Avenue Records in Romania

I thought it was about time to update my long-neglected blog with my latest LP acquisition - an early Xmas present, in fact. It's a Romanian LP which was presumably issued in 1968, and mirrors the very first UK album on the Studio 33 label. To refresh our memories, here's the UK album:

And below is the Romanian equivalent, with its rather groovy cover design. Romania, incidentally, was under Communist rule from the end of the war until 1989. I am of the correct generation to recall tales of popular music being banned in the Communist world, something which my Bulgarian, Soviet and Yugoslav "Top of the Pops" records reveal to be just a little bit untrue - and so here is Romania's contribution to the world of cover versions...

The label here is Electrecord, the central record producer in Romania. And the title of the LP is "Şlagărele Anului 1968" - or "Hits of the Year 1968", despite which it is not a best-of-year round-up.

Note how the two sides are swapped as compared to the UK edition, and see also how the style of each track is indicated, next to the song titles; "Those Were The Days" is a "foxtrot", "Do It Again" is a "shake" and "On The Road Again" a "bounce" (!?).

Interestingly, there are other versions of this Romanian album in circulation. Here is an alternative sleeve, which re-names the LP as "12 Şlagăre", or "12 Hits" (which is closer to the familiar UK Studio 33/Avenue LP titles):

And as if this wasn't enough, there are a couple of alternative labels in existence too:

None of these mention Studio 33 or Avenue anywhere. However I am very pleased to be able to add this LP to my collection, and it is (need I say) my first Romanian album!

That Philips cassette - turns out it's Elton!

Blog regulars will recall that I recently posted details of an odd cassette I discovered, released by Philips and containing medleys of soundalike recordings (below). You can read the original post here.

I was stumped as to where it originated. Philips were not known for making soundalikes, but I couldn't identify the original source of these tracks, which are shortened, and which flow together, sometimes with music linking them.

Last week I was contacted by Elton John collector, Steve Olson, who provided some fascinating new info. It turns out that many of these recordings are in fact the familiar sessions which Elton John took part in on the standard LPs - I just hadn't recognised them! As it happens, the cassette is a re-issue of a European LP called "28 International Top Songs", which features many Elton cuts we know from labels such as Marble Arch, plus a few Avenue recordings too.

Below is the LP sleeve as it appeared in West Germany, on the Fontana label.

And here are two more editions from the Netherlands, one on Studio 33, the other on the Tune label:

The track listing matches exactly. Steve has documented this LP well, and according to his notes, Elton can be heard on most songs, and is lead vocalist on no fewer than nine cuts.

Steven also considers it possible that Elton plays the connecting piano music, making this a real scoop for collectors. For example, if one plays "Lola", there are some unexpected piano notes near the end... and then some more... and as "Lola" fades away, the piano takes solo stage, before quoting a bit from "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which then arrives in full. If Elton was responsible for these sections, he should be recognised as not just playing them, but having probably composed the many original parts we here.

You can find specifics about this album, and a good deal more on Steve's website, ToBeKompleated, where you can download an astonishingly detailed catalogue of all of Elton's known session releases.

Thanks to Steve for the info.

Rare Avenue compilation: Top 20 London W1

As collectors will know, budget albums are frequently described as cluttering the charity shops and boot sales of the land, such is their supposed abundance. If you're after Top of the Pops or Hot Hits from the early 1970s, that's true to an extent, but some covers albums are so rare they are effectively impossible to find nowadays. Unless, like me this week, you strike lucky with a one-off Ebay lot.

My record of the week/month/year is pictured below, and was secured with a top bid of £12.50. It's tatty, there's no denying. The once white cover is browned with marks (and unlaminated, so they are permanent), and has some writing on it. The record itself is scuffed and marked, and the seller very reasonably graded it as "Fair". But after a bit of a polish, the vinyl came up passably clean, and in fact the record plays much better than it looks. And the labels are good too, so all in all, it's not too bad a copy. But I don't care anyway - just having it in my collection is a buzz in itself.

So, what have we here? It's a record with a bizarre name for starters, which gives no clue as to its true nature. The sleeve gives the title, or maybe sub-title, London W1, but this doesn't appear on the label itself. And although it's on Avenue, this is in fact a compilation of 1968 recordings which were originally put out on Avenue's smaller Studio 33 imprint.

Studio 33 started issuing their covers LPs during 1968, without album titles, and this is basically a sampler from the first three, which were catalogue numbered 10-009, 10-010 and 10-011. The first, 10-009 (below left) is represented with four tracks, and 10-011 (below right) has some 10 of its 12 titles included.

The sleeve design on this LP (not to mention the Studio 33 albums too) looks somewhat unusual, but has to be seen in the context of the day. The "classic" design, a female model next to a list of songs, really only became the norm after Top of the Pops launched in late-1968 (after Pickwick's MD Monty Lewis gave a photo of the cover model to designer Bill Graham, who put together the iconic artwork and logo).

But the LPs pictured above were too early to cotton on to this winning formula, and like concurrent LP series by mfp and Fontana, used illustrations on the covers instead. And, on Top 20 London W1, the back of the sleeve is identical to the front - no song titles to be seen! Plus, of course, no mention anywhere of Studio 33, for whom this is effectively an annual best-of LP.

It's great to finally pin down a copy of this album. Like many collectors, my Avenue set has many holes in (not surprising, considering one LP from the series fetched well over £300 on Ebay this week), so filling this difficult one is really pleasing, and without having to take out a second mortgage.

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UPDATE 11/03/13:

Amazingly, another copy of this LP has appeared on Ebay, and the seller has provided some fascinating information about it (my emphasis below):

"This extremely rare 20 track album was mastered using state-of-the-art technology on the new specification cutting lathes in West Germany. It was then returned to the U.K. for pressing by TRANCO (PYE RECORDS) in London and in turn delivered to AVENUE'S warehouse in London E4.

"The limited run of this particular disc was made for distribution in West Germany - the album could not be sold in the U.K. because of the extreme poor quality of the U.K. general public's down market playing equipment.  The micro grooving on this disc needed a top quality playback device - not the average clapped-out portable record player that was still in general use in England at that time... Thus this 20 track album concept from AVENUE was for the more affluent album buyers on the Continent. 

"Some very famous artists are performing on this disc including DAVID BYRON, PETER LEE STIRLING a.k.a. DANIEL BOONE and LOIS LANE."

So, it seems that this was not actually a UK release at all, but a West German one. This is a surprise to me, but one can't doubt this excellent background info. The copy which is currently on Ebay is a phenomenally rare guaranteed unplayed copy. Look for item number 310622525918.  

 

Studio 33 compilation from West Germany

I seem to have come across quite a few overseas editions of the UK covers albums lately, and here's another one. This LP, "England's Top 12", is a West German LP which utilises tracks from two of the obscure British albums on the Studio 33 label.

The back of the sleeve is identical to the front, and there is no indication of where these recordings originate. We of course know they are from the Avenue stable, but the original UK albums they are copied from are untitled, identifiable only by their catalogue numbers. This West German LP compiles tracks from AVE 10-010 and AVE 10-011, themselves so rare I am not even sure what the cover of AVE 10-010 looks like (can anyone help??).

Untitled UK album: AVE 10-011

Back in the UK, the Studio 33 label eventually gave way to the main Avenue label, whereupon the "England's 12 Top Hits" series came into being. What is particularly interesting is that as early as 1968, while the UK albums still had no name, West Germany had already launched this as a title (or something very close).

One more point: eagled-eyed readers will notice the "2" at the bottom of the cover. There is, in fact, also a volume "1" from West Germany. It is a direct pressing of the UK album, AVE 10-009, which so far as we know, was the very first Studio 33 LP released, so it looks like West Germany were right in on the action from the very beginning...

Amazing studio tapes surface on Ebay

The phrase "once in a lifetime" is over-used, but certainly applies to three items up for grabs on Ebay this week. They consist of original studio master tapes from the Pye/Marble Arch/Avenue stable, featuring recordings by cover version luminaries David Byron, Danny Street, Laura Lee and others, plus Elton John whose work on these records needs no introduction.

 

All three are quarter-inch studio tapes, and the seller has helpfully provided details of the commercial record releases they were for:

Avenue EP (AVE 59)

"Top Chartbusters of '69" on the Marble Arch label

"Soul Spectacular Volume 3" on Marble Arch

If you want to pick up a genuine piece of musical history, and true cover version gold, then stop by Ebay and check them out (warning - you'll need deep pockets though!).

See the Ebay listings here, here and here.