A fabulous toy, released by Fisher-Price in 1988. Small, portable tape players made for younger children, Pocket Rockers were remotely popular upon their entrance into the market, though Fisher-Price only carried them in their toy catalogs until 1992.
Pocket Rockers employed the use of "cart" tapes, which are very similar to the eight-track tapes of the 1970's and 1980's. Each side of each tape contained one song, usually around 2 minutes in length (some songs were faded out before the song actually finished). The player had a switch that let the listener change between the two available tracks, and a small knob on the front controlled the volume. A headphone jack was on the side, as well as a slider to eject the tape.
Each Pocket Rocker tape was incredibly small, only measuring around 1.5" x 1.25". This, along with the small, durable player and bright colors, made the Pocket Rockers very popular with kids for their short lifetime. Powered by AA batteries, the players lasted for quite a long time.
Of course, after 1992 Fisher-Price no longer supported Pocket Rockers, and the production of new tapes containing new music was halted. Below is a final listing of each Pocket Rocker tape that was sold.
The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyption, Manic Monday
Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari, Surfin' U.S.A.
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven is a Place on Earth, I Get Weak
Bill Haley and the Comets - (We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock, Shake, Rattle and Roll
Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive, You Give Love a Bad Name
Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer, Runaway
Boston - Amanda Cantcha Say, Still In Love
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode, Rock and Roll Music
Cutting Crew - I've Been In Love Before, I Just Died In Your Arms
Danny and the Juniors - At the Hop, Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay
Debbie Gibson - Shake your Love, Only in My Dreams
Expose - Let Me Be the One, Season's Change
Huey Lewis and the News - Doing it All For My Baby, The Power of Love
Jan Hammer - Miami Vice theme
Huey Lewis and the News - Hip to Be Square, Heart of Rock and Roll
Kenny Loggins - Footloose
Kim Wilde - You Keep Me Hanging On, Say you Really Want Me
LeVert - Casanova, Forever Love
Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam - Head to Toe, Lost in Emotion
Los Lobos - La Bamba, Tequila
Madonna - Who's that Girl, Material Girl
Mike and the Mechanics - All I Need Is A Miracle
Phil Collins - Invisible Touch, The Last Domino
Pretty Poison - Catch Me I'm Falling, Nighttime
Ray Parker Jr./The Monkees - Ghostbusters, Theme from The Monkees
Taylor Dane - Prove Your Love, Tell it To My Heart
Tears for Fears - Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World
The Fat Boys - Wipe Out, Rock Ruling
The Jets - Cross My Broken Heart, You Got it All
The Jets - I Do You, Make It Real
Tiffany - All This Time, Radio Romance
Tiffany - I Saw (him) Standing There, Feelings of Forever
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now, Could've Been
Tom Petty - You Want to Be A Rock 'N Roll Star, Don't Come Around here No More
T'Pau - Heart and Soul, China In Your Hand
Whisper - Right on Track, Kiss and Tell
Whitney Houston - How Will I Know, Greatest Love of All
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), So Emotional
On a personal note, digging these things up from my basement made me realize the musical progression people undergo. Switching from LeVert to Radiohead is quite a jump.