HOT HITS... 'CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?'

Music has been a passion of mine since I was in my teenage years and in the days before I was in a better financial position to start collecting my favourite artists records there was a cheaper option to get the hits of the day. With a single costing 7 shillings (approximately 0.35p in today's money) I couldn't afford to buy all the latest hits. However, the creation of albums of covers was another way to get my favourite songs, even though they weren't performed by the original artists. Back then I guess I wasn't so particular and fussy. In this article I will look back at the history of these albums and in particular the Hot Hits series issued by Music for Pleasure, many of which I had in my collection, were seldom off the turntable and bring back many memories.

.................................

The history of the 'Hot Hits' and similar albums can be traced back to the early-1960s and an Australian who was looking for a way to get into the record business. His name was Bill Wellings, a wannabe record producer who wanted to make it big in the business but had no named artists to record.

However, he did come up with the idea to release cover versions of current popular songs which he would release at a much cheaper price. In 1962 he formed the Top 6 Label and released extended play albums featuring 6 songs. The recordings were made at the studios of Pye Records who also distributed the records. It was Pye who changed the name of the releases to Top Six. They also tried to release full-length albums but this was short-lived so they concentrated on the Top Six releases although, by 1967, the releases ended.

Not one to let this deter him, Wellings launched a new label Top Ten Spectacular and soon after linked up with Music for Pleasure, a subsidiary label of EMI Records, and struck up a deal to release cover albums and the Smash Hits series was born.

Top of the Pops - Volume 8

This new and hugely successful idea did not go unoticed by other labels and soon after a number of new labels appeared, including Fontana and Marble Arch, although it was Hallmark with their Top Of The Pops series that became the major competition. The series ran from 1968 to 1985. It didn't hurt sales to not only have a great title but also with the major TV music programme having the same name, despite not being linked, it certainly wouldn't diminish sales.

Another major selling point were the eye-catching covers, each of which featured a scantily-clad girl which made them highly collectable and this is still the case today. 

Music for Pleasure soon realised that their old-fashioned sleeve designs were in dire need of an overhaul. Hence the creation of the Hot Hits series, which copied the competition by releasing albums with a much more attractive and pleasing cover image. Most of the models are unknown but Bond girl Caroline Munroe, who appeared with Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me, appeared on one cover as did model and page 3 girl Jilly Johnson. Today the covers would be classed as sexist but I am sure back then it wasn't a major issue.

This new series of cover albums ran from 1970 to 1973 and during that three year period twenty albums were released. They came up with a sales motto to promote the series - "Can you tell the difference between these and the original sounds?" Of course, they would never match the original recordings.

Despite the competition with Top Of The Pops, sales were not affected for either Music for Pleasure or Hallmark proving that there was a big market for these kind of releases and room for two major players in the marketplace.  

The first release in the series was issued in July 1970, cost just fifteen shillings (0.75p) and featured twelve cover versions including Lola, In The Summertime, Love Of The Common People and Something. A blonde girl in a 1960s short flowery dress and sunglasses adorned the cover.

The first Hot Hits album released in July 1970

The back sleeve of this first release included the following wording... "These are twelve of the HOT HITS that are riding high in our charts. They have been excitingly recreated by talented artists who recapture the original appeal that has made them into hits. Music for Pleasure brings you these chart busters on a single LP so if you want to make your party swing or simply wish to relish the sounds of HOT HITS, pop this album onto your record player and enjoy yourself."

During 1970 they issued two more albums, in September and November, with covers of songs by Freda Payne (Band Of Gold), The Hollies (Gasoline Alley Bred), Anne Murray (Snowbird), Matthews Southern Comfort (Woodstock) and many, many more.

The following year saw a further five releases in the series although it was also the year that saw a few changes. Released in July 1971 Hot Hits 6 was the first to feature a sporting theme on the cover, a bikini clad girl wielding a cricket bat, courtesy of Geoffrey Boycott.

The first of the 'sporting themed' covers

The sporting style featured on all future releases. The front and back cover images were taken by Brian Ward although he wasn't the only photographer to be assigned the pleasure of taking the cover photos. Other volumes featured the work of Terry Beard, Clive Coote, Jack Wood, Peter Meech and Dick Swayne.

This was also the year that saw Hot Hits releases first appearing on the charts. Budget albums registered on the album charts and of the twenty released three charted. All three were from 1971 with Volume 6 hitting the top spot, Volume 7 reaching #3 and Volume 8 peaking at #2, not bad for albums just featuring covers of recent hits and an indication of how popular they were. This practice was ended in 1972 as it gave an unfair advantage to budget albums and was unfair on record companies who were issuing full-price albums.

Artists covered on the 1971 releases included George Harrison, Neil Diamond, The Rolling Stones, Twiggy, Middle Of The Road, Rod Stewart and The Piglets.

Sporting a girl in Arsenal FC kit, minus the club logo, Hot Hits 7 was the first of the albums I purchased, not just for the cover although being an Arsenal supporter I was swayed slightly. The photo was taken at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC whose kit is being worn by the model on the back sleeve. It also contained some of my favourite songs from this period... Back Street Luv (originally recorded by Curved Air), You've Got A Friend (James Taylor) and Maggie May (Rod Stewart). 

Volume 7 - my first purchase

Seven volumes were issued in 1972, the most of any of the years the albums were in existence. Sporting themes featured on the covers throughout the year included rugby, skiing, boxing, tennis, archery and motor racing.  

Teeny boppers were kept happy in 1972 with the inclusion of covers of Donny Osmond, The Osmonds and David Cassidy while the more mature record buying public could enjoy covers of hits by artists as varied as Isaac Hayes, Cat Stevens, Nilsson, Paul Simon, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and even The Pipes & Drums & Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoons Guards!

There was never any information on who was singing on the albums and it would be many years before rumours appeared about who the performers were. Of the many names mentioned it is known that both Elton John (who would go on to have major success as a solo artist) and Tina Charles (best know for her hits I Love To Love and Dance Little Lady, Dance) were the vocalists on many of the tracks. Other session musicians and vocalists who have been mentioned include Big Jim Sullivan, Larry Adler and David Bowie.

Elton John and Tina Charles

Five Hot Hits albums were released in 1973 with the final being the twentieth in the series. This was the era of glam rock and many of the songs featured this year were from glam rock groups like Sweet (Blockbuster and Hell Raiser), Wizzard (Ball Park Incident and See My Baby Jive) and T-Rex (20th Century Boy and The Groover).

Released in August, and featuring a girl fishing in a bikini, the final album in the series was Volume 20 and included more glam pop songs like Dancing On A Saturday Night (originally by Barry Blue) and 48 Crash (Suzi Quatro).

The final release

Bill Wellings made the decision to terminate his work with the label in 1973 to allow him to concentrate on other aspects of the music business. With Wellings no longer involved the series came to an end. It is hard to work out why Music for Pleasure did not continue, especially as there was obviously still a market for these kind of releases. The continuing success of the Top Of The Pops albums, which continued for many more years and well into the 1980s, is proof of their popularity.

There was something special about these releases and they will always hold many memories for a music fan like me just starting out on his road to record collecting. I am not sure how big the market would be, but I am sure I am not the only one who would buy a box set of CDs replicating the original album contents with individual sleeves reproducing the original front and back covers along with a comprehensive booklet detailing a history of the albums, detailed track and release information, photos and memorabilia. I can only dream as I guess contractual details would be a nightmare for any company taking on the task.