I feel bad about my record collection. As a follow up to the recent post about favorite b-sides, where the only 45 a and b sides that I could think of involved The Beatles, I decided to hunt down my vinyl. This meager stack of albums, extended plays and 45s were all left over from my college djing days at WRIU in Kinston, Rhode Island. Amid The Field Mice, The Coctails, and various British compilations I found one treasure I had forgotten I own:
I’m trying to recall where and when I purchased this 1973 masterpiece. I’m guessing I bought it due to the kitschy album cover and that it was an actual K-Tel record. Faux spray paint spells out “20 Original Hits – 20 Original Stars” and in the background you can make out dripping letters that say “Funky,” “Say Brother,” “What’s Goin’ On,” “Soul Train,” and “What Happenin’?” For a white girl who grew up in Arizona, moved to Northern California, relocated to Rhode Island, and then spent a few more years in Fairfield County, Connecticut, I pretty much fit the definition of honky. But in the early ’90s, when I was at WRIU, I significantly expanded my musical horizons. First of all, when I started on the Friday night 3:00-6:00 am shift, I was followed on Saturday morning by a gal who grew up in Greenwich Village and whose show featured rap music. Second, at WRIU, I could peruse the considerable stacks of old vinyl and listen to anything that looked interesting in one of the listening rooms (and avoid embarrassment if I was checking out something potentially uncool). And lastly, I would go on Salvation Army record buying sprees with my dj friends and between the lot of us, we could usually spot some great things. (Hence the acquisition of my Muppet Show album. Trust me, “Lidia the Tattooed Lady” is worth every penny of the 50 cents I spent for that record.)
Anyways, I digress. The point is, I’m guessing I picked up Super Bad in the early ’90s, when I was starting to further expand my musical horizons. I’d always loved Freda Payne’s “Band of Gold” and Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft,” but also recognized some of the other artists or original tracks (I had written in pen next to Timmy Thomas’ “Why Can’t We Live Together” – ‘Sade covered this’). Now, about 20 years later, I can skim the track list and feel a bit more cultured. But reacquainting myself with this collection, it’s brought to mind some other questions:
- What the heck was K-Tel International?
- Do you have any of this organization’s fine collections of “Original Hits!”? Honestly, can you beat Super Bad?
- Why does the 1974 UK release of this album include 24 songs and a totally different track listing?
- Who the heck was the art director for K-Tel?
Do you have the answer to any of these questions? Or would you like to wax nostalgically about some petunia in your musical onion patch? I would love to hear from you.
Check this out!
Great find, TonyTea.
Interestingly, the Super Bad mentioned in TonyTea’s link is not the one I own. There appears to be three Super Bads: mine,which includes soul and funk classics, the British release which includes a different track list but in a similar vein, and this one (Australian?) which includes 20 Hits From Hell.
When I was growing up, my dad was a manager for a Woolworths-like chain of discount stores called TG&Y. The LP section at TG&Y was why K-Tel existed: they were a company that sold records that were sold in places like discount stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, that sort of place. You would never find the new K-Tel release in an actual record store, in other words.
K-Tel was a step above other similar companies because — as their incessant TV commercials always reminded you — their records had “the original hits by the original artists!” instead of the inferior soundalike remakes that a lot of similar companies trafficked in. But what the commercials didn’t tell you was that those LPs managed to squeeze on 10 songs per side via some seriously ruthless editing: these versions of these songs were usually cut down to between 2:00 and 2:30 by excising entire verses and choruses.
The commercials are fantastic, and will lead anyone into a YouTube rabbit hole: there’s entire channels devoted to them. Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jOCzuuvmcs
I think these records were also notorious for extremely thin and poor quality vinyl.
The format lives on. Record charts (or whatever they actually are called or track now) seem to always have a “Now That’s What I Call Music, Vol 1-Infinity” among their listings. Those are made for the people who couldn’t be bothered to turn on the radio.
I own a couple of greatest hits records that were heavily advertised on TV during my youth. K-Tel’s The Best Of Credence Clearwater Revival (and the only CCR record I ever listen to) and Abkco’s The Rolling Stones Greatest Hits. That double album has a cheap no-gatefold cover that doesn’t even list the song titles. The disks are flimsy. The number of tracks and song selection are outstanding though. I can still remember the commercials for both records because my memory seems to only work when a TV is involved.
Holy Moses! What was the deal with “Ripper ’76” and “Scorcher”?!? Never saw those, back in the day.
LMKR, great topic. Like you, I came to these collections late–I assembled quite a pile of them in the late 80s/early 90s. Back in the day I never bought one; one of my brothers had a couple of them (which I still have): but without them in front of me it is hard to remember which they were. Suffice it to say they probably had “hit” and/or “explosion” in the titles, and dated to ca. 1974-76. One of them was–I think–Hit Machine: see http://www.flickr.com/photos/55685580@N00/354577493/ I know I have this one, anyway, and it’s a killer. The other one is going to torment me: but it had a rocket on the cover and was blue. (Maybe it was a Ronco or some even lower on the totem pole label?) And I think there was a Steely Dan track on it. (Do It Again? Rikki Don’t Lose that Number?) If anyone can help me, it will save me going home at lunch to check.
Yes, and they crammed so many tracks onto the record–the sound quality was very thin. In that sense, a precursor to shitty mp3s.
A nice gallery of covers here: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/ktelqueen/tags/ktel/
I had one that I thought was K-tell but isn’t listed on Tony Tea’s site. I think it was Fantastic: http://youtu.be/dl8zT2T7yX0
Contrary to what Chickenfrank would have you believe, my k-tel album was on 180 grain vinyl.
I would have worn that record out but one of my “friends” took it off the turntable and threw it against the wall one day.
180 grain sounds about right. I don’t remember any of their records weighing more than a gram!
Then again, they weren’t made for people with fine stereo’s, they were made for the all in one systems entirely made of plastic. The cool ones had lights that flickered with the music and a suitcase handle so you could be the awesome DJ at every party.
I remember the other records had a band called The Sound Affects covering everything from CCR to Jackson Browne. Those were awful. I always just saved up my money and bought a real album. Mostly because the girls that influenced a lot of my musical decisions back then (because they were older, therefore more cool) always bought whole albums. Woolworth’s had the K Tel’s and they were cheap, but one of my friends bought one and it didn’t hold up to early teenage boy shenanigans. I remember those horrid edits, too. Songs that were already single edits on the radio K Tel edited to make room for a bunch more songs!
I was wondering why it was always 20 songs. If the British version had 24 songs, then perhaps the songs that were chosen on the compilation were shorter rather than edited to almost nothing.
K-tel records always seemed like a guilty pleasure: a lot of somewhat desirable music right at your fingertips. But the ads always seemed so cheesy…
Since the suspense must be killing everyone, it was The Now Explosion on Adam VIII records. http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Now-Explosion/release/1343775 Classic.
An am I the only one who sees the influence of the book cover of Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack (1972) in the design of Super Bad?
When I was 6-7 years old, Santa brought these gems down the chimney.
http://tinypic.com/r/wml4hx/6
and
http://tinypic.com/r/2m31cp4/6
While the disco album wasn’t played much, the Stars album had some interesting moments. At least, it did at the time. The highlights being KISS’ Rock and Roll All Night and ELO’s Evil Woman which were somewhat badass for a kid my age. I remember disliking Dr. Hook and that Mary Macgregor song Torn Between Two Lovers (ugh). Yet, I must thank Santa for at least “trying” to get me on the right path. There must not have been too much of a selection at Sears.
I like the way your mind works.
Please tell me that Santa brought you volume two!
That Fantastic record is so “bad” that I don’t recall some of the songs listed. Would you please enlighten us with a few of those more obscure tracks?
OMG until you posted that I’d forgotten that my brother, sister and I also had K-tel’s Star Power, the post Star Wars collection. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Wait a minute. Stop the presses. This album had a different track listing in Canada. I found this clip on YouTube and I can tell for sure there was no Hall and Oats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XWyDEW2P1o
I’m sure there was some Chilliwack and April Wine substituted to fulfill our socialist Canadian content regulations.
Star Power, Music Magic, and Starburst were in this fifth grade collection. “I just can’t find the answer to the flavor on my pizza pie, Hey babe, isn’t it thyme?”
I also remember getting ripped off on what seemed to my eleven year old mind to be the Perfect Album. Put it on the stereo and heard all the songs sung by a friggin’ duck. Damn you, Rick Dees, damn you straight to Hell.
aloha
LD
Now I’m not certain that I had Fantastic because some of the track are completely unfamiliar to me. But as far as “bad” goes, I have a huge soft spot in my heart for 70s AM pop crap.
Me too.
Chicken, I think I still have the cassette tape I made back in our early high school days from your K-Tel Best Of CCR album!
A few people cassette duped my copy of the Ronco album, The Kinks 20 Golden Greats in H.S. also. Another fantastic compiliation of tracks in a crappy cover on thin vinyl. We were low-fi before it was hip to be low-fi. Not like we had much choice.
I think that Kinks collection is what’s on the other side of the CCR tape!