Redartz: Just about all of us, no doubt, have a fair collection of music (perhaps less extensive than our comic collection, but still impressive). You may have shelves of vinyl lp's, or racks of cd's. Or you may be 'up to date' and have thousands of tunes on your computer or phone. Regardless, many of those tunes are organized as albums, and probably most feature a single performer or group. Beatles albums, Kiss albums, Police discs, whatever. You get the idea.
Well, I have many such as well; but I have an addiction to something different: compilations. It started back in the vinyl age, when K-Tel and Ronco albums offered twenty top hits on one cheap lp. With my limited budget, these discs were often purchased in place of a given artist's offering. And the wide range of music they offered added an element of fun; often several of the included songs were new to me.A few years later, when the compact disc arrived, the compilation compulsion hit me double time. Now there was unprecedented variety of themed compilation discs: Beach music, British Invasion Hits, Dr. Demento's hits, and much much more. Among the most fun were "Television's Greatest Hits", a series of cd's which collected tv themes from the fifties to the present. Loads of fun.
But one particular category of compilation discs stands out for me, and represents a large percentage of such discs in my collection: year-themed discs. These include the Time/Life sets (sets for the sixties, the seventies, organized year-by-year). Similarly, the "Billboard's Greatest Rock and Roll Hits" series (the only downside to that series is that they only feature ten cuts per disc)). Then there are the "Rock On" cd's; similar to the Billboard series but they contain a dozen songs each, and tend to have less commonly-found picks). These 'yearly' discs appeal to the obsessive-compulsive in me: I love organizing it all chronologically (I will sometimes binge listen to a decade's assemblage, in proper order of course).
And there are many other compilations to be found, too many to name. One cool set I picked up last year at a yard sale was a five-disc set called "Living in Oblivion: the 80's Greatest Hits". This massive set had about twenty songs per disc, and were heavily oriented towards UK new wave music. Loads of songs I'd only heard a few times, or not at all. These cd's only set me back a dollar apiece, so that got me a load of music quite affordably. That's one of the big appeals to compilation discs: usually a lot of bang for your buck. That, plus the likelihood of finding an intriguing compilation of tunes appealing to whatever esoteric nature you possess. That may explain why some friends call me the 'king of compilation discs'. Ok, not the greatest title, but one takes what one can get. In conclusion, here are a few choice collections from my collection...
11 comments:
I typically like the Mojo/Uncut CD offerings.., some pretty interesting stuff on some of those, like covers of classic Beatle tunes you seldom ever hear. Great stuff.
As for vintage KTEL-type offerings (now a staple at every flippin' antique shop on Earth, next to the Kenny Rogers and Andy Gibb finds..), it was a nice way to have a 'playlist' on one piece of vinyl for parties, you have to admit, long before internet-streaming and mix-tapes.
Dance On, Indeed. :)
Ah, K-Tel ... now you're in my wheelhouse! I had a bunch of K-Tel albums (they're probably still around somewhere). I even have a Goofy Greats album (and one called Looney Tunes), but not the one pictured there; I always wanted that one since it had Snoopy vs. the Red Baron and mine didn't.
I mostly had K-Tel rock compilations; off the top of my head: Hitline (a double album), Rock '82, Rock '83, Sound Explosion, Hit Explosion, Chart Action, Blast Off, Electric North (featuring all Canadian bands), and the first Mini-Pops album.
There are sites devoted to K-Tel; this one is all about 70s and 80s K-Tel albums (including a lot of Canadian stuff).
And here's a video with some vintage songs.
david_b- good observation about the Mojo/Uncut discs. That Kieth Richards cd has some real gems on it. And yes, stuff you don't hear so often otherwise.
Those K-tel albums do show up often at 'bargain bins'. The challenge is finding them in decent shape; they tended to get played to death.
Mike W.- I think we had the same pressing of that "Goofy Greats" lp. If memory serves, it was featured on the cover illustration but inexplicably wasn't on the lp itself. Frustrating for a youthful buyer. And thanks for those links; it's incredible how many albums that K-Tel (and their clone Ronco) put out back then.
You listed my favorite compilations in your last paragraph - the Living In Oblivion collections. They often also used more uncommon mixes on some selections that were near impossible to find on this side of the Atlantic at the time. I also had a distinct soft spot for those TV's Greatest Hits collections, too. Which is kind of the opposite end of the spectrum from the Living In Oblivion discs now that i think on it.
But that makes me think of another odd collection - Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits, but with the theme songs recorded by "modern" bands of the time - like Butthole Surfers doing Underdog, and The Ramones doing the Spider-Man theme. And Frente doing Pebbles & Bam-Bam's hit, Open Up Your Heart And Let The Sunshine In. A freaky little mix of the two collections, in its odd way.
HEY!!! I got some of the those!!! I think the bulk of my cassettes were picked up at "gas stations and truck stops" along with those double sided cassettes that had an album on each side. Perfect road soundtracks...
One thing I'd like to point out, unlike my Rock Fantasy, my Dimensions, my Rock Heroes, All-Time Great Soul Hits, Twenty Golden Oldies, you would sometimes run into a collection like "Muskrat Love". All the great hits:
Weekend In New England, Dazz, More Than A Feeling, Stand Tall, You Don't Have To Be A Star, Nadia's Theme, Muskrat Love and more, these were not the original songs by the original artists. All cover versions by some nameless studio musicians.
Also, my Dimensions album included a cut, "Stars On 45 (Medley I), a almost 4 minute mashup of past hits layered over a generic disco beat!!! Who could ask for anything more....
When my girls were getting a bit older, we did pick up a few of the "Now That's What I call Music" collections.
Collections... fun times!!!
(Ali dances and the audience applauds
Though he's bathed in sweat he hasn't lost his style
Ali don't you go downtown
You gave away another round for free
Me, I'm just another face at Zanzibar
But the waitress always serves a secret smile
She's waiting out in Shantytown
She's gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me
I've got the old man's car
I've got a jazz guitar
I've got a tab at Zanzibar
Tonight that's where I'll be
Rose, he knows he's such a credit to the game
But the Yankees grab the headline every time
Melodrama's so much fun
In black and white for everyone to see
Me, I'm trying just to get to second base
And I'd steal it if she only gave the sign
She's gonna give the go ahead
The inning isn't over yet for me
I've got the old man's car
I've got a jazz guitar
I've got a tab at Zanzibar
Tonight that's where I'll be
Tell the waitress I'll come back to Zanzibar
I'll be hiding in the darkness with my beer
She's waiting out in Shantytown
She's gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me
I've got the old man's car
I've got a jazz guitar
I've got a tab at Zanzibar
Tonight that's where I'll be).
Interesting subject. Also interesting to note that within a few miles I have 3 stores selling new and used vinyl. They report that Elvis and the Beatles sell and nothing much of anything else in particular.
Anyhow, I have a few German compilations in vinyl, from my army days, like 1985 and 1986, and 1987. Then, I discovered those UK "Now that's what I call music" and ditched the German compilations. The UK ones were double CDs and quite enjoyable. So, I guess I am in the bronze age but not the K Tel age.
Anyhow, how would something like that be marketed to today's youth who don't watch TV? Could they even bothered with something like that since they "got their own music" these days, lol, digitally from spotify, etc?
I never owned many collections - except maybe a couple of Christmas albums. Although as 3 mentioned, the Saturday Morning Cartoon album is great. Listen to that frequently.
But what really leaves me nostalgic are the long lost commercials for these albums. Back in the Bronze Age, you couldn’t get through an afternoon of viewing Green Acres or The Brady Bunch without seeing a half dozen KTel ads with the romantic scenes and the never-ending scroll of songs with just a snippet of each played. Those ads were constant then and nonexistent now. I distinctly remember a compilation ad from my single-digit age with “Purple People Eater,” “Yakkety Yak,” and “The Battle of New Orleans” on it. I wish I had that one to play for my kids.
Loved the K-Tel collections back in the day. I had several of them....late 70's/early 80's variety....lots of rock and R&B. One of my favorites was a late 70's R&B set with upbeat hits on one side and slow drags on the other. It was called Winners.
Would love to have that Keith Richards collection, too. Bound to be some classics on that set.
3- Those "Living in Oblivion" discs were an unexpected bounty. Finding them at that yard sale was serendipitous. Best five dollars I spent all year. And that Saturday Morning collection you describe sounds like a blast. One to watch out for...
Prowl- Gas stations and truck stops; yes, those are great places to find such discs and tapes. Usually in a huge bin at a few dollars apiece.
Good comment about those 'cover versions'. I learned early to read the fine print on the album carefully, and to watch out for such credits as "performed by the Starlite Singers". That was one of the attractions of those K-Tel albums: in their commercials, they crowed "Original Hits, Original Stars"!
Charlie- Good question. But like Prowl mentioned, they still release those "Now That's What I Call Music" collections. How well do they sell? Another good question, but they apparently do well enough that they are up to 50 something editions. Perhaps they advertise them on podcasts, or on some of those music sites you refer to.
Marti- your recall of those once-ubiquitous K-Tel commercials is spot-on. And I can still hear that announcer's voice in my head.
Graham- That Keith Richards collection was another unforeseen rummage sale find, like the "Oblivion" discs. It just goes to show you, it pays to look through those boxes of cd's for sale.
A few highlights from that disc: Jackie Brenston, "Rocket 88"; Muddy Waters, "Rollin Stone"; Clifton Chenier- Ay Te-Tee Fe"; Aaron Neville- "Tell it Like it Is"; Billie Holliday "He's Funny That Way", Clarence Bon Ton Garlow- "Bon Ton Roulet". And oh, so much more.
I have dozens of those various artist compilations, including the Just Say Yes collections from Sire Records, and those from the various British music mags such as Uncut and Mojo as well as the College Music Journal (CMJ). Lot of great otherwise hard to find gems in those.
Restarts, that Keith Richard's set looks like a good on. I have all but a couple of those already in one format or another, so maybe I can assemble it on my iPod. Pretty well rounded collection.
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