New find

Your blogster has been busy on several different projects over recent years and no longer has the time or energy to collect budget records. However he hasn't entirely forgotten about them, and in idle moments still has a browse around the internet, just out of curiosty. The odd find is made, and duly added to the ever-expanding database.

Which leads me to this new find - one so amazing to me that I thought it deserved some kind of spotlight - not just another unnoticed addition to my Top of the Pops website. So here it is...

 

What is it? None other than a unique edition of Top of The Pops Europe Edition, Volume 1. It even has the same catalogue number, EHM 3001. This is how it usually looks:

This is in fact a copy of the Lebanon issue, on their Empire label, and came out in 1971. The track listing is exactly the same as normal - but check out that cover. So unlike what we are used to. 

In fact, I do wonder if the image on the front is from the same shoot as this - it's hard to be certain...

Equally surprising is that this Lebanon LP was accompanied by a trailer single consisting of two of the tracks, 'Help (Get Me Some Help)' / 'One Way Wind' - issued on the same Empire label. Here are the 45 labels:

 

And here's a mock-up of what it would have looked like, inside one of the company singles sleeves. 

There you go. See you in 2030.

 

 

 

South Africa: Still digging Top of the Pops in 1981

We know of many, many overseas pressings of Top of the Pops records dating throughout the lifespan of the series - starting as early as volume 2 (France and Norway) and running as late as volumes 68 (Italy) and 69 (Israel), towards the end of 1978.

There are a couple more items known from after this point, including one compilation LP from Brazil, 1979 - but this week we stumbled on an even later edition of Top of the Pops - this one from South Africa.

At first glance, it appears to be an equivalent to the UK volume 84 - at least, that's where the cover originated. But the contents do not match; this is not a straight re-press, but a new and unique compilation LP issued only in South Africa.

The tracks range through volumes 84, 85 and 86, so it was released no earlier than summer, 1981, while the UK series was in serious decline. This is the track listing:

Side 1

• Kids In America - from vol 85
• What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted - from vol 85
• Making Your Mind Up - from vol 85
• Stand And Deliver - from vol 86
• Bette Davis Eyes - from vol 86
• Stars On 45 - from vol 86
• All Those Years Ago - from vol 86
• You Drive Me Crazy - from vol 86

Side 2

• A Little In Love - from vol 84
• Romeo And Juliet - from vol 84
• In The Air Tonight - from vol 84
• Woman - from vol 84
• Mind Of A Toy - from vol 85
• Night Games - from vol 85
• Attention To Me - from vol 85
• Lately - from vol 85

Apart from some Soviet repressings of earlier albums, this is the only overseas Top of the Pops yet confirmed from the 1980s. It's particularly suprising to see such a record issued so late on; the UK series was approaching its conclusion, and would come to an end within the year. And yet here is a South African release, billing itself as volume 1 of what would have been a new series, and starting a new catalogue number series at TOP 001.

They even issued it on cassette as well. Clearly, they thought Top of the Pops still had legs!

This isn't the first Top of the Pops from South Africa - we know of two others, issued way back in 1972, but it may well be the last. Unless a "volume 2" appears, we think this could be the final release outside the UK, not including re-issues, of course.

Let us know, if you think otherwise!

Top of the Poppers ... featuring Alan Caddy ?!?

Surely some mistake? Well, read on...

Over in New Zealand, Top of the Pops recordings were originally issued on a local version of the Hallmark label. Then, in the mid-1970s, Music World took over - the label having been created by budget record entrepreneur, Hoghton Hughes.

Before and after the switch, New Zealand tended not to simply re-issue the UK albums, but instead create their own collections, many of which plugged specific artists in the titles - so, for example, we find albums with novel names such as, 15 Hits of Slade, T Rex, Sweet, 20 Hits of Abba and Other Great Groups, and 20 Hits of the Wombles and Other Pops for Children.

All good fun, of course, and fitting in with these was the 1973 LP, The Top of the Poppers Present Elvis Gold: 16 of The King's Greatest Hits. Here's the cover:

This album was issued by Hallmark New Zealand, before Music World became involved. What's odd, is that even by the close of 1973, The Top of the Poppers only had 13 cover versions of Elvis hits to compile. Yet the album promises 16 titles - so how did they do that?

The answer may surprise you - the album contains only three Top of the Pops recordings ("Polk Salad Annie"; "I'm Leavin'" and "Burning Love"). The rest of the tracks? One was borrowed from Hallmark's Revived 45s album (and was previously issued as a 45 on the Embassy label) - namely, "Surrender" - but the other 12 consist of the whole of this LP:

Yes, indeed. The bulk of the New Zealand album purporting to be by the Top of the Poppers actually had nothing to do with them! For those who don't know, Ross McManus was a modestly successful singer better known today for the fact that he was Elvis Costello's father. (This album was once re-issued on CD as Elvis's Dad Sings Elvis!)

(Bear with us, we're getting to the Alan Caddy bit...)

Come 1975, the Music World label had superseded Hallmark New Zealand, so far as Top of the Pops was concerned, and among the many interesting records which were issued, was this one - The Top of the Poppers Present Elvis' 20 Golden Hits.

Now, the proprietors of this blog, and the Top of the Pops fan website, have known about the LP for several years. But without full scans of the cover and labels, we did not know the track listing - until now. Buying Top of the Pops albums from such far-flung places is an expensive hobby, so when a copy turned up on Ebay from a UK seller, at a bargain price, we felt we should snap it up. What we discovered came as a surprise...

This LP contains all the material on the earlier New Zealand record, but contains four additional tracks: "Promised Land"; "Fool"; "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" and "Rags To Riches". All of these songs were to be found on earlier Top of the Pops albums, so one might suppose they were the source.

Well in fact, that was true for three of them - "Promised Land"; "Fool" and "Rags To Riches". But when it comes to "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", the Music World label eschewed the Poppers' recording from volume 15, and substituted a completely different soundalike cover version. Some intrepid detective work (ie, we listened to it) revealed this is none other than the recording by Alan Caddy, which was originally released in 1971 on the following Avenue label LP:

So what's the deal? We have to confess, we have no idea. Firstly, there's no obvious reason why the bona-fide Top of the Pops version would be ignored; and secondly, how did Music World manage to get the master tape of Alan Caddy's recording? And could the switch somehow have been a mistake? It's hard to see how!

Whatever the story, this is a possibly unique example of an Alan Caddy track being issued under the name The Top of the Poppers!

We might also mention that research into overseas releases is not always easy, and it's often the case that one discovery leads to more. In this instance, we were able to identify three other Top of the Poppers releases from the listing on the back:

 Hopefully, one day, copies of these will also surface.  Maybe they too hold surprises for us...

Groovy 7-inch releases from Portugal

The second in a mini-run of Top of the Pops posts.

I have recently become aware of a series of singles and EPs from Portugal, with Top of the Pops recordings and artwork. First, here are the covers of the three I've found so far - not great images, but good to see anyway...

Great little records! The sleeves of course incorporate photos of models as shown on the British LP covers - cut out onto white backgrounds and converted to black and white. Just for those who don't know - here's where they originate...

The two singles contain tracks from volume 31: "Hallelujah Day" / "One And One Is One" and "Can The Can" / "Rubber Bullets" - but the original cover photos are from the earlier volumes 27 and 29. We think 1973 is correct for both.

The EP has four tracks from volume 38: "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" / "The Night Chicago Died" / "Shang-A-Lang" / "Red Dress" - and the cover photo is from the same LP, so it's a dead cert the EP came out in 1974.

We should also draw attention to the fact that the group is given two new identities - Free Band and The Non Stoppers. Nonetheless, there is a little "Top of the Pops" logo printed on the fronts!

Here are the backs of two of the sleeves. We'd love to find more of these, if anyone can help.

Nonstop Top 20 volume 8 - in Sweden

Holger Schoeler has sent us some images of a great edition of Nonstop Top 20 from Sweden. This is one of a set which appeared there, with racing cars on the covers. We've featured them before (see here) but until now, volume 8 has been a gap in our discography.

The track listing exactly matches the UK album, and here are the scans:

The cover art is fantsastic, and unusual for cover version LPs. Below is the UK edition, with its more familiar - although just as quirky - sleeve:

Thanks to Holger for the images.

Discovered: another Brazilian Top of the Pops

Earlier this year we reported on a Top of the Pops compilation album from Brazil, which was called "volume 2" (see here).

Well, we've now found some images of volume 1 - and here it is:

This "volume 1" uses the cover photo from UK volume 27, but it's quite a bit later. Most of the 12 tracks are from the UK volume 32, which dates the album after August 1973.

Although we don't have a definite sequence of songs, we can see just about enough of the side 2 label to tell that they match tracks 7 to 12 on the sleeve - in other words, the playing sequence appears to correspond to the listing on the front. 

The album was issued by RCA-Camden, and tracks are as follows:

• Get Down -- from vol. 30
• Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting -- from vol. 32
• Fool -- from vol. 32
• Touch Me In The Morning -- from vol. 32
• Me And Mrs Jones -- from vol. 29
• Alright, Alright, Alright -- from vol. 32
• Yesterday Once More -- from vol. 32
• Tie A Yellow Ribbon -- from vol. 30
• And I Love You So -- from vol. 31
• Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose -- from vol. 32
• Hell Raiser -- from vol. 31
• Life On Mars -- from vol. 32

Here are volimes 1 and 2 side-by-side. I wonder if a volume 3 was ever released?...

When does a one-off become a series?

We had another interesting email from Clive Hetherington recently, in which he flagged up a couple of covers albums we'd not seen before. Both are UK albums on the World (?) label, an imprint of the World Record Club.

Which may ring a bell; we've featured this (supposedly) one-off from Word Record Club before see here:

This album appeared sometime in the second half of 1964, and so far as we knew, was never followed up.

Now Clive's research has thrown up two possible successors. The label is different, but the company the same. Fistly, here are a few images:

The top one is called "DJ's Dozen" and the bottom one is "Hot Pops". Although both contain his from summer and autumn 1965, in both cases the labels state 1966 as the year of issue, so they weren't released currently with the hit versions.

These are wonderful finds, but can we really consider the World Record Club releases to be a series? Probably not. Nevertheless, these new discoveries will be of much interest to UK collectors, and provide some more evidence of the cover version idea gaining traction in the mid-1960s.

Here are the track listings, and where the corresponding single entered the UK charts, the date is given as a point of reference:

DJ’s Dozen

• What the World Needs Now
• On My Word (12/06/65)
• Ticket To Ride (17/04/65)
• It Ain’t Me Babe (05/06/65)
• Please Don’t Just Stand There
• Help (31/07/65)
• There But For Fortune (10/07/65)
• Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (29/05/65)
• Colours (05/06/65)
• You’ve Got Your Troubles (10/07/65)
• Mr. Tambourine Man (19/06/65)
• I’m Henry The Eighth I Am

Hot Pops

• Satisfaction (28/08/65)
• The Time In Between
• Catch Us If You Can (17/07/65)
• All I Really Want To Do (14/08/65)
• I’m Alive (29/05/65)
• Looking Though The Eyes Of Love (12/06/65)
• And I Love Her
• We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place (17/07/65)
• You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (25/09/65)
• Down In The Boondocks (09/10/65)
• Don’t Make My Baby Blue (07/08/65)
• Unchained Melody (14/08/65)

We must also mention the album below, chanced upon while looking for more info:

"Top Pop Song Hits Vol 2" is basically a compilation from the two UK albums - everything points to it being a US release. I wonder what they did for Vol 1??

Thanks to Clive for his scans and info.

Bohemian Rhapsody - second cover version discovered!

Bo-Rap - pinnacle of the "Top of the Pops" cover versions, and the most famous of all soundalike recordings. It's long been recognised for the sheer achievement of Bruce Baxter and the boys, nailing an impressive copy of something which took Queen three weeks to record, in just a single session.

So complex was the task that no other versions were recorded in the UK. Of the regular covers album series, Pye's "Charbusters" and Windmill's "Parade of Pops" were still going at the time, while other labels were continuing to dabble here and there - but no-one even dared take a punt on the formidable Bo-Rap.

It's long been thought, then, that the "Top of the Pops" version is unique. Well, not so. We're recently learned that in South Africa, a different version was made for the long-standing "Springbok" series of albums, on the Music for Pleasure label. Volume 27, to be precise.

There it is, placed at the very bottom of the song list, and avoiding our attention until now. So, I suppose you'd like to hear it? No problem:

This version appears to have been recorded in South Africa especially for the LP. It gives the "Top of the Pops" effort a run for its money, although the relative merits of the two are up to the listener to decide. (I won't offer a 'critique'.) Here is the "Top of the Pops" recording for comparison, from volume 49:

When the "Top of the Pops" recording emerged, it was a bit of a sensation. Kenny Everett played it on national radio, defying listeners to identify whether they were listening to the expensive original or the cheapo cover version. An extract from a more recent radio show is given below, with reference to the success of the "Top of the Pops" version, and Kenny Everett's famous listener challenge:

It was a rare thing for a cover version like this to be given anything other than derisory mention. Yet Bohemian Rhapsody, "Top of the Pops"-style, has always garnered respect, and rightfully so. It was even released as a single in Italy! (The group name, Green Fly, is of course a fiction - it's really the "Top of the Pops" crew.)

I wonder whether anyone took similar note of the Springbok version in South Africa? It certainly deserves some recognition, if only for the bravery of the crew - whoever they were - in trying their hand at this most challenging of songs when they could have opted instead for something more conventional and easy to capture. Hats off to them.



For more on the "Springbok" series, see "Blogs we Like" at the top of this page.

Unusual Poppers compilation from Brazil

Known Top of the Pops releases from Brazil are quite diverse, ranging from odd EPs to self-styled compilations and, in a few cases, completely new cover designs for otherwise familiar LPs.

Our newest find is as close as we've come to locating a standard Brazilian issue from the main series, but it's not quite what it appears to be...

Of course it looks to be a pressing of volume 36. What's immediately striking though is the typing used for the song titles - front and back, it's in a range of colours, quite unlike anything we've seen before.

The new print was forced by the alternative track listing - for this isn't a plain and simple volume 36 - it's a compilation from vol 36 and the earlier vol 33:

• Rock On -- from vol. 33
• Ooh Baby -- from vol. 33
• Love Me Tender -- from vol. 36
• Rockin' Roll Baby -- from vol. 36
• Teenage Dream -- from vol. 36
• All Of My Life -- from vol. 36

• Angie -- from vol. 33
• Skywriter -- from vol. 33
• The Man Who Sold The World -- from vol. 36
• Teenage Lament '74 -- from vol. 36
• Tiger Feet -- from vol. 36
• Teenage Rampage -- from vol. 36

The two LPs it samples are about half a year apart - so why the gap? Our guess is that this Brazilian "volume 2" was preceded by a "volume 1" compilation from the UK volumes 34 and 35.

The label too is immediately noticeable - RCA-Camden, who had nothing to do with the UK releases! Here's the UK cover for volume 36 by the way, which itself re-uses the sleeve design from the Europe Edition of 1971:

Neat collection. Here's hoping the predecessor, "volume 1" will surface at some point.