Studios or our revisited interview with the late legendary recording engineer Al Schmitt. Also available for download is last season’s interviews with Heinz Lichtenegger, president of Pro-Ject. You can also check out Budgeting – From Entry Level To High End, Getting Started With Vinyl Playback, The Occasional Beginner’s Guide To Digital Audio. Season three had interviews with such audio legends as Jeff Joseph, Bill Dudleston, Nelson Pass and even Rob Watts.
If you would like more from PTA staff writer and engineer Dave McNair, you can hear also him exploring all things Mastering and explaining The Loudness Wars plus How Records Are Made, and if you haven’t checked out our beginners guide to reel-to-reel playback, it’s definitely worth a listen.
You can stream the newest episode about Crazy Eddie direct from the embed below or subscribe to The Occasional Podcast on your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
S8E5 Sponsors:
INNUOSdotCOM – Listen From Within
SCHIITdotCOM – Audio Components Designed & Built in California & Texas, Starting At $49
ZUAUDIOdotCOM – Any music, amp or room, there’s a Zu for You
PURISTAUDIODESIGNdotCOM – Let Us Connect You To The Music!
Bought my Marantz Quadraphonic Intergregrated Amp from the original and only location at the time in Brooklyn. Super cheap!