This tape is one of a very little known series which appeared between 1971 and 1973. There is no obvious label, but Arrowtabs are the comapny behind them. The first few were called "Hits From England's Top Twenty", but during 1972, they changed the series name to just "Smash Hits". Interestingly this relatively minor series stretched its tentacles as far as South East Asia, with some parallel editions in Singapore!
So what's on the tape? I do have an 8-track player, but last time I used it, it managed to chew up one of my tapes - another in this same rare series as it happens, so I am reluctant to take a gamble with this one as well! However, I do note that nine of the 12 songs turn up on volume 9 of Countour's "16 Chart Hits", and given the amount of sharing between labels which went on at the time, I'll bet these are the same versions. On that basis, here's the recording of "Knocking on Heaven's Door"...
Knocking On Heavens Door.mp3
For more info on this series of 8-tracks, visit the webpage: Hits From England's Top Twenty
Congratulations on your latest find! This is a series I know nothing about due to it only being 8 track (& cassette?) only.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, just before logging onto this post, I had begun listening to 12 Tops Volume 16, which also shares several recordings with 16 Chart Hits Volume 9 (By Your Side, Ghetto Child, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Sorrow & Showdown). All great recordings too, among my favourite covers.
Richard Brooke :-)
It's a really obscure series and searching for info is hard. There's no group name (just the ambiguous "International Artists") and no label, and the title "Smash Hits" is so common, Google just deluges you with unwanted info! Still, a listing is gradually coming together.
ReplyDelete16 Chart Hits vol 9 does indeed share material with 12 Tops vol 16 - and so does WIndmill's Parade of Pops vol 11. I haven't checked Flag's "World Top 12" for matches, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are on there as well. It's amazing really - all these LP series were supposed to be in competition with each other!
None of these tunes appeared on World top 12, owing to the fact that there was no World top 12 for the autumn period of 1973 when 16 Chart Hits 9 was issued. In fact, after World Top 12 (Vol.44) from late summer 1973, there wasn't another World top 12 until the following January/February. World Top 12 wasn't a bad little series but their release schedule did seem to be rather erratic.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if a lot of the cover series were probably only issued in selected stores, for example 12 Tops was by this point only available in Woolworths who had recently taken on the Stereo Gold Award label as exclusive to them. There seemed little point in Woolworths also selling either Parade Of Pops or 16 Chart Hits as they often shared the same tracks as 12 Tops. With the Top Of The Pops series, this wasn't a problem as they were using their own recordings up until the end of 1978.
Richard Brooke :-)
Hey - you're dead right about World Top 12. They were sleeping when these tracks came out.
DeleteIt's an interesting thought about the LPs being aimed at different retailers, and one which makes sense. It does beggar belief that any store would stock 3, 4, 5 covers albums with essentially the same contents. I guess the original retailer price stickers on the sleeves would reveal all, if anyone ever felt inclined to research it! (I've noticed that some have price stickers from a shop called Delaware. Who were they? I don't remember them on my local high street!)
This theory may also explain why the early mfp covers LPs were printed up with different prices incorporated into the sleeve designs. Maybe one price for one retailer, another for a different one...?
I'm glad you mentioned Delamare. My copy of Parade Of Pops (WPP 5018) from 1974 has a Delamare price sticker on the back showing a price of 66p. Confusingly, the front of the cover has a vintage 1974 Morrisons price label with a price of 49p. I don't remember a store called Delamare in my neck of the woods (West Yorkshire), but it is possible that Morrisons obtained my album from Delaware & sold it as old/new stock. One way or another, the presence of a Morrisons label from yesteryear on my copy of this album is reason alone to have it in my collection. I never remove the old price labels, they're part of the charm for me.
ReplyDeleteRichard Brooke :-)
I tend to keep original price stickers too. Just had a flick through my "12 Tops" collection and there are 6 or 7 with Woolworths on. I also looked at "Parade of Pops" and there's a Woolworths one there too, and also a Delamare one. But it does look like Woolies might have stocked a range of labels, albeit maybe not always in the same branches.
DeleteOn the subject of Delamare (and you're right, it's ...mare not ...ware) I have found out that Tesco's head office is in Delamare Road in Cheshunt. This seems more than coincidence - I would guess that LPs with Delamare were sold in Tesco stores - I can't remember ever seeing a "Tesco" sticker on any of my albums.
Maybe it was something to do with their music section or something - I am guessing Tesco must have sold some records, as I remember Top of the Pops being sold in corner shops and convenience stores as well as town-centre shops. I would be surprised if Tesco didn't take a slice of the action too. (I
know Tesco sold Avenue EPs early 1970s, as they ran a promotion on some of the records.)
I agree about Tesco selling budget records, a very popular line in supermarkets in the 1970s. I'm not sure if they would have had a separate record section back then, like they do in their stores now. I guess that a lot of budget records would have been sold off of carousels placed around their stores, ie one at the end of the bread isle, another in the chemist aisle & so on. A sure way to sell their albums to the average shopper who maybe had a little money left over from their weekly shop.
ReplyDeleteRichard Brooke :-)