Newly discovered Top of the Poppers cassette

Very occasionally, we are lucky to find another item from the long Top of the Pops discography, which had managed to escape our attentions. The latest new find is a cassette by the Poppers, as shown below:

It's called The Top Of The Poppers Sing And [Play] Disco Machine - which may sound familiar, as this is not entirely new to us.

It's a compilation from the main Top of the Pops album series, but it has appeared in a cassette edition previously, not, as here, on the Bravo label, but on Allegro. That earlier edition was one of three disco-based compilations issued on cassette, all in white cases.

Let's have a look at them:

Disco Crazy, Disco Heat, and Disco Machine were all compiled from the main series, and were issued by Allegro (one of Pickwick's imprints) as ALC 4049, ALC 4050 and ALC 4051.

The track listings can be read from these scans:

Our new discovery is, of course, a re-issue of one of these. However at least one of the other two was also re-issued on Bravo, as shown below:

Was the third one as well? We don't know!

One other point of interest is the brand-new artwork on the Bravo edition of Disco Machine, which is unlike most Top of the Pops covers. In fact this too has a precedent - it's from the same shoot as a photo once used by the Stereo Gold Award label for one of their 12 Tops LPs:

So, an intriguing find. I wonder how many more Top of the Pops releases are lurking out there, waiting to be added to our database?

12 Tops volume 2 - coloured vinyl

A new addition has been found for our list of "12 Tops" pressed on coloured vinyl. A reader of this blog has contacted us with news that volume 2 was also pressed on what he described as "cherry red" vinyl, which like the others, appears to be normal black until held up to the light.

Here's a photo:

This copy is currently for sale on ebay - check HERE

As a result, we can update out list of confirmed coloured editions from this series, which now encompasses all of the first seven LPs:

• Volume 1 
• Volume 2
• Volume 3
• Volume 4
• Volume 5
• Volume 6
• Volume 7
• Volume 10
• Volume 15
• Volume 17
• Volume 19
• Volume 21
• Volume 22
• Volume 25
• Volume 27

Another coloured vinyl from "12 Tops"

A break from our ongoing series of one-off releases. (Yesterday was the blog's fourth birthday, by the way - yay!)

This post comes courtesy of Holger Schoeler. A couple of weeks ago we reported on the discovery that many of the "12 Tops" albums were pressed on Pye's little-known coloured vinyl formulation. The earliest we had proof of was volume 3 - but Holger has turned up a copy of volume 1 on what he describes as 'violet'.

Here are the images, and we must say he's done a better job than we did with the photography! Volume 1 duly added to the list. Let us know if you have any more...

Here's the updated list of confirmed coloured editions:

• Volume 1
• Volume 3
• Volume 4
• Volume 5
• Volume 6
• Volume 7
• Volume 10
• Volume 15
• Volume 17
• Volume 19
• Volume 21
• Volume 22
• Volume 25
• Volume 27

12 Tops - more 'colured vinyl' discovered!

We recently posted on the subject of coloured vinyl editions of Pye Chartbusters, a discovery made after years of assuming they were all ordinary black pressings. Now, thanks to a tip-off from blog regular, Bro19, we have learned that these were not the only such editions in the world of anonymous cover versions.

According to Bro19, the 12 Tops series got the same treatment - so we dug our our set and duly did the 'torch test' on the playing area. What we found is a little confusing, and we suspect there are multiple editions of some (if not all) of these, doing the rounds.

The coloured editions are essentially of the same nature as the Pye Chartbusters albums - very dark, but allowing light to shine through either very dark red, or in some cases, untinted. Here are a couple of 12 Tops LPs, held up to the light:

Using the torch, we can see the tinting at close quarters:

From what we previously knew, it would be fair to assume that the coloured editions were all made by Pye, this being something of a secret trademark. However, 12 Tops sometimes stated "Manufactured by Pye Records" on the labels, and so one would expect these to all have the colouring.

Not so. Just to confuse us, some of the Pye pressings are regular opaque black (unlike the Pye Chartbusters which are all coloured), while a few of the non-Pye pressings are coloured. That's if the print on the label is anything to go by...

Below are example label details from volume 7 (erroneously labeled as volume 6, but that's another story). The non-Pye copy ("Made in England") has a deep cherry red tint to the vinyl, while the Pye pressing is completely opaque.

Examples like these show that there are different types of pressing in existence. When we went through out collection, we similarly found both types for volumes 5 and 10. Others we had no coloured editions at all, but that's not to say they don't exist. Here's a list of the coloured editions we have:

• Volume 3
• Volume 4
• Volume 5
• Volume 6
• Volume 7
• Volume 10
• Volume 15
• Volume 17
• Volume 19
• Volume 21
• Volume 22
• Volume 25
• Volume 27

Let us know if you have any missing from the list, and we'll add them to our database.

Copycat ... er ... Covers - part 5

Another installment of our ongoing series of blog posts, bringing together cover version and budget LP sleeves which resemble other cover version LPs. We'll kick off this selection with some overseas albums using similar artwork to our own UK covers LPs...

First up, the Boulevard LP, "16 Hit Songs", which is in fact volume 1 of what would become Flag's "World Top 12" series. Below are four annual releases from the US, rounding up cover versions of summer hits. Notice how on the fourth they have simply discarded the cover model!

Next, to Stereo Gold Award's "12 Tops" series. The cover of volume 8 featured a model who would shortly turn up on the front of the German album, Tanz-Party 2 - the photo is from the same session:

"12 Chart Buster Hits" volume 15 was issued in the UK by Pye around Easter 1975. Probably around the same time, volume 4 of "Special Disco Party" was released in Israel, with the same photo on the front:

Next up is Rediffusion's "Hit Parade Special" volume 8. There are two overseas albums with similar photos. The first is the German LP, "Amarillo", the second an Australian album called "The Hits of Simon & Garfunkel", which we've featured before in this series, but which is worth juxtaposing with the other two; the photo has been flipped over:

Another one we've seen before is the Israeli album below left, which has a similar cover photo to that used on Contour's "16 Chart Hits" volume 10. We're re-running it here as we've found a third: "Top Hit Famous Theme From Films", which we believe is an Italian release.

...which leads us nicely onto the UK/UK examples below, the first of which features another photo from the session. Here, the model's swapped her hat for a fag. (No chance that would be allowed these days!)

The rest of these don't need much introduction. They are all UK albums with similar or identical photographs on the covers...

Check back here for another installment in a few days' time...

Covering the Christmas charts... 1974

Forty years ago, December 1974, the cover version LP was going strong. Perhaps a little past its peak, when budget albums were scaling the charts themselves, but still a notable presence in High Street stores, especially Woollies. It's interesting now to take a glance back and see how the Christmas hits were rounded up - or not - on the albums in question. Before we do that, let's remind ourselves of the top 40 on Christmas day, 1974:

1 - Lonely This Christmas  (Mud)

2 - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet  (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

3 - Juke Box Jive  (The Rubettes)

4 - You're The First, The Last, My Everything  (Barry White)

5 - Wombling Merry Christmas  (The Wombles)

6 - Streets Of London  (Ralph McTell)

7 - My Boy  (Elvis Presley)

8 - Get Dancing  (Disco Tex And The Sex-O-Lettes)

9 - Oh Yes! You're Beautiful  (Gary Glitter)

10 - Tell Him  (Hello)

           

11 - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds  (Elton John)

12 - You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything  (The Faces And Rod Stewart)

13 - The Inbetweenies / Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me  (The Goodies)

14 - Ire Feelings (Skanga)  (Rupie Edwards)

15 - Down Down  (Status Quo)

16 - Tell Me Why  (Alvin Stardust)

17 - Sound Your Funky Horn  (KC And The Sunshine Band)

18 - Christmas Song  (Gilbert O'Sullivan)

19 - I Can Help  (Billy Swan)

20 - Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)  (Al Green)

           

21 - Gonna Make You A Star  (David Essex)

22 - Under My Thumb  (Wayne Gibson)

23 - Hey Mister Christmas  (Showaddywaddy)

24 - The Bump  (Kenny)

25 - Never Can Say Goodbye  (Gloria Gaynor)

26 - Magic  (Pilot)

27 - Stardust  (David Essex)

28 - How Long  (Ace)

29 - Only You  (Ringo Starr)

30 - Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart  (The Trammps)

           

31 - Cheri Babe  (Hot Chocolate)

32 - Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus  (Jane Birkin And Serge Gainsbourg)

33 - Ms. Grace  (The Tymes)

34 - Too Good To Be Forgotten  (The Chi-Lites)

35 - Killer Queen  (Queen)

36 - Pepper Box  (The Peppers)

37 - Help Me Make It Through The Night  (John Holt)

38 - No Honestly  (Lynsey De Paul)

39 - (Hey There) Lonely Girl  (Eddie Holman)

40 - The Wild One  (Suzi Quatro)

What’s striking about the listing is the sheer number of Christmas songs represented. And these weren’t all novelty records either – quite a few were specially written hits for some of the major acts of the day. Number 1 were Mud with “Lonely This Christmas”, while both Gilbert O’Sullivan and Showaddywaddy were on chart with their respective seasonal offerings. “Christmas Song” and “Hey Mister Christmas”. Meantime, the then-popular Wombles were sitting pretty at number 5 (“Wombling Merry Christmas”), with TV stars The Goodies placed at number 13 (“Father Christmas Do No Touch Me”)

Of course the aim of the covers album was to scoop up all these hits - or, as many as could be predicted given that they had to be recorded some time in advance. When it came to Christmas singles though, the main LP series were often reluctant to get to grips with them for some reason, and so there are comparatively few available over the years. (Not a single one tackled the current number 1 hit, “Lonely This Christmas”!)

So what about the rest of the top 40? How did the covers albums fare? Let's start with the stalwart of stalwarts, "Top of the Pops". Like several of the album series, there were actually two offerings for your stocking that year – the standard album, as well as an end-of-year round-up LP:

Top of the Pops were currently running at volume 42, and their 12 song selections manage to capture the current chart numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 16 – not a bad snapshot of the Christmas listing. The unseasonal “Streets of London” was missing, as well as that chart-topper from Mud, but we do have at least one Christmas number in the form of “Wombling Merry Christmas” – actually, an underrated example from the genre.

The “Best of 1974” collection contains 14 (count ’em!) number 1s from the year.

Naturally, one might look to compare mfp’s offering at this stage, to see how they stacked up against the Hallmark boys. But, with “Hot Hits” having folded a year earlier, mfp had little available in 1974. Their most recent album, “Chart Choice 74” was something of a retrospective, casting its eye over the year’s blockbusters, and just managing to tap into the Christmas charts with the inclusion of “(Hey There) Lonely Girl”, which was clinging on to number 39 on Christmas morning.

Now, something strange was afoot in late-1974. Three of the leading names in cover version LPs were quietly closing in on one another. Get this - the Christmas releases from Pye (“Chart Buster Hits” volume 13), Windmill (“Parade of Pops” volume 19) and Stereo Gold Award (“12 Tops” volume 25) each had exactly the same contents! What on earth??... Here they are:

So what makes the cut? The Christmas numbers 2, 3, 4 and 9 appear – all of which were also to be heard on the current “Top of the Pops” collection, but there are some curious choices as well; five of these tracks never even cracked the top 10, while one, a cover of Peters & Lee’s “Closer” failed to chart at all in the UK! No Christmas hits to lighten the mood either...

For number 1 hits, we have to look at the annual collections, scooping up the year’s highlights. Pye went out on a limb by issuing a 30 (yes, you heard me) track assemblage called “1974 Top 30” – so vast it wouldn’t fit onto a disc and so only came out on cassette and 8-track cartridge:

Meantime, Windmill missed the Christmas boat completely, their yearly retrospective not landing until January:

 

We should also mention one other review of 1974, Rediffusion’s lesser-known “The Best of ’74”, pretty similar to the “Top of the Pops” equivalent LP, but with a couple less tracks:

The last name on the scene in December 1974 was Contour, currently running volume 16 of their “16 Chart Hits” series. Alongside it came their best-of album, “20 Great Hits of ’74”...

The album “16 Chart Hits” pulled out nine tracks from the seasonal listing: 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 26, 36, 38 and 40, and was the only one to capture a version of Elvis’s “My Boy”.

So, all-in-all, a fair bit of overlap can be seen on these “rival” offerings, but nevertheless, buyers had a choice of five current chart collections, besides as many again surveying the hits of the previous 12 months. Not bad for a format supposedly past its prime. But where, oh where, are all the Christmas hits?...