1980 disco light electric shocker !
Back in the 80’s I had a liking to all things electrical – “practical electronics monthly” gave me the horn and I remember one particular project was to make your own “sound to lights” disco unit.

Now to the uninitiated a “sound to light” unit normally consisted of four mains powered coloured bulbs that flash in time to music via the built in microphone – anyway I spent hours grafting on this project and several days later ended up with the finished article – Now to test it!

I plugged it into the mains and fired up a bit of Sam Fox “Touch Me” on the record player and watched awe struck as the lights flash in time to the music - brilliant! Except the bass light didn’t work – I switched the music off and unscrewed the non working bulb – Hmmm how can I test it I thought… common sense was well and truly lacking as I decided to reach in and touch the electrical contacts for the bulb – “one” “two” I whispered into the microphone and sure enough a little bit of a tickle up the arm confirmed that I was getting a voltage but not long enough to cause me any damage.. that is until I decided to test it with “Ghost Busters” by Ray Parker Jnr

The record starts with a very treble like intro which caused the first two lights to come on and then it gets into a very bass like drum bit that sends 240 volts surging up my arm causing me to fly backwards in a whole world of pain with my body stiffer than than gary glitter reading a mother care catalogue……

That ladies and gentlemen is the day I nearly removed my genes from the pool…
(tarkatronic stand back I don't know how big this thing gets..., Wed 18 Feb 2009, 15:08, Reply)