Budget albums in the national press

Last week, we heard that the old UK budget albums, including Top of the Pops, were afforded a glimpse of the limelight, courtesy of the Daily Mail newspaper.

Like several dailies, the Mail has a column for reader questions and answers, and someobdy posed the query, "Did any artists who recorded cover versions for Music For Pleasure's Hot Hits or Pickwick's Top Of The Pops go on to achieve fame?" And, someone named James Thompson, of Hartlepool, pitched in with an informed answer.

It's hard to read from the scan, so here's a grab from the online version (click to enlarge):

James Thompson is clearly quite a fan - and if you're reading this, please leave a message.

Great to see - and our thanks to Clive Hetherington for the heads up, and the newspaper scan.

New discovery completes Deacon EP discography

Deacon was one of the smaller players in the budget covers LP market, issuing just half a dozen instalments of Pick of the Pops through 1970 and 1971.

But apart from those full-length collections, they also issued a small number of EPs directly pulled from the LPs - like the Avenue label did - containing the same cuts.

Until now, we knew of two such EPs, DEA 5022 and DEA 5023. Then last week, we were contacted by Jason Stevens, who has discovered DEA 5021.

Here are some images of the labels:

The tracks are: The Wonder Of You / Rainbow / Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours / (It's Like A) Sad Old Kinda Movie. 

Here are the other two EPs: 

Tracks: In The Summertime / Lola / Yellow River / Up Around The Bend

Tracks: All Right Now / Natural Sinner / Neanderthal Man / It's All In The Game

Together, these three EPs include every track from the album, Pick of the Pops volume 4, and in the correct sequence:

There can be very few collectors out there who own all three of the EPs. It has taken us literally years to even get confirmation they all exist. Our thanks to Jason for the latest find.

Now, eagle-eyed readers will spot two anomalies with all this. The first is that the EPs are not called Pick of the Pops; they are called Top of the Pops. It is known that in 1971, Pickwick sued Deacon for brand infringement, something we initially thought was the result of Pick of the Pops sounding too similar to Top of the Pops for comfort. Now we have a second theory: Deacon has brazenly used Top of the Pops right here on these EPs; so Pickwick were bound to do something.

The second anomaly remains a mystery - the LP above, volume 4, was issued immediately after volume 1. In other words, Deacon missed out volume 2 and volume 3. Possibly this was some kind of mistake - but look at the corresponding EP labels: they all say Top of the Pops vol. 2. So they did get the release number right, even if they changed the name!

We are going to stick our necks out and say these were the only Deacon EPs released. Well, apart from this promo item, which came in a picture sleeve but has nothing to do with the above:

So, that's Deacon's EP series concluded. We think. Now go try and find copies - as is well documented elsewhere, some of these cuts include vocals by Elton John, and must be among the rarest commercially released recordings from him. If only collectors knew...

Second Deacon EP surfaces - now it gets interesting!

A long while ago, I was impressed by the discovery of a 7-inch EP on the Deacon label. I wrote a blog post about it way back when (see here), but have found out a bit more since then, and also managed to bag a copy of my own. And there, I contentedly let the matter rest. But this week I was contacted by collector, Lester Monks, with scans of a familiar looking EP, or so it seemed:

Ah yes, I thought. I know all about this one - DEA 5023, containing tracks from Deacon's Pick of the Pops volume 4, of summer 1970. But then I did a double take. Lester has in fact turned up a completely new EP on the same label. Here are some spruced up images:

The catalogue number is DEA 5022 - one before the other EP. And get this - 5023 contains tracks 9, 10, 11 and 12 from the parent album; this one has 5, 6, 7 and 8 from the same LP. In other words, the two EPs taken together contain two thirds of the LP, with the tracks in the same order. So... what's the betting there is a third disc out there, numbered 5021 and containing tracks 1-4? I'd say the odds were pretty high.

So, how have these EPs managed to slip under the radar for so long? Presumably because they are rarer than hen's teeth, but nevertheless, this new find features no less a luminary than Elton John - and yet it's completely undocumented! 

For those interested, Elton can be heard singing lead on "In The Summertime" and "Lola", and tackles backing vocals on the other two recordings. This ought to be a celebrated rarity among Elton collectors, commanding a staggeringly high price. So be it - their loss is Lester's gain!

Thanks again to Lester for the scans - what a brilliant find.

Oh - one last point: both EPs are called "volume 2", while the LP, the second in the series, was called "volume 4". What's that all about, then?...

That Philips cassette - turns out it's Elton!

Blog regulars will recall that I recently posted details of an odd cassette I discovered, released by Philips and containing medleys of soundalike recordings (below). You can read the original post here.

I was stumped as to where it originated. Philips were not known for making soundalikes, but I couldn't identify the original source of these tracks, which are shortened, and which flow together, sometimes with music linking them.

Last week I was contacted by Elton John collector, Steve Olson, who provided some fascinating new info. It turns out that many of these recordings are in fact the familiar sessions which Elton John took part in on the standard LPs - I just hadn't recognised them! As it happens, the cassette is a re-issue of a European LP called "28 International Top Songs", which features many Elton cuts we know from labels such as Marble Arch, plus a few Avenue recordings too.

Below is the LP sleeve as it appeared in West Germany, on the Fontana label.

And here are two more editions from the Netherlands, one on Studio 33, the other on the Tune label:

The track listing matches exactly. Steve has documented this LP well, and according to his notes, Elton can be heard on most songs, and is lead vocalist on no fewer than nine cuts.

Steven also considers it possible that Elton plays the connecting piano music, making this a real scoop for collectors. For example, if one plays "Lola", there are some unexpected piano notes near the end... and then some more... and as "Lola" fades away, the piano takes solo stage, before quoting a bit from "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which then arrives in full. If Elton was responsible for these sections, he should be recognised as not just playing them, but having probably composed the many original parts we here.

You can find specifics about this album, and a good deal more on Steve's website, ToBeKompleated, where you can download an astonishingly detailed catalogue of all of Elton's known session releases.

Thanks to Steve for the info.

Sounds Great ... tastes great, too

The LP below (thanks again to Declan) was put together in 1970, and was assembled from the recordings which had originally appeared on LP and EP for Avenue label. I've finally been able to get hold of a copy and give it a spin...

Since these recordings are from Avenue's 1970 catalogue, Elton John can be heard on several tracks, although not singing lead (although it has been suggested he takes part of the lead role on the difficult-to-identify "Wandering Star"). Rather, these versions of songs like "In The Summertime" and "Yellow River" are fronted by David Byron, and are of course the same versions as appear on his latter-day Artistry label CDs. Here are some of the uber-rare original LPs which appeared on Avenue  in 1969-70:

An interesting point about the Sounds Great '70 album is the inclusion of a company logo - in this case, Meredith & Drew who were a biscuit-maker. This album must have been the result of a commercial tie-in of some sort and raises the possibility that the record was only available by mail order. Maybe listeners had to munch through 20 or so packs of ginger nuts to be able to send off for it? We'd like to hear from anyone who remembers getting a copy from new!

 

Rare Boulevard LP throws a spotlight on Elton John

I've finally tracked down a copy of this LP, after several years of looking! The album, "1970 Top 12" was issued on the Boulevard label, presumably at the end of that year, and purports to be a round-up of the biggest hits of the previous 12 months. That's not what it actually is (see below), but that's how it was marketed...

A little background... In the summer of 1970, Boulevard launched their own budget LP series. It would eventually be transferred to the Flag label under the title, "World Top 12", but the first instalment on the Boulevard label was called "16 Hit Songs". The album pictured above, far from being a survey of 1970's charts, is in fact a re-issue of "16 Hit Songs" but with four tracks missing, to bring the contents down to 12 titles. They even went so far as to duplicate the sleeve notes from the earlier release - and spot the difference with the front covers!

"1970 Top 12" ended up featuring, rather heavily, a certain Elton John. By the end of that year, Elton had released his third studio LP, and second top-tenner, with his classic "Your Song" already in the can. Whether Boulevard realised the significance of what they had in the vaults in 1970 is anyone's guess, but on this LP you'll hear Elton on most of the tracks, including lead vocals on "In The Summertime", "Love Of The Common People", "Lady D'Arbanville", "Neanderthal Man" and "Yellow River".

In years to come, Boulevard would issue more end-of-year round-ups, which truly were selections from the biggest annual hits. Their discography runs to a modest, but interesting four such LPs - but they're so rare, you'll struggle to find copies of any of them these days.

Rare Avenue vinyl from 1969

I am grateful once more to record-collecting enthusiast and covers album fan, Declan, for the following LP. It's one you will be very lucky to see 'in the flesh', which is why I thought I would post some images.

The title is "12 Top Hits", and it forms part of the celebrated Avenue series, also known as "England's 12 Top Hits", since it later had a tweak in name. These early albums are extremely rare, a situation exacerbated by the presence on many of them of Elton John and David Byron, both of whom appear here, and who have attracted vinyl junkies like Hoovers to the few copies still in circulation.

The 12-track LP features several lead vocals by David Byron ("Sugar Sugar", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Soul Deep" etc), as well as Elton who sings backing vocals on a few titles and lead on "Don't Forget To Remember".

As with most of their cover version albums, Avenue also released this collection across two 6-track EPs, AVE 84 and AVE 85, which are slightly easier to find than the LP. AVE 84 contains all of side 1, AVE 85 all of side 2.

If you want to hear some of David Byron's vocal slots in glorious modern stereo, we have to recommend again the two Artistry CDs which collect many of his session recordings together. You will find them on Ebay - between them, volumes 1 and 2 include four tracks from this elusive LP and many more from the series. Cover photos and track listings can be seen on my post of August 30.

1967 EPs from Avenue / Disc-A-Fran

The other day we received the two fantastic EPs pictured below, both of which were released through the Avenue organisation in 1967. These EPs form part of a series of 7-inch discs which number at least 160 and probably closer to 200, on the Avenue, Disc-A-Fran, and (later) Forest labels.

Avenue's first EP, AVE 39, emerged in early 1967, and pictured below is the follow-up. It's been suggested that the guy on the front is none other than a young Elton John, who was known to be on the fringes of the Avenue label at the time, but personally I doubt it's him.

Check out the pretty decent cover version of "Waterloo Sunset", which leads off side 2: 
Waterloo Sunset Avenue EP.mp3

 
The other EP was issued on the Disc-A-Fran label, which for some reason was used for EP numbers 43 to 49 in the sequence. This one is quite unusual, in that the cover features a 16-year-old singer named Ray Bentley, whom Avenue obviously thought was a star in the making. He's billed as lead vocalist on the track, "For Your Love" on side 2, although all the other songs are standard soundalikes. What ever became of him? Please get in touch if you know!

Thanks to Declan for the records.

* For more details of the Avenue/Disc-A-Fran EPs, check out the website, Bargain Records.