It's well-known that "Top of the Pops" exported their wares around the world, but so far as the States goes, they barely dipped a toe in the water. Over there, Pickwick had their own ideas, and among other things, ran ten installments of a cover version series called "Super Hits", billed as being by the group, King's Road. Sometimes, these albums would borrow a track or three from the UK "Top of the Pops" (we assume it was that way around!) and in the case of the last three in the set, the sleeve photos too!
Which brings us to this latest virtual find: a copy of "Super Hits" volume 8 - not from the US, but from Brazil. All we have is the front cover, but that's enough to tell what's afoot -
The tell-tale sign here is the label logo. The US series was issued by Pickwick and has the appropriate branding on the front (see below); this Brazilian edition was on the little-known Itamaraty label.
The sleeve art is instantly recognisable to Poppers' fans. It's Nicola Austin in her red whatever-it's-called, as seen on UK volume 22. Cover photo aside, there are no crossovers between the US - and Brazilian - albums and the UK "Top of the Pops" series.
This is the first Brazilian pressing of "Super Hits" we have seen, but it seems likely there are more. Perhaps not all ten, but probably others beyond just this volume 8.
While we're on the subject, we may as well look at the American volumes 9 and 10. Volume 9 only shares a cover photo with "Top of the Pops", but volume 10 has the added bonus of three Poppers' recordings: "Daniel", "The Twelfth of Never" and "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" - all much later than the UK albums, demonstrating that the UK had their hands on these photos first!
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