Name/Title
Home-recorded reel-to-reel tape, "Cinta 15" (Boney M. compilation), in Sony boxEntry/Object ID
2025.1.312Description
Square Sony "Empty Reel" box (model "5A"), front in teal/ochre with a stylized reel graphic and "SONY / FOR RECORDING TAPE / EMPTY REEL / 5A"; "C 15" added by hand. Back: printed recording-data label (the 9.5 cm/sec — 3¾ ips — box checked) over "SONY REEL — SONY CORP. TOKYO JAPAN," with a blue-ballpoint name ("Guillermo Castillo").
Inside lid: a typed tracklist headed "CINTA 15," by Cara (side) 1–4, almost entirely Boney M. (Daddy Cool, Sunny, No Woman No Cry, Fever, Nightflight to Venus, Ma Baker, Rasputin, Rivers of Babylon, Brown Girl in the Ring, Painter Man, Belfast, Still I'm Sad, etc.), with handwritten additions and several Spanish titles; English titles often phonetically misspelled.
The reel inside is a clear TDK reel (≈5 in.) — not the box's original Sony reel — wound with ¼-inch tape, with a paper leader and red/white splice tab; "#15" is marked in red on the tape.Context
A home-recorded music compilation ("Tape 15") devoted to Boney M., the Euro-Caribbean disco group hugely popular in Cuba and the socialist bloc in the late 1970s–80s.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Leopoldo Arús Caraballo collectionMade/Created
Manufacturer
Sony, TDKPlace
Country
JapanContinent
AsiaEdition
R-5ANotes
Box: Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan (model 5A empty take-up reel box, sold without tape).
Reel: TDK, Japan.
The box and reel are different brands; they are associated as one item by the owner's matching "15" marks (box "C 15" / lid "Cinta 15" / reel "#15"), not by manufacture.
Recording: home-made.
Date: recording circa 1979–1985 (tentative, from the Boney M. song dates).
Place: media made in Japan; recorded/compiled in Cuba.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
LabelLocation
case frontTranscription
SONY
FOR RECORDING TAPE
EMPTY REEL
5ALanguage
EnglishMaterial/Technique
PrintedType
NoteLocation
case frontTranscription
C 15Language
SpanishTranslation
T 15 (meaning "tape 15")Material/Technique
InkType
NoteLocation
case backTranscription
Guillermo CastelloLanguage
SpanishMaterial/Technique
InkType
NoteLocation
case, insideNotes
a paper with the title of the songs recorded was glued inside the boxType
NoteLocation
reelTranscription
C #15Language
SpanishTranslation
Spanish for (tape #15)Dimensions
Height
13.5 cmWidth
13.2 cmDepth
1.5 cmParts
Sony 5A box (lid + base); typed tracklist insert; TDK reel with tape, leader, and splice tab.Materials
Material
Celluloid, Cardboard, Plastic, PaperMaterial Notes
Printed cardboard (box); paper label (tracklist); clear molded plastic (TDK reel); polyester magnetic tape; printed/ballpoint ink.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Leopoldo Arús CaraballoNotes
owner, creatorRelated Places
Place
Country
JapanContinent
AsiaNotes
productionPlace
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
recording, useResearch Notes
Notes
Boney M. roster (Rivers of Babylon/Rasputin/Nightflight to Venus 1978, Painter Man 1979, etc.) dates the compilation c.1979–85; Sony "5A" = 5-in. empty take-up reel box; TDK reel (Japan).Notes
Pairing note: the reel (TDK) is not the box's original Sony reel; the two are kept together as one record because the owner's matching "15" marks (box "C 15" / lid "Cinta 15" / reel "#15") establish them as a stable used set.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
March 31, 2022Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 16, 2026
