Entertainment For Lively Minds
Don't Walk - Boogie: Whatever happened to the non-Now compilation album?
Posted by Five-Centres on 22 November 2010 - 2:02pm.
Remember when you'd have the likes of Raiders Of The Pop Charts, Disco Fever and Midnight Hustle etc, all featuring current chart favourites? There are loads of retro comps out, but chartwise, the Now series is really pretty much it. When and why did this happen?
And what were your favourite compilations of yesteryear?
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I remember
listening to this a lot, pinched from my big sister.
Yes, I had this
Had a song by The News on it, not of them since then, and it's where I first heard Heaven 17. Still got it somewhere.
EVERYONE I knew back then...
... owned this album as it was a great instant "party mix", I've even recreated the track listing as a playlist on my iPod, except for that News' track, which I haven't been able to find anywhere...
Another one from that time which wasn't as ubiquitous, was "Hot You're Hot", with Kid Creole, Haircut 100, Heaven 17, Spandau Ballet, Devo (the peerless "Whip It"), Hazel O'Connor, U2, Grace Jones...
The market
in compilation albums is seriously in decline - way more than for regular artist CD's
The reason would seem to be the resurgence in the purchase of "singles", albeit of the digital variety.
Why buy a double album of 40 tracks in order to get the half-dozen that you really want, when you can cherry pick from iTunes ?
I'd not thought of that
But buying these comps made you discover stuff you'd not normally hear, an avenue of pleasure now closed off.
The best comps I've got
lately are from labels, kind of showcasing their wares, which is still a good way of hearing stuff you wouldn't otherwise know you were into. The TruThoughts 'Shapes...' compilations are a good example, simliarly Ninja Tunes' Zen or Xen or whatever they call them and the many excellent Trojan box sets.
Then, of course, there's The Word CD...
Flip side: you can end up having a misguided fondness for really terrible things like most of 'The Greatest Hits of 1986' - for ages the only piece of modern recording in my childhood home - containing such gems as "When the Going Gets Tough" by Alexander O'Neil and (I do like this actually) The Art of Noise's "Peter Gunn".
When the Going Gets Tough
Billy Ocean, surely?
oopsy
Yep. I struggled for a second with 'Alexander Ocean' - knew that didn't sound right and could not be bothered even to google. For shame!
Where's a down arrow when you need one?
I think
he was trying to, ahem, Criticize. :-)
"I'm fed up ...
... 'cause all you ever do is criticise" makes me laugh every time; it's Morrissey and Frank Sidebottom (RIP) who should be fed up, not international soul sensations.
I get it :)
Update! I was convinced there must be some reason I confused the two 80s singers so I looked up the compilation to see if Alex O was on there as well... Have a look at how seeringly god-awful this tracklisting is. No wonder I have an insatiable appetite for music if this is how malnourished I was as an infant.
A1 Chris De Burgh - The Lady In Red
A2 Double - The Captain Of Her Heart
A3 Atlantic Starr - Secret Lovers
A4 Sam Cooke - Wonderful World
A5 Fine Young Cannibals - Suspicious Minds
A6 Huey Lewis & The News - The Power Of Love
A7 Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me
A8 Boris Gardiner - I Want To Wake Up With You
B1 Dr. And The Medics* - Spirit In The Sky
B2 Housemartins, The - Happy Hour
B3 Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
B4 Stan Ridgway - Camouflage
B5 Art Of Noise, The Featuring Duane Eddy - Peter Gunn
B6 Sarah Brightman And Steve Harley - Phantom Of The Opera
B7 Jim Diamond - Hi Ho Silver
C1 Billy Ocean - When The Going Gets Tough
C2 Five Star - System Addict
C3 Phil Fearon - I Can Prove It
C4 Sinitta - So Macho
C5 Damned, The - Eloise
C6 Modern Talking - Brother Louie
C7 Samantha Fox - Touch Me (I Want Your Body)
D1 Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You
D2 Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
D3 Real Thing, The - You To Me Are Everything
D4 Lulu - Shout
D5 Sophia George - Girlie, Girlie
D6 Paul Hardcastle - Don't Waste My Time
D7 Whistle - (Nothing Serious) Just Buggin'
D8 M.C. Miker "G" And Deejay Sven - Holiday Rap
OK so there are a few bonuses but anyone who can listen beyond the first 3 seconds of side A gets a biscuit.
When I were a lad
this was my fave comp LP that my folks had
Side A:
Bacarrah- Yes Sir I Can Boogie
Hot Chocolate - So You Win Again
The Floaters - Float On
RAH Band - The Crunch
Marilyn McGoo & Billy Davis - You Don't Have To Be A Star
Heatwave - Too Hot To Handle
Billy Ocean - Red Light Spells Danger
Dooleys, The - I Think I'm Gonna Fall In Love With You
Space - Magic Fly
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Baby Don't Change Your Mind
Side B:
David Soul - Silver Lady
Brotherhood Of Man - Angelo
Showaddywaddy - You Got What It Takes
Meri Wilson - Telephone Man
Joy Sarney - Naughty Naughty Naughty
T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do
Inner City Express - Dance & Shake Your Tambourine
David Parton - Isn't She Lovely
Smokie - It's Your Life
Boomtown Rats - Looking After Number One
I remember Side B better than A and what the Rats tune was doing there, god only knows
And the Meri Wilson track confused a young fella summat rotten. What was this strange tingling sensation......sorry, thats for next weeks therapy session.
Joy Sarney
I love that song. Making light of domestic violence with interjections by a comedy Mr Punch. Nice cod-reggae lilt. Disappeared without trace.
I had this too. Played it to death. Christmas 1977.
Even more terrifying in performance
and the album is probably to blame for me still loving this song even today (its the return of the Thin White Suit.....)
Naughty Naughty Naughty
We had this. I've always had an embarrassing fetish for novelty records and Joe Sarney's "Naughty Naughty Naughty" is one of the maddest ever -
a man duets with a punch and judy doll:
(sings) That aint the way to do it
(punch) That's the way to do it!
No it isn't, Yes it is, No it isn't etc
And "Magic Fly" was "Trans Europe Express" for kids.
"Disco Fever" compilation
I worked as a Saturday boy in a record shop when that "Disco Fever" LP was released.
Let me tell you - it sold by the TRUCKLOAD.
Well it had to have done
for it to be picked up on my parents radar. Unless it sold several million they never went near it.
Bound to be a charity shop favourite, must look out for it next time
Buy Volume I...
...Get Volume II FREE!!
So said the TV adverts for some of these series, on both Ronco and K-Tel.
Usually not all of the tracks on these were bit hits. The major labels would license out a few big hits, on the understanding that they would also take a few tracks from up-and-coming new acts. Sometimes these songs would be hits by the time the compilations appeared on the shelves, other times they would never be heard from again.
Happy memories of early record purchases...
27 years ago...
Is that one of those stand up record players?
Or is it an early CD player? Surely not. It was cassettes all the way in one of those things.
Ah, 1983...
Indeed
It's a stand-up record player. My dad had just got one for the house when that record came out, which added to the novelty. An amazing machine, which could be filled with about 24 huge 1.5 volt batteries for the portable experience as it had a rather optimistic pull out handle on top. In our house it gradually portabled itself into my bedroom and never came out. It still resides in a corner of my childhood room, and it always sounded great to my ears, even as I got older and a discman went in the aux-in at the back. It was a loud machine. I might liberate it and rehabilitate it. Should still work fine.
Not exactly laden with hits, but it changed my world!
Raiders Of The Pop Charts
Always a favourite of mine.
Just re-read the starting point of this
Apologies as Raiders was mentioned.
I work in this area and whilst I would agree that downloading helps you cherry pick the songs you actually want, comps are still great value. You can get 100 tracks for about £6.00 so if you only like 8 tracks it can still be worth investing for those little forgotten gems.
Obviously I'm saying this in a desperate attempt to keep my job for a little bit longer!
I think this was the first of the 'modern' TV-advertised
cheapy compilations - the direct ancestor of Ronco and NOW.
Now THAT'S
what I call music.
Blue Is The Colour
Was number 5 in 1972 so that makes sense. My first was K-Tel's Music Explosion which was an xmas present in 1973
I had the Arcade 20 Fantastic Hits Vol1 and 2
I think it was my gateway that got from 'liking' chart pop like the New Seekers to getting into more interesting stuff from the Faces and Melanie, eventually leading me to Deep Purple and beyond.
20 Fantastic Hits Volume 2...
... was the first album I ever owned, quickly followed by "Pure Gold On EMI" in 1974 - note sleeve with corners cut off to simulated "block of gold" effect! And just £1.99, too!
A1 T. Rex - Solid Gold Easy Action
A2 Jackson 5 - Lookin' Through The Windows
A3 Mud - Crazy
A4 Bruce Ruffin - Mad About You
A5 Diana Ross - Doobedood'NDoobe, Doobedood'NDoobe, Doobedood'NDoo
A6 Wizzard - Ball Park Incident
A7 Blue Mink - Stay With Me
A8 Cliff Richard - Living In Harmony
A9 Stevie Wonder - Heaven Help Us All
A10 Geordie - All Because Of You
B1 Cliff Richard - Power To All Our Friends
B2 Temptations - Psychedelic Shack
B3 Hurricane Smith - Who Was It?
B4 T. Rex - 20th Century Boy
B5 Cilla Black - Step Inside Love
B6 Electric Light Orchestra - Roll Over Beethoven
B7 Four Tops - Keeper Of The Castle
B8 New World - Sister Jane
B9 Deep Purple - Strange Kind Of Woman
B10 Kenny - Heart Of Stone
Bonus points if you guessed at the time that the lead singer with Geordie would be the one making worldwide number 1 albums 36 years later...
Don't Walk: Boogie
My dad had that! Triggered some stunning examples of prime dad-dancing.
My favourite was a compilation called Formula Forty.
Formula 30 - The Business!
A1 Rolling Stones, The - Honky Tonk Women
A2 Rod Stewart - Maggie May
A3 Free - All Right Now
A4 Spencer Davis Group, The - Keep On Running
A5 Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
A6 Derek & The Dominoes* - Layla
A7 Jeff Beck - Hi Ho Silver Lining
A8 Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
B1 Rolling Stones, The - Satisfaction
B2 Status Quo - Rockin' All Over The World
B3 B.T.O.* - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
B4 Blondie - Call Me
B5 Who, The - Substitute
B6 Small Faces, The* - Sha La La La Lee
B7 Zombies, The - She's Not There
B8 Procul Harum* - A Whiter Shade Of Pale
C1 Rolling Stones, The - Let's Spend The Night Together
C2 Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug
C3 Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits
C4 Eric Clapton - I Shot The Sheriff
C5 Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing
C6 Stranglers, The - Golden Brown
C7 Thunderclap Newman - Something In The Air
D1 Rolling Stones, The - Jumpin' Jack Flash
D2 Status Quo - Caroline
D3 Who, The - Pinball Wizard
D4 Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
D5 Rod Stewart - You Wear It Well
D6 Moody Blues, The - Nights In White Satin
D7 10 CC* - I'm Not In Love
I still have it on vinyl - four top Stones tracks, it couldn't fail could it?
That's the bunny!
I was ten out. But you knew what I meant..
(Swipes brow in recognition!)
This is the one which affected me subliminally enough to come out as iTunes playlists 20 odd years since I last heard it
The Hits Album
Marketed as a direct competitor to the Now series at the end of 1984 (I got Hits 1, my brother received Now 4 - no 2 tracks were the same which was a bonus). The Hits series tended to have the more interesting tracks (ie not the same ones you'd heard relentlessly for the last 6 months (yes - the Now series used to have a 3 to 6 month gap between releases, now they seem to come out monthly)).
I think it was a licensing thing - the Now albums were EMI/Virgin, Hits was CBS, WEA and latterly RCA (ie everyone else)
Hits Album lasted until 2006
Product 2378
A mate bought me this for my birthday in the early 90s. It was of its time, and I played it a lot.
The Wonder Stuff - Who Wants To Be The Disco King?
New Order - Vanishing Point
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Head On
The Wedding Present - Kennedy
Pop Will Eat Itself - Can U Dig It?
Happy Mondays - Mad Cyril
New Model Army - Brave New World
The Weather Prophets - Almost Prayed
Morrissey - The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Peek-A-Boo
Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven
Inspiral Carpets - Joe
Crazyhead - Baby Turpentine
Throwing Muses - Dizzy
All About Eve - December
The Mission - Tower Of Strength (Bombay Mix)
I could never work out what the link between the artists was though.
I remember this one from back in the day
A1 B.E.F. - Groove Thang 4:06
A2 Devo - Going Under 3:25
A3 D.A.F. - Der Mussolini 3:50
A4 Fingerprintz - The Beat Escape 3:40
A5 Heaven 17 - Soul Warfare 4:57
B1 Simple Minds - Love Song 3:54
B2 Magazine - The Great Man's Secrets 4:56
B3 Japan - The Art Of Parties 6:41
B4 Human League - Do Or Die Dub (Special Edit) 6:20
And the (not quite as good) follow up
A1 China Crisis - No Ordinary Lover
A2 I-Level - Give Me (American Remix)
A3 Rip Rig & Panic - You're My Kind Of Climate (Party Mix)
A4 D.A.F. - Kebab Träume
B1 The Men - I Don't Depend On You
B2 Simple Minds - Soundtrack For Every Heaven
B3 Culture Club - I'm Afraid Of Me (Disconet Remix)
B4 B.E.F. - The Secret Life Of Arabia (Dub Mix)
Methods Of Dance, now on CD!
A "best of" both albums Mrs. Mickey bought me for Christmas last year! For no apparent reason it misses a few tracks out, but includes 3 not on either original album...
International Language - Richard Strange
Flesh And Blood - Allez Allez
Speed Racer - Devo
(I prefer the original sleeves, myself...)
I found this recently in a second hand record shop
I didn't realise it was originally in two volumes.
Music of Quality and Distiction
I still have mine in the attic (not the Japanese version though).
MoQ&D In Your Attic
A standard LP or the box set of 7" singles?
The best - El Pea
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2641/220pxislandelpea.jpg
Side One
"Empty Pages" Traffic
"Late November" Sandy Denny
"Thru The Night" Alan Bown
"Song For Suzie" Heads Hands & Feet
"Lord Marlborough" Fairport Convention
Side Two
"Mother Goose" Jethro Tull
"Dive Deep" Quintessence
"Spring Season" Amazing Blondel
"Extract from Tomorrow's People - The Children Of Today" McDonald & Giles
"Our Love Will Not Decay" Tir na nÓg
"Don't Look Around" Mountain
Side Three
"Highway Song" Free
"Waiting For You" Incredible String Band
"Wild World" Cat Stevens
"Sudden Street" Bronco
"Feast of Stephen" Mike Heron
Side Four
"Knife Edge" Emerson, Lake & Palmer
"One of these Things First" Nick Drake
"Original Mixed-Up Kid" Mott the Hoople
"Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving" Jimmy Cliff
"Greyhound Bus" Mick Abrahams
You're wrong
The best was Bumpers - fair to say it changed my life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumpers_(album)
Side One
1."Every Mother's Son" - Traffic
2."Love" - Bronco
3."I Am The Walrus" - Spooky Tooth
4."Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gauranga" - Quintessence
Side Two
1."Thunderbuck Ram" - Mott the Hoople
2."Nothing To Say" - Jethro Tull
3."Going Back West" - Jimmy Cliff
4."Send Your Son To Die" - Blodwyn Pig
5."Little Woman" - Dave Mason
Side Three
1."Go Out And Get It" - John & Beverley Martyn
2."Cadence & Cascade" - King Crimson
3."Reaching Out On All Sides" - If
4."Oh I Wept" - Free
5."Hazey Jane" - Nick Drake
Side Four
1."Walk Awhile" - Fairport Convention
2."Maybe You're Right" - Cat Stevens
3."Island" - Renaissance
4."The Sea" - Fotheringay
5."Take Me To Your Leader" - Clouds
I reckon the cheap Motown ones were the best
Alarming to think how many of the LPs above I either bought or inherited....