Top of the Poppers? No, not really!

These days, the digital download format is particularly attractive for budget labels, since it eliminates all the overheads which manufacturing physical CDs entails. Indeed, we've looked at several recent examples on this blog, including download editions of a couple of mfp's "Hot Hits" albums.

Pickwick have been leaders in the download field for some years, and it is possible to get the full set of Top of the Pops albums that way - which is a sizeable body of recordings, to say the least. Once or twice though we've raised our eyebrows at their decision to bill new anonymous cover versions to the Top of the Poppers - which brings us to the download album below:

This is the artwork for a collection of country and western tracks, currently available on Amazon. The ten tracks are as follows: Walk On Out Of My Mind / A Girl Like You / Foolish Mind / Tormented / The Lonely Heart / When A Fool Loves A Fool / Spell Weaver / Two People / Can I Sleep In Your Barn / Let Me Say I Love You.

We don't know the true origins of these tracks, but of course they don't really have anything to do with the Top of the Poppers as we know them. 

This release follows a precedent set a few years ago when Pickwick issued a collection of karaoke DVDs and CDs which were also marketed as by the Poppers, although not on the actual covers! To blur things further, they actually did contain a real Top of the Pops track among them, complete with vocals! The CD below is the one in question, which contains "You Sexy Thing" from Top of the Pops Volume 49. (Note, the Poppers are not mentioned anywhere on the CD - just in the online product descriptions.)

A spin-off of the karaoke releases was another CD on Pickwick's Exceed label, "Kids Chart Party", which contained so-called guide vocal versions of contemporary tracks. This time, Pickwick went so far as to print the name "Top of the Poppers" on the CD cover!

Nice to see the Poppers' name still in use, but be warned! Things ain't always what they seem...