A wonderful history with Sony Walkman

The Evolution Of A Pop Culture Icon

1979

• Birth of first Sony Walkman TPS-L2 rocked the world, forever changing the way consumers listen to music.
• One month after the Walkman launch on July 1,
  1979, sales took off. Within two months, the initial production of 30,000 units was sold out.
• Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of the U.K.
• Australia's No 1 single was My Sharona by The Knack.

• Demand for Sony Walkman showed no signs of slowing. Customers were put on waiting lists with many prepared to pay a premium.
• The TPS-L2 sold 1.16 million units in the first two years.
• The Walkman became a social phenomenon and was hailed as one of the three most popular new fashion products of the age along with roller skates and digital watches.
• John Lennon shot and killed in New York .
• The world waits to see 'Who shot JR' in Dallas TV series.

• Sony launched full-scale worldwide sales campaigns for WM-2 model, weighing 280 grams for the body and 28 grams for the headphones, which became the best selling Walkman of all time with 2.5 million units sold.
• The word "Walkman" was included in the Petit Larousse, a French dictionary.
• Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles married.
• PacMan fever dominated video arcade games.

• Sony released first recordable Walkman, as well as first Walkman with personal tuner.
• The late H.R.H. Diana Princess of Wales was given a Walkman with the royal crest in gold as a commemorative gift when she paid a visit to Brigend Colour Television plant in Wales, U.K.
• Two Soviet spacecraft landed on the planet Venus.
• Australia's No 1 single was Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.

• Launch of first cassette-sized Walkman, WM-20. Weighing only 180 grams for the body and 17 grams for the headphones, WM-20 astounded the world with its ultimate compactness.
• To complement the explosion of the American fitness craze, Sony introduced the innovative water-resistant Sports Walkman model, perfect for listeners with active lifestyles.
• Cabbage Patch Kids are the best selling toy of the year.

• CD Walkman, D-50, the first portable player for compact disc was created, giving music lovers crisp, clear digital sound and convenience.
• Walkman introduces Dolby C, amorphous head and quartz-lock capstan servo DD, WMD6C, enabling deck-quality play and recordingon tape.

• Walkman's popularity hit the fashion elite as world-famous hair designer Jean Louis D'eforges created the "Walkman Cut".
• Famine devastates Ethiopia. Australia's No 1 single was We are the World by USA for Africa.
• Mikhail Gorbachev became Secretary General of the USSR.

• The term Walkman was entered into the new Oxford English Dictionary as a word. The Oxford English Dictionary certified Walkman as a noun.
• The first auto reverse model to be equipped with "on the headphones remote controls" was released. The slim cassette case sized Walkman was the first with feather touch controls.
• Australia's No 1 single was Papa Don't Preach by Madonna.

• Just eight years after revolutionising the way we listen to music, the first Walkman became immortalised as an icon of American culture with permanent installation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
• First annual memorial ceremony commemorates CIA employees who have died in the line of duty.
• The Bangles' Walk like an Egyptian is the top US single.

• The Wireless Walkman (WM-805) provided wireless remote control for the first time ever.
• Addressing a need for high-quality digital personal audio, Sony introduced the world's first Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Walkman model.
• Rap music achieved widespread popularity. Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares to You was Australia's No 1 single.
• East and West Germany reunite after 45 years.

• To make CD music truly portable and enjoyable, ESP (Electronic Shock Protection) technology was first incorporated into CD Walkman D-515, to prevent skipping of CD tracks so as to counteract the shocks and bumps of outdoor use.
• Walkman goes digital with MiniDisc. Sony introduced the MiniDisc format, an ultra compact, digital, re-recordable optical disk with superior sound quality with the first MD Walkman MZ1.
• Los Angeles became an epicentre of racial conflict. Barcelona staged the Olympics.
• The No 1 single in Australia was End of the Road by Boyz II Men.

• Cumulative sales quantity of Walkman (cassette) hit 100 million units in January.
• The world mourns the passing of actress Audrey Hepburn.
• The Hone moon is Over by the Cruel Sea is the top Australian single.

• As Video CD (VCD) rise in popularity in Asia, D-V500 CD Walkman was created to play both CDs and VCDs, adding new value to portable entertainment.
• France declared an end to its nuclear testing.
• Everyone learned to Macarena - the No 1 single of the year by Los Del Rio.

• Sony launched innovative street-style headphones, lending new meaning to "personal music". The young generation took to the new wearing style immediately, appreciating the stylish design and comfortable fit.
  

• Sony's smallest recording MD Walkman - MZ-R55 - is unveiled. Less than 2cm thick and small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, offering the ultimate in portability and convenience.
• Sony's cumulative worldwide shipments of all Walkman (cassette, CD and MD) reached 236.6 million units (as of the end of the fiscal year
  1998). Cumulative shipments of cassette tape Walkman are 186 million units, 46 million units for CD Walkman and 4.6 million units for MD Walkman.
• Sony Asia Pacific launched in Asia a new joggable CD Walkman D-EJ01, equipped with an advanced G-Protection Skip-Resistant System.
• Star Wars Episode 1 was released.

• Launch of the ultra-compact Network Walkman NWE3 in Australia featuring 64MB of built-in flash memory and allowing up to 120 minutes of digital audio playback. About the size of a disposable lighter and weighing 33 grams, the NWE3 is one of the smallest and lightest digital music players on the market.
• World joins together to celebrate the dawn of a new Millennium.
• No 1 single in Australia was 'I'm Outta Love' by Anastasia.

• After 22 years as leader in the portable music market, Walkman once again reinvents itself to complement the next generation's techno-savvy lifestyles and changing music environments.