These days my computer allows me to record as many
crystal clear tracks as I like, probably too many, but when I recorded my first song things were a whole lot different.
I was 10 years old and I had a Philips cassette player/recorder. It could record one take and play it back. I remember my brother used it to record Bohemian Rhapsody off Top of The Pops, the first time it was in the charts.
Anyway, I would record myself strumming away and then play and sing along with the recording. And that was it until in ’78 we got a stereo sound system with another cassette recorder built in.
Now I could play and sing along to my first recording using the Philips and record the result on the new system. This is like a LoFi version of what loopers do these days.
The problem with this is that if you then take the resulting recording and try to do it again and add a 
third “track” the resultant hiss is generally unbearable and there is little in the way you can “mix” the track. Great for songwriting ideas though.
So with a £16 cassette recorder and a bit of ingenuity, my songwriting and recording career was on its way.
Stuart
This one’s similar but not quite the same as the one we had. This one looks a bit posher.