Monday, August 27, 2012

mfp in a box!

I thought I'd share one of my favourite recent discoveries, a box set of LPs which I guess was issued in 1968, called "48 Great Hits on 4 LPs".

It contains the first four mfp albums released in their "Hits" series: "Hits '67", "Smash Hits", "Heart Hits" and "Hits '68". As you will see from the photos, the records themselves are in plain white paper sleeves, and are identical in all respects to the usual individual editions. But there's the added interest here of a yellow printed insert, which has brand new sleeve notes for each album.

The box itself is impressively made - good, sturdy cardboard with a hint of faux-leather about it, and a gold sticker which must have held the lid shut before it was opened.

If anyone can tell us more about this box set, we'd love to hear from you. And, I wonder, were any others produced?

Here's an extract from the first LP in the box, and in fact mfp's first covers album ever, "Hits '67". It's a version of the Beatles' "Penny Lane", and is notable for the fact that some people claim the vocalist is none other than a pre-fame David Bowie. Decide for yourself!

Anyway, it also contains a superb blunder - check out the trumpet sections. They must have been recorded on a separate track and mixed in - but the whole trumpet track is way out of time with the rest of the music. If it is Bowie singing, no wonder he's not admitting to anything!

LISTEN  mfp Penny Lane.mp3





6 comments:

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  2. blimey.i've been crate digging in charity shops and rumaging in car boot sales for about ten years now and never came across that box set (And i thought i had all the Uk relase MFP cover albums in my Collection,it looks like more digging will be needed :) )

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  3. Yep, it's rare alright. This is the only copy I've ever seen or indeed heard of. I picked it up a little while ago through Ebay, from an expired listing I chanced upon.

    The seller said she bought it second-hand in the 1980s, at a market in Wellington, Shropshire. Beyond that, I know nothing. It doesn't have a catalogue number (although the individual LPs have their original ones) and Google only throws up this copy.

    Maybe someone out there knows something more bout this?...

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  4. I also picked up this set about 4 years ago, never seen another, so at least we know there are 2 copies

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    2. Nice to hear. There are at least three actually - the one in the photos is mine, then there's another one which was on Ebay and which I did a post about long ago. Your one makes three - never heard of any others.

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