K-TEL'S 40 SUPERGREATS NE 708 (-75) US

 Thought I was done with picking and posting K-Tel compilations for a while now, but after finding this feel I must add add it to the page as well. A 2-LP set counting forty UK hits, whereof sixteen topped the list. For a guy like me who already was a big music lover back then and listened to about everything this set offers a plethora of wealth, trigging many memories along the way - like Alice Cooper "Schools Out", Rubettes "Sugar baby Love, Sweet "Fox On The Run", Wizzard "See My Baby Jive", Elton John "Rocket Man", Faces "Pool Hall Richard" and many more. I also get stuff that for some reason passed me by unnoticed in those days by acts as Hues Corporation, Ken Boothe, Stephanie De Sykes and John Holt. So listening through set off a jouney where I both can reminisce and learn new things. For this retiree since eight years listening to music has become a way to enjoy my days as much as I can and this is a welcome contribution. Audio shifts a little between tracks. As they crammed in ten cuts on each side not all top of the line, but even if some may not do it very close to the ears it's good as background to about anything, creating a snug seventies mood in my home. This copy, still as new when I picked it, has US vinyls in a UK sleeve, so either the records was imported to UK or the sleeve was imported to US. Not sure which. Originally released in UK and Germany, also on cassette. This US came with label as shown here in a UK laminated fold/out cover. (SÄM*) (KÄJT*)

                                                                                 

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

                                                                              

                                                                                      

                                                                                 

 

 

MARYLIN MONROE/REMEMBER MARILYN NSPH 28500 (-73) UK MONO

 An artist that needs no further presentation. Marylin Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson (1926-62), is probably the all time best known sex icon, still vividly remembered and copied, but she was also a good actress when she got the chance to show it and an excellent singer in her own special way. Here you get to hear some of that, including her maybe most known song "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". All cuts here are mono, some of them enhanced, but non so much it can be called fake stereo. However it's not the music that does this for me since these songs can be found on a large number of issues. Instead it's the beautiful sleeve design, including a large twelve page booklet containing 30+ images of her, showing both sensuality and vulnerability, some of them rare. So for me this is more about looking than listening and good looks it is. This has been released multiple times on vinyl all over the world from 1962 up to today, also as US cassette, reel and 8-track, with differing names and sleeve designs, too many to count. First US 1962 as "Marilyn" on 20th Fox (FXG 5000). Very first UK seems to have been on blue label, so this is probably somewhat later, but as I get the beautiful fold/out sleeve with the twelve page booklet it's not a problem. (FÄV*)

                                                                                 

                                                                                   

                                                                                    

                                                                                     

                                                                                  

                                                                                  

 

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND/SUPERSTARSHINE, VOL. 20 2356 097 (-73) MONO + STEREO NETHERLANDS

 One, to my taste, very rewarding Velvet Underground compilation, blending ten songs from their first three albums with three from Nico's debute LP "Chelsea Girl"   https://monolover.blogspot.com/2012/05/nicochelsea-girl-v-5032-67-us-mono.html  . A mix of true stereo and mono, probably from choosing the ones that sounded the best, cause the audio here is surprisingly good considering some of the original recodings wasn't all high quality. I especially like that the two VU classics "I'm Waiting For The Man" and "White Light/White Heat" comes in mono. Of the Nico solo cuts "Fairest Of The Season" is mono while both "Winter Song" and "Eulogy To Lenny Bruce" are stereo. So a good choice if you want to get to know this legendary combo but don't wanna spend a fortune on the original LP:s. The issue was part of the Dutch only thirtythree volume serie "Superstarshine", which covered a lot of the sixties and early seventies pop and rock scene. This is the first from that for me, but if the rest are of this quality I wanna hear more. I take this is the only issue. It came with label as shown here in a laminated cover. (HÖLX*) 

                                                                              

                                                                                  

                                                                                 

                                                                                   

 

K-TEL'S MUSIC EXPRESS TE 702 (-75) UK

 

 Mentioning another TV vended K-tel issue while I'm at it. As no one in this neck of the woods seems to appreciate vinyl compilations anymore I can get them for a buck or so and therefore pick them when I see them. This one has a collection of UK hits recent to its release date, blending a multitude of genres like disco, pop, reggae and rock. What makes it for me is that apart from classics from acts like Roxy Music, K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Hot Chocolate, Roy Wood and Sparks, I also get to be acquaited whith artists new to me, as Philadelphia disco-soul combo Trammps "Hold back The Night". UK band Stretch counted former members of Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera and Curved Air. As the story goes it was co-founded by Mick Fleetwood who had promised to join on a US tour but failed to do so and the song "Why Did You Do It" was an attack on him for leaving them behind. Also Jamaican reggae singer Susan Cadogan's "Love Me baby" is very sweet raggae-pop. I hadn't heard any of those three cuts before. All good music and a welcome addition to the collection.  As a whole the audio shifts a little between tracks, but most sounds fine and non bad. To my knowledge this was UK only, also as cassette (CE 802). Vinyl had label as shown here in a thin laminated cover.  (SÄM*) (KÄJT*)

                                                                                   

                                                                                   

                                                                                

                                                                                    

                                                                                

 

20 GREAT HEARTBREAKERS NE 954 (-76) UK MONO + STEREO

One of many UK compilation sold through TV ads on K-tel label. I happen to like those since they collect more or less classic hits from a variety of labels in one place and often carry the original mixes. This is the case here - just a few of the cuts are stereo or enhanced mono, but the lion's share true mono. Here I get a number of tear teasers from the past. Older ones like Paul Anka "Lonely Boy", Platters "The Great Pretender", Teddy Bears "To Know Him Is To Love Him", Bobby Vee "Run To Him", Ray Peterson "Tell laura I Love Her" and Richie Valens "Donna", coupled with more recent hits as Box Tops "Cry Like A Baby", Lulu "To Sir With Love" and Hermans Hermits "No Milk Today". It's good to listen through a compilation where every track is in the same mood. No need to skip cuts here. It's all sentimental, picturing more or less sad situations. Autumn will soon be here and this will fit perfectly for colder days, when skies are grey. Then I can curl up in my listening chair and just feel it. The audio is surprisingly good considering they crammed in ten cuts on each side. Not top of the line, still very ear pleasing. To my knowledge this was UK only, also on cassette (CE 955). Vinyl had label as shown here in a thin laminated cover.   (SÄM*) (KÄJT*)

                                                                                  

                                                                                    

                                                                          
                                                                                 

                                                                                   

                                                                                    

                                                                                

 

                                                                                

 

MOTOWN CHARTBUSTERS VOL.1 MS 707 (-70) US

 Time for one more Motown sampler. Even if I picked and posted quite a few of those up till now I still can't refuse when yet another I haven't seen before shows up in a bin. I may have most of the tracks already on other vinyls, but there's always something new to enjoy - occational songs that's new to me or a more or less smashing sleeve design. And this comes with all of that. Apart from obvious classics as Temptations "(I Know) I'm losing You", Smokey Robinson & The Miracles "Mickey's Monkey", Diana Ross & The Supremes "Back In My Arms Again", Martha Reeves & The Vandellas "I'm Ready For Love" and Brenda Holloway "You Make Me So Very Happy", I can also enjoy a couple new to my collection. Also the sleeve design is downright lavish. I do prefer Motown in mono, since those mixes mostly comes clearer and harder hitting, but since this was 1970 and issued in stereo only there's not much choice. At least all cuts are true stereo and even if I would have liked a little more spunk the audio is just fine, providing good listening all through. There have been lots of compilations named "Motown Chartbusters" released in various formats all over the world through the years. To my knowledge this particular one was vinyl only and just issued in US and Italy, though there may be others with different titles carrying the same cuts that I can't trace. Premiere US came with label as shown here in a sleeve with a beautiful front, consisting of tiny dots of gold and silver shimmering in the light, and a Motown ad inner. Unfortunately my scanner refuse to reproduce the glow, so You just have to imagine it. (YZÄ*)  (TÖMÖ*)  (SÄM*)

                                                                                      

                                                                               

                                                                                 

                                
                                                                                

                                                                                  

                                                                             

 

THE TEMPTATIONS/DO THE TEMPTATIONS G6-975S1 (-76) US

 Their thirtieth or so LP since the 1964 debute one. (For more on the band please check posts on some of their other albums  https://monolover.blogspot.com/search?q=(%C3%84I%C3%96*)&max-results=20&by-date=true  ). After this they were sacked by the Gordy label, apparently since the Motown heads wasn't happy that the combo took too much control over their recordings. They then spent four years releasing a couple of albums for Atlantic before returning to Gordy and stay. Not sure why Motown didn't like the outcome of this. I hear a broad soul sweep here, from disco to languishing ballads, most performed in their signature way, and I especially like that some of the arrangements are more adventurous than middle-of-the-road, like the brass in "Why Can't You And Me Get Together" or the psych intro to "Is There Anybody Else". There are also some nice heartfelt ballads to enjoy, as "I'm On Fire (Body Song)" and "Let Me Count The Ways (I Love You)". I've been a Temptations fan since the sixties, so I'm probably biased, but however this was recieved by the public and Motown moguls back then I like it now and that's all that matters to me. Issued and reissued all over the world on vinyl and/or cassette and/or 8-track, but to my knowledge never like this on CD. Premiere US had label as shown here in a thin fully laminated cover. (YZÄ*)  (ÄIÖ*) (TÖMÖ*)

                                                                              

                                                                              

                                                                                 

                                                                                   

 

SEX PISTOLS/THE GREAT ROCK'N'ROLL SWINDLE VD 2510 (-79) UK SOUNDTRACK

                                                                                   

 Soundtrack to a British mockumentary movie, meaning to depict the whereabouts of the UK punk movement in the late seventies, with most focus on The Sex Pistols and their manager Malcolm McLaren. Haven't seen the whole movie yet myself, but guess it's as chaotic as this album. The band had already split after Johnny Rotton left and Sid Viscious was down on drugs, which would kill him before the album was released. So this is not a freshly recorded Sex Pistols album, more a patchwork made by McLaren, where he among other things use old rehersal tapes with added bass and drums. Also letting other singers in to replace Rotton, as old band members Sid Vicious, Paul Cook, Steve Jones and himself, besides famed train robber Ronnie Biggs and musician, actor and TV presenter Edward Tudor-Pole. To make it even more complicated the album has been released in different variations with diverging track lists, which is the reason the tracklist inside fold/out is incorrect and an insert with correct tracking had to be enclosed. All the above would be enough for any band fan or student of rock history, but how does it sound? Even after listening through I seriously don't know, but under the circumstances maybe not that bad. The mended 1976 rehersal tracks suffer from half-ass audio, but still very ok punk rock, French street musicians doing their version of "Anarachy In The UK" is odd in a very good way and Ronnie Biggs "No One Is Innocent" is quite all right. My favourites here world be Sid Vicious doing covers of "Something Else" and "C'mon Everybody", though I hear his mock version of "My Way" as mostly tragic considering he passed away after an overdose just a while later. All in all McLaren's act of greed, flogging the dead horse as hard and ruthless as he could, which he also gladly admitts. But good or bad it is a testimony from a very special time and place in rock history and therefore valuable, at least for me. Issued and reissued through different formats, trackings and sleeve designs all over the world through the years. I can't count them all. Not sure if this is a first or second UK press. In any case it came with labels as shown here in a glossy fold/out cover with two stickers and a one-sided insert. (ZÖNT*) (For more on Sex Pistols please also check post on the first UK press "Never Mind The Bollocks"  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2012/06/sex-pistolsnever-mind-bollocks-77-1-1.html  )

                                                                                     

                                                                                   

                                                                                 

                                                                               

                                                                                    

                                                                              

                                                                                   

                                                                                   

                                                                               

 

THE SHADOWS/HITS RIGHT UP YOUR STREET 2442 194 (-81) SCANDINAVIA

 The combo's fourteenth LP. Mainly a cover album, doing stuff by John Lennon, Rod Stewart, ABBA, Shakin' Stevens, Ennio Morricone, Anton Karas and The Tornados among others. Don't know how it sold world wide, but it did very ok on home turf, peaking at #15 on the UK chart. To my taste a good choice of covers, mixing pop wonders like "Sailing", "Telstar", "Imagine", "The Winner Takes It All" and "This Old House" with other genre classics as "The Third Man", "Misty" and "Chi Mai". The audio and balance are tophole all through giving a caressing experience. Smooth as a baby's butt without any dirt or thrill. I guess some would call it muzak and just dismiss, while most Shadows fans probably just will see it as another good outcome in a long line of albums. To me it's not their best effort and not one to sit down and listen closely to, but a nice and sufficing background to this retiree's reading, crossword puzzles or occational cleaning. Originally issued on vinyl and/or cassette all over Europe, Downunder, South Africa, Japan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. UK 1992 CD on Pickwick Music (PWKS 4106). First Scandinavian  had label as shown here in a thin fully laminated cover.  (CCÖ*)  (CXÄ*)

                                                                                   

                                                                                     

                                                                                 

                                                                                 

                                                                             

 

JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE/ELECTRIC LADYLAND PART 1 613010 (-68) UK

 Finally after many years found an update to my old tattered copy. Therefore time for a slightly updated re-post of the one I made twelve years ago. I think it is interesting enough to be reminded of, so here I go again...Compared to United States and many other countries buying a record in England was relatively expensive in the sixties. The whole manufacturing process was complicated and tax was high. Therefore it took a while before 2-LP albums became big sellers, first block buster being "White Album". Early on doubles from other countries were stripped and released as single albums with 7-8 songs on each side - e.g. Freak Out and Supremes Greatest Hits. There was also a habit of splitting into two separate issues and sell those side by side with the double - e.g. Blonde On Blonde and Wheels Of Fire. This Electric Ladyland is an exemple of the latter. Mostly the 1-LP alternatives had about the same sleeve design as the 2-LP ones, but while the part two here came with the famed "large pic/blue font"  https://monolover.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-jimi-hendrix-experience-electric.html  this has an unique art work - a David King creation called "End of the World" (parts of the cover shown below). It is amazing how the double issue can fetch up to £500, but you can get an equally rare part 1 + 2 top copies made from early matrices with top audio for £50-100 together. This variation originally issued on vinyl over Europe and in South Africa. Also on 4-track and/or 8-track and/or cassette over Europe, Downunder and in US. 1st UK came with label as shown here in a thin fully laminated cover. (JHÄ*) (TRÄC*)

                                                                               

                                                                                  

   

                                                                                 

                                                                                  

                                                                           

 

THE HOLLYRIDGE STRINGS/THE NEW BEATLES SONGBOOK ST 2429 (-66) UK

 One of many many issues titled or subtitled "The Beatles Songbook" or "The Beatles New Songbook". The one here belonging to a serie recorded by Hollyridge Strings, a Capitol studio orchestra specializing in making easy listening versions of contemporary pop music. These were popular back then and many of them reached healthy sales around the world, especially the six Beatles ones, of which this was the third. Normally not my cup of tea, but getting a Beatles related solid UK first press on Capitol at a very good price was more than I could resist. And how does it sound? Rather good actually. Even if string driven covers of Fab Four songs wasn't high on my want list I have to admit this is very well done and not all wrong as background to smooth chores. Arrangements soft and caressing, carried by smashing stereo mix and audio. It doesn't make me wanna jump up and down and scream with joy, but can sure have a calming effect in hectic times. Premiere US on Capitol (T/ST 2429). Also issued on vinyl in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. US 8-track on Capitol (8M 2429) as "The Beatles Songbook Vol. III". To my knowledge never released like this on CD, though most of the songs have showed up on various CD compilations through the years. First UK (also as mono T 2429) had label as shown here in a laminated flip/back cover.