Pop culture in the '80s, that is.

It was the era of the cassette tape, the Walkman and the boom-box.

Anyone who used to dub tapes would recall how frustrating it was when they got chewed up. At first, you'd try to untangle it. But you'd often end up pulling out more tape [it seemed endless] before chucking it.

The Walkman was a magic invention. It was your own personal sound system to block out the world. As for the boom-box, it somehow managed to be cool and uncool at the same time. That is, it was cool in your bedroom, but not so much when it was outside on someone's shoulder.

If cassettes were kind of disposable, vinyl records were the opposite. They were quality. They were what your parents played. In our house, it was The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, The Police, the Moody Blues, Stevie Wonder, Leonard Cohen, the Eagles, Rod Stewart, Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stephens, Queen and Leo Sayer. We're pretty sure Barbara Streisand was in there somewhere.

The warm, soulful sounds of the records would flow through the house. The album sleeves drew you in with their captivating cover art and mystical lyrics. 

This came to mind when we heard about World Record Day, which was held on Saturday.

The day was another indicator of the ongoing revival of vinyl.

Kellie Jackson, of The Mosh Pit Record Store at Cardiff, was among those to participate in the day. 

"I've always collected records. I never really got into CDs," Kellie said.

"I just like records. I like that ritual of playing them. I also like the sound. And I love the cover art."

She said Newcastle had a "dedicated vinyl community".

"We have a lot of people selling us their vinyl as well - people who are downsizing. There's a constant supply of records there," she said.

Kellie has long been into retro stuff.

"I'm an 80s chick. I grew up in the 80s and I never let go," she said.

Does she think the modern era sucks?

"No, I love technology and the modern world. But aesthetically, I love the look of retro. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. That's just my bag," she said.

Did you notice the old landline phone in the photo of Kellie Jackson? Those old phones really are the iPhone's ugly ancestor. 

When we look at old phones like that, we think of sweaty-palmed calls to girls, prank calls and wrong numbers.

Which brings us to a fairly severe case of wrong numberitis recently reported in Australian Doctor magazine.

"The My Aged Care portal was created in 2013 and sold as a simple way for GPs and patients to discuss assessments for government-funded aged care packages," the story said.

"But it has now emerged that, for the past three years, the health department has been handing out the wrong number for the portal."

The number given out belongs to Koala Glass, a glass repair and replacement company based in Newcastle. Apparently, it's been receiving loads of calls from elderly people for three years. 

The glass company is now between a rock and a hard place. You see, the government printed the number on thousands of fridge magnets sent to elderly people.