Previously unknown Top 4 EP found

This week, I was contacted by collector, Benn Elsey, with details of a Top 4 EP, produced by Bill Wellings and featuring a couple of Lennon-McCartney songs on side 1.

At first, it was unclear what Benn had found - so far as we knew, there were only ever four of these EPs released, and none had "She Loves You" or "Bad To Me" on - so this would be a brand-new discovery.

What we are looking at is T4505 - the fifth EP in the Top 4 series, previously uncatalogued and not known to exist!

The previous four can be seen here, by the way.

The Top 4 label was a cousin to the Top 6 label, whose EPs contained six tracks. Top 4 would take a quartet of them and issue them again - presumably at a cheaper price. Here, then, is the corresponding Top 6 edition, which also has versions of "I'll Never Get Over You" and "In Summer".

Dating the disc is reasonably easy, since it would have appeared while the hit versions were current. We therefore place it circa August 1963.

Great find - our thanks to Benn for the info and images.

Top Six EP - number (wait for it...) 48 !!

I had to get the blog out of mothballs for this one.

Regular reader, Clive Hetherington, has a knack of discovering hitherto unknown records, and he's come up trumps again with this.

You've probably seen EPs like this countless times - so what's the big deal?

It's this: The list of EPs in the series has for years been 'known' to run from EP 1 to EP 42. There's a hint that numbers 43 and 44 may also exist, although I've never seen anything proving it.

But this one is miles on from EP 42. It suggests there are no fewer than six more EPs in existence which have eluded us all this time.

The tracks are as follows:

SIDE ONE

1. The Last Waltz
2. Massachusetts
3. Let's Go to San Francisco

SIDE TWO

1. Ode to Billy Joe
2. Flowers in the Rain
3. The Letter

The vintage of the hits is autumn 1967.

If anyone knows anything further about these late editions, please get in touch.

Thanks to Clive, as ever, for the info and scans.

Take Aim – here come 100 number 1s of the 60s!

The Aim label isn’t exactly a household name, but it appears on our cover version radar as an imprint of the Artistry stable, who issued their monthly “Smash Tracks” series on cassette, from 1978 onwards (see here). Aim appears to have been introduced around 1980 and helped re-launch Artistry’s regular series under the tweaked name, “Today’s Smash Hits”.

Besides these regular tape-only albums, there were a number of related off-shoot cassettes. A full discography seems never to have been published, but on my travels I had previously discovered a cassette called “20 Fantastic Number 1 Hits from the 60s” – volume 5, no less – so there must have been others. Not a regular series of course, but of much interest anyway.

And then these appeared on Ebay:

 Wow – all five of the set in one go. Of course I had to have it. They were issued in a printed slip-case – fantastically presented, it has to be said. Here is the whole set together:

The final image above is of the bottom of the box, and you can see Artistry’s brand label still there, as originally sold.

The track listing is fascinating. I won’t type out all 100 tracks here, but you can see what’s included from the back of the box:

We know that the standard UK cover versions started in the early 1960s. However the tapes, “1960-1961” and “1962-1963” are early even for the first EPs, and we struggle to identify the origins of these recordings.

It gets easier for “1964-1965” as practically all were on the old “Top Six” EPs. For example, here’s where “A Hard Days Night” first surfaced:

“1966-1967" seems split between “Top Six” and the first Avenue EPs, which started up in 1967, so we can see where these come from too. Here’s where you first heard “Silence Is Golden”:

The final cassette in the box, “1968-1969” contains tracks almost entirely from the Avenue LPs, as well as the Marble Arch “Chart Buster” albums which often shared the same material. Check out the old Avenue albums for these tracks, for example, “Sugar Sugar”, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" and "Love At First Sight", on the LP below:

Here are some images of that fifth cassette, which links in directly to the covers LPs we know and love:

This box set collection was the handiwork of Colin Richardson, and was sold by mail order. (It was also promoted on British radio.) We think it’s a fantastic item, and one which we are proud to have in our collection.

And just for the record, here are a few more of the Aim cassettes – please let us know if you have any others we can add to our database...

++++++++++++++++   UPDATE - MARCH 2017  ++++++++++++++++++

Since posting the above, we've spotted a variant on Ebay. See how the cassette shell is black, with print directly onto the plastic:

Brand new Artistry CD - Tops in Pops

The crew at Artistry have done it again. Following their CD re-issues of recent years, which have seen many classic cover versions from the 1960s preserved in the modern digital format, they have just announced the release of a new collection: "Tops in Pops of the 60s".

Here's the front cover - a striking pastiche of a certain sleeve design from years gone by...

Many of these tracks are known from the EP catalogues of the 1960s, and originally turned up on labels such as Cannon, Crossbow and Top Six. Others are familiar from the early Avenue LPs, but while those original records did not always credit the singers, this CD puts the matter right. Here's the full listing with artist creditations:

We will post details of how to obtain copies when ready - meantime, to check out Artistry's other CD releases, click "Artistry" on the menu, right, and head over to Ebay to track them down.

Artistry are an independent label, and are fighting the battle along with other independents, to keep the CD format alive in this age of downloads. Help them out by placing an order, and hopefully there will be more CDs in the pipeline.

Thanks to Colin Richardson and his team for their sterling work.

Top Six EP - white label pressing

White label pressings from the world of budget records are a pretty rare thing. I've only ever come across a couple, both from Avenue (one an LP see here and the other an EP see here).

Over Christmas I was lucky to obtain another, not from Avenue this time, but from the Top Six EP series of 1963-67. This one is EP number 8, released around October 1964:

Of course, you can't tell what it is by looking at the scan. I have the advantage of being able to read the matrix numbers in the dead wax - SIX 8A-1M and SIX 8B-1M. Try as I might, I couldn't get a decent image of them, so you'll just have to trust me!

The tracks are as follows:

Side 1

• Do Wah Diddy Diddy
• Twelve Steps To Love
• You Really Got Me

Side 2

• Have I The Right?
• I Won't Forget You
• Promise You'll Tell Her

This EP, the eighth in the series, also comprised half of the same label's "Top 12" volume 4, which was the last installment of their short-lived covers album series - the first such series known from the UK. Here's the sleeve of the LP:

Now, I don't actually have my own copy of the standard EP pressing, so I can't show you the proper labels. But by a stroke of luck, the fantastic website Forgotten Vinyl just recently posted up this EP, complete with sound clips so you can hear it online! I have taken the liberty of borrowing their label scans, and please pay them a visit and check out not only this EP, but the rest of them on the site. CLICK HERE. They really are doing a fantastic job of preserving some of these "forgotten" discs.

Oh yes - and a Happy New Year to you all !!!

Top Six Record Club - More fascinating finds

A few months ago I bought a humble badge on Ebay. Little did I know at the time, but that badge would lead to the uncovering of a good deal of information about the Top Six label's Record Club, thanks to blog reader James Brown, and now, Colin Richardson of Artistry label fame. Colin has unearthed some 50-year-old documents which belong to the Top Six Record Club project, and which contain fascinating details.

If you have trouble reading them, you can enlarge them by clicking the images, if your screen is large enough. If not, save them to your PC and read them back that way. (If all else fails, email me and I will send you the original scans).

So without further ado, here's what Colin has kindly sent us:

1. Original application form to join the club. (According to one of the other documents below, this form was included with each EP sold):

2: Welcome letter. This would have been for the very first batch of members, since it mentions the first few EPs and LPs on the label, which were current in the spring of 1964. It also invites members to apply to attend the recording of the associated radio show:

3: This is a regular members' newsletter, probably the first to be sent out (after the welcome letter, of course). It plugs EP number 4 - and amazingly talks of a tour of live venues by "The Ghost Squad" - who are, apparently, "The mystery group who make the Top Six records"!! (Can this really be the case?):

4. The next newsletter. This one plugs EP number 5, released over the summer of 1964, and more appearances by "The Ghost Squad":

5. And finally, this seems to be some sort of advert/flyer promoting the club:

Our grateful thanks to Colin for sending images of these mega-rare items of memorabilia, adding yet more to our knowledge of the Top Six Record Club.

Top Six Record Club - "I was there!"

Some while ago, I picked up this badge, which seemed to have some connection to the Top Six EPs of the 1960s - but what, I wondered was the Record Club mentioned? (Read my original post here.)

I knew there was a link to Radio Luxembourg somewhere, since they broadcast a Top Six Record Club show every week, but what the connection was, I couldn't say. Then last week, I heard from James G Brown, who provided some fascinating background to this, and also sent me a copy of a very special EP he has.

First, let's hear the story. James was out and about in Central London one night, and walked past the Pye Studio, near Marble Arch. This is what he recalls:

"Me and my friend passed the Pye Studios building and saw a queue of teenagers like ourselves standing outside, they said they were waiting to go inside to the Top 6 Record Club so we joined the queue. We hadn't a ticket but the security man was a nice old man and let us in.

"Inside it was crowded and they were playing great music. Before they started they asked if anyone wanted to make a request and pick a record to play... I was picked along with three others and was invited up to the control room... we were told that we would be interviewed on stage by their top DJ 'This Boy Don Wardell'. We were informed they were recording two Top 6 Record Club shows for [Radio] Luxembourg.

"I was called out onto the stage and met Don Wardell. He was a lovely man and made me feel at ease, we chatted, with him asking me where I worked, music I liked, etc, etc... At the end of the night before going home Don Wardell called me over and presented me with a Top 6 Club Badge and a Top 6 Record disc that he had signed, it had three songs on each side, this was in 1964 and I have still got that record which I treasure because of the great memory of a great experience."


What a great story - and it tells us plenty about the Record Club. From James's recollections we know that Radio Luxembourg's weekly show was being recorded in advance, at London at Pye's studio, to be broadcast weekly on Wednesday nights. Pye were the firm behind the Top Six EPs, so it all adds up. Pye no doubt sold plenty of their soundalike 7-inch records on the back of that radio slot, long before Top of the Pops LPs started cashing in on a certain TV show.

James mentions the EP he was given that night, signed by Don Wardell - and he has kindly sent in an image. It's EP number 8 in the series, dating it (and presumably the night in question) to around November 1964:

(The songs on the record, incidentally, are: Do Wah Diddy Diddy / Twelve Steps To Love / You Really Got Me / Have I The Right? / I Won't Forget You / Promise You'll Tell Her.)

James also says the Record Club badge he was given by Don Wardell was similar to the one pictured above. Don Wardell, incidentally, was a noted DJ in the 1960s, who spent a lifetime in the music business. He appeared on several radio and TV shows (Juke Box Jury, Thank Your Luck Stars, etc) and is famous too for remastering Elvis Presley's recordings for CD in the 1980s, winning awards for his work. This is a picture of him in his Radio Luxembourg days:

My thanks to James for the story and info, and also for sharing his fantastic EP with us.

Top Six Record Club - the membership badge

I recently had a fault on my telephone line, which put my PC out of action for a couple of days - during which an Ebay auction which I wanted to bid on was due to close. So I headed out to find a computer in the local library, paid the fee, logged onto Ebay and put a bid in. When my PC eventually came back to life I discovered that I had won the badge below, for the sum of £1.95. So what is it that caused me to go to such lengths? Read on...

Look familiar? The logo is of course that of the Top Six record label, Bill Wellings' creation which was marketed by Pye in the 1960s. Although better known for their EPs, Top Six, with this logo emblazoned on the sleeves, carried probably the first ever UK covers LP series, right through 1964. This could be found printed on the backs of the covers:

But what exactly is this 'Record Club'? I've not been able to find out. The apparent link with Radio Luxembourg is intriguing, but also rather confusing. Surely Radio Luxembourg didn't have a weekly slot for these cover version records? So what is the connection there?

All I have been able to find via Google is the advert below, which confirms that Pye Records are involved, and mentions that these badges were given out free to club members. The application form looks like this - and I've recreated it below, for clarity...

I'd love to hear from anyone who might know anything about this club, and how Radio Luxembourg happened to be in on it.

And lastly, on the subject of badges - I thought Top of the Pops fans might like these. Unlike the Top Six badge, they aren't official, but still very nice things to have. I might even wear them one day!

Top 6 EPs

My latest bargain find was the pair of EPs pictured below. These are installments in the short-lived Top 6 series, which ran to just seven EPs (not counting an additional four called Top 4 - the same, but with two tracks dropped from each). At the beginning of 1964, Top 6 was superseded by Top Six - with "Six" spelled out, and distribution by Pye, and the rest, as they say, is history.

These earlier discs were made and sold by Bill Wellings. Each is significant in its way, the first (T 6505) being the final one with the original Top 6 label design, and the second (T 6507) being the last of the pre-Pye discography. The track listings are given below the scans.

No prizes for spotting the deliberate mistake - the scans show the two records in each other's sleeve. Oops!

 T 6505 (side 1)

She Loves You

Bad To Me

I'm Telling You Now

 

 T 6505 (side 2) 
It's All In The Game

I'll Never Get Over You

In Summer

 T 6507 (side 1)

I'll Keep You Satisfied

Sugar And Spice

You Were Made For Me

T 6507 (side 2)

Don't Talk To Him

Memphis Tennessee

Fools Rush In

Top Twelve LP on Top Six label

Before the UK covers series got going properly in 1967, there was a short-lived series of releases on the Top Six label, better known of course as an EP outlet. The EPs were of course Bill Wellings' project, and it is fascinating to see him launch a parallel album series in 1964, three years ahead of his mfp work. I recently picked up a copy of volume 2 of the LP series. Here it is:

Although the albums were called Top Twelve, the label was still called Top Six, as per the EPs. In the event only four albums would appear, all in 1964, after which the EPs still continued apace. In each case, the LPs are compilations of the latest two EPs - so the LP pictured above (volume 2) contains the songs from the Top Six EPs, number 3 and 4.

Now to find the other three LPs...