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Post by Dawn on Oct 17, 2008 19:02:11 GMT -5
Back in the '60s and '70s (and probably before then), it seemed like there were a ton of albums featuring "soundalike" songs - not the original recordings, but covers by studio musicians/singers that attempted to sound somewhat like the more well-known versions. Back in early 1977 or so, I got one of these albums, exactly like the one in this photo:  . At the time I bought it, I didn't realize it wasn't the original versions, and I remember being disappointed when I played the album and the songs sounded different. I remember The Best Disco in Town wasn't bad, but some of the others were atrocious. Back in the mid '80s, I found one of these in a used record bin:  . This time I knew I wasn't buying original songs, but picked it up anyway out of curiosity. I've seen a lot of those "Beatles" knockoff albums in used record stores, and have been tempted to start a collection of them. I imagine some of them sound pretty horrible, though. Then there were a whole series of "knockoff" 45s on the "HIT" Records label; apparently, they were sold at Western Auto stores in the '60s. Here's a picture of one:  and there's a website devoted to them: www.hitrecordsofnashville.com/ . My parents had a couple of those records, and I remember the cover of Good Thing being surprisingly good. The piccolo trumpet run in Penny Lane was shrill, though. Yikes. Did anyone have any of these, or remember seeing them in stores? |
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Post by Ken on Oct 17, 2008 20:58:29 GMT -5
Hey Dawn  Great topic! I have one of those 45's on the "HIT" record label. It's Please Please Me by The Boll Weevils. I bought it for. 50 cents a couple of years ago at a local swap meet, just out of curiosity. It's not very good - lol. Back in the early 70's my parents bought one of those soundalike albums of country hits, unfortunately I can't find a picture of the cover, from what I recall it was only released in Canada. Two of the songs I remember being included were Neverending Song Of Love and Take Me Home, Country Roads. |
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Post by Pete70s on Oct 17, 2008 21:03:40 GMT -5
and there's a website devoted to them: www.hitrecordsofnashville.com/ . My parents had a couple of those records, and I remember the cover of Good Thing being surprisingly good. The piccolo trumpet run in Penny Lane was shrill, though. Yikes. Did anyone have any of these, or remember seeing them in stores? I had this very 45. I had a few of them on that "HIT" label, I didn't realize at the time that they were covers. A lot of albums came out on the Pickwick label in the 70's that had covers of popular hits. |
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Post by Dawn on Oct 17, 2008 22:37:27 GMT -5
Hey Dawn Great topic! I have one of those 45's on the "HIT" record label. It's Please Please Me by The Boll Weevils. I bought it for. 50 cents a couple of years ago at a local swap meet, just out of curiosity. It's not very good - lol. Back in the early 70's my parents bought one of those soundalike albums of country hits, unfortunately I can't find a picture of the cover, from what I recall it was only released in Canada. Two of the songs I remember being included were Neverending Song Of Love and Take Me Home, Country Roads. LOL at the Boll Weevils! (I'd be curious as to how they came up with that name  ) It's strange how some of those "HIT" Records were pretty good, and then others were cringeworthy. According to that site, My Bonnie was on the flip side of that one. That's cool that your parents had that country album; I haven't seen very many country soundalike ones. Judging from those songs I'd guess it was released around late 1971 or 72. |
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Post by Dawn on Oct 17, 2008 22:45:50 GMT -5
and there's a website devoted to them: www.hitrecordsofnashville.com/ . My parents had a couple of those records, and I remember the cover of Good Thing being surprisingly good. The piccolo trumpet run in Penny Lane was shrill, though. Yikes. Did anyone have any of these, or remember seeing them in stores? I had this very 45. I had a few of them on that "HIT" label, I didn't realize at the time that they were covers. A lot of albums came out on the Pickwick label in the 70's that had covers of popular hits. Cool - I've never heard this particular record. It looks like the Jalopy Five recorded a lot of songs for the "HIT" label, especially covers of Beach Boys and Beatles songs. I haven't heard many of them, but would be curious to hear how closely they approximated the songs. You're right, I remember Pickwick put out a lot of budget and reissue records. I have some older Christmas albums on that label. |
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Post by Ken on Oct 18, 2008 0:50:45 GMT -5
Hey Dawn Great topic! I have one of those 45's on the "HIT" record label. It's Please Please Me by The Boll Weevils. I bought it for. 50 cents a couple of years ago at a local swap meet, just out of curiosity. It's not very good - lol. Back in the early 70's my parents bought one of those soundalike albums of country hits, unfortunately I can't find a picture of the cover, from what I recall it was only released in Canada. Two of the songs I remember being included were Neverending Song Of Love and Take Me Home, Country Roads. LOL at the Boll Weevils! (I'd be curious as to how they came up with that name ) It's strange how some of those "HIT" Records were pretty good, and then others were cringeworthy. According to that site, My Bonnie was on the flip side of that one. That's cool that your parents had that country album; I haven't seen very many country soundalike ones. Judging from those songs I'd guess it was released around late 1971 or 72. LOL! What's weird about my copy is that My Bonnie isn't on the b- side, my b - side is Stop and Think it Over by Dotty and Dan. I'm thinking that I may have a Canadian pressing, but it doesn't say anything about that on the label. The label design is the same black and silver as in the picture above. You are correct around '71 or '72. I remember my Mom listening to it often. I thought that I may still have the album, since I did keep a few of my Parents LP's, but I can't find it. |
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Post by gremashlo on Oct 18, 2008 12:47:53 GMT -5
My sisters bought a album (I think it was titled "Summer '72" or something like that), thinking that it was the original artists--and it was rerecorded cuts by some unknown studio group. They were crushed, and they were forbidden from buying stuff off TV for years...
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Post by Dawn on Oct 18, 2008 13:54:08 GMT -5
LOL at the Boll Weevils! (I'd be curious as to how they came up with that name ) It's strange how some of those "HIT" Records were pretty good, and then others were cringeworthy. According to that site, My Bonnie was on the flip side of that one. That's cool that your parents had that country album; I haven't seen very many country soundalike ones. Judging from those songs I'd guess it was released around late 1971 or 72. LOL! What's weird about my copy is that My Bonnie isn't on the b- side, my b - side is Stop and Think it Over by Dotty and Dan. I'm thinking that I may have a Canadian pressing, but it doesn't say anything about that on the label. The label design is the same black and silver as in the picture above. You are correct around '71 or '72. I remember my Mom listening to it often. I thought that I may still have the album, since I did keep a few of my Parents LP's, but I can't find it. That's interesting that the B side on yours is different, Ken. According to the site I mentioned, Please Please Me/My Bonnie was on record #107 and Stop and Think It Over was on #108, so I'm guessing someone may have chosen the wrong track when your copy was being pressed. There probably aren't many of those copies out there, so it may have some definite collectible value. |
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Post by Ken on Oct 18, 2008 13:58:00 GMT -5
LOL! What's weird about my copy is that My Bonnie isn't on the b- side, my b - side is Stop and Think it Over by Dotty and Dan. I'm thinking that I may have a Canadian pressing, but it doesn't say anything about that on the label. The label design is the same black and silver as in the picture above. You are correct around '71 or '72. I remember my Mom listening to it often. I thought that I may still have the album, since I did keep a few of my Parents LP's, but I can't find it. That's interesting that the B side on yours is different, Ken. According to the site I mentioned, Please Please Me/My Bonnie was on record #107 and Stop and Think It Over was on #108, so I'm guessing someone may have chosen the wrong track when your copy was being pressed. There probably aren't many of those copies out there, so it may have some definite collectible value. It might be, you never know |
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Post by Dawn on Oct 18, 2008 14:02:33 GMT -5
My sisters bought a album (I think it was titled "Summer '72" or something like that), thinking that it was the original artists--and it was rerecorded cuts by some unknown studio group. They were crushed, and they were forbidden from buying stuff off TV for years... Oh yes, I've seen those! I believe they did one per season. Most of those compilations I've come across have been from the early to mid '70s, but I'm not sure if they were being pressed beyond that point or not. I couldn't find a picture of the '72 one you mentioned, but here's one from that series from '73:  |
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Post by H2IZCOOL on Oct 18, 2008 14:06:42 GMT -5
My sisters bought a album (I think it was titled "Summer '72" or something like that), thinking that it was the original artists--and it was rerecorded cuts by some unknown studio group. They were crushed, and they were forbidden from buying stuff off TV for years... Oh yes, I've seen those! I believe they did one per season. Most of those compilations I've come across have been from the early to mid '70s, but I'm not sure if they were being pressed beyond that point or not. I couldn't find a picture of the '72 one you mentioned, but here's one from that series from '73: Well, it DOES say recorded by "The Sound Effects", so I guess they weren't openly trying to put something over on anyone. But I can certainly seeing a young child getting all excited and not seeing that "recorded by" line and wasting money on it. |
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Post by Dawn on Oct 18, 2008 14:18:18 GMT -5
Oh yes, I've seen those! I believe they did one per season. Most of those compilations I've come across have been from the early to mid '70s, but I'm not sure if they were being pressed beyond that point or not. I couldn't find a picture of the '72 one you mentioned, but here's one from that series from '73: Well, it DOES say recorded by "The Sound Effects", so I guess they weren't openly trying to put something over on anyone. But I can certainly seeing a young child getting all excited and not seeing that "recorded by" line and wasting money on it. Yes, they must have sold a ton of those albums back in the day, because I used to come across them quite a bit at a record store I used to go to in the '90s. I'm not sure what the original retail prices on the records were, but I'm guessing they couldn't have been much, as the K-Tels, Roncos and Adam VIIs, which did have the original recordings, were only in the $4 to $5 range. |
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Post by gremashlo on Oct 18, 2008 14:33:17 GMT -5
My sisters bought a album (I think it was titled "Summer '72" or something like that), thinking that it was the original artists--and it was rerecorded cuts by some unknown studio group. They were crushed, and they were forbidden from buying stuff off TV for years... Oh yes, I've seen those! I believe they did one per season. Most of those compilations I've come across have been from the early to mid '70s, but I'm not sure if they were being pressed beyond that point or not. I couldn't find a picture of the '72 one you mentioned, but here's one from that series from '73: Oh, my stars and garters--THAT IS IT. My sisters were completely crushed, and as I mentioned our family bought nothing off TV ads for a long time after that. And, yes, the reference to the "Sound Effects" was made by my father when my sisters complained about the "ruse"...so let the buyer beware. GREAT PICTURE! Thanks! |
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Post by Dawn on Oct 18, 2008 14:33:45 GMT -5
Here's another one I found:  Apparently, the "Sound Effects" must have recorded the majority of the albums in that series. I did a quick Google search and found a QMO Records discography that lists them as continuing up to '78, but not beyond that. I think the latest one I've come across was from '76 or maybe '77. |
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Post by Dawn on Oct 18, 2008 14:39:16 GMT -5
I found yet another one someone has posted on Flickr, this time from '74. Yikes, you'd think they'd at least use a different picture!  |
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) It's strange how some of those "HIT" Records were pretty good, and then others were cringeworthy. According to that site, My Bonnie was on the flip side of that one.
