Springbok!

We Brits might think that "Top of the Pops" was the biggest series of cover versions ever, but our South African friends may disagree. Over there, the "Springbok" albums were being released from 1970 to late in the 80s, and although "only" 74 regular editions came out, add in all the side issues like "Springbok Hits of the Week" and "Springbok Hits of the Year" and the count spirals up to something like 130! Pretty impressive stuff.

The albums came out on the South African incarnation of mfp, and we've just bagged our very first copy.

This volume 12 appeared in 1973, and spans a period of time which in the UK was covered by mfp's "Hot Hits", roughly volumes 16 to 20. There are a few tracks in common - "Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose", "Take Me To The Mardi Gras", "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" and one or two others - but these are different versions, recorded in South Africa.

Readers may have noticed before, a link to a fantastic "Springbok" fan site on the right of this page. Have a click on it and go and explore this fantastic collection of album covers and track listings. The proprietor has also uploaded them to 45 Worlds - well worth a look to see how cover versions were appearing on the other side of the world!