Tuesday, July 07, 2020

Parade of Hits a' Poppin'--Loren Becker, Artie Malvin, more (prob. 1954)





"Fine records needn't be expensive"--Back jacket.  Now we know where Synthetic Plastics Co. got this logo.  Anyway, I love Discogs, but they goofed with this series and with this LP.  They gave this a year of 1951, which can't be, since the Eddie Fisher hit Oh, My Papa was recorded in December, 1953 and hit the charts in 1954.  Also, Discogs calls "Hit A' Poppin" a sublabel of Parade, which would only have been the case had the words "Hits A' Poppin'" been used as the label name, and "Parade" is quite clearly displayed on the jacket and label.  Or, Parade Reocrds.  Take your pick.  And the full series title, which I hand't noticed until today, was actually "Parade of Hits A' Poppin'"--so, as ever, life in the cheap-label lane is more complicated than many would think.  Anyway, I'm giving this LP a date of 1954.  There was some light mildew on the hard-cardboard jacket, but I cloned it out, so you won't even know it was there.  Unless I tell you.  (D'oh!!)

This is a request from Eric, and I hope he enjoys it--that goes for everyone else, too.  These are really quite well done, which is likely because this was an Enoch Light label (at the time).  Sound is acceptable.  I used my 1.0 mil stylus and some light hiss filtering.  Had to cut out a few pops.  The usual.  Get a few prints, then book 'em.  Wait--wrong show.

These eight "full length HITS" are credited to Enoch Light and his Orchestra, featuring "The Light Brigade."  I guess I always thought the "Brigade" was his orchestra, and not a subsection thereof, but who knows.  Enoch started his band-leading days in the 1920s, and for a long time, that's where I knew him from.  So I was initially surprised to see his name popping up on these things--ditto for Vincent Lopez.  Anyway, checking the Prom label discography to find out who's singing on these (no singer credits on the LP), I discovered that Light is only present on two tracks.  Orchestra-wise, the rest feature Bobby Byrne and Vincent Lopez.  Singers Loren Becker and Artie Malvin have two tracks apiece, and there's one each for Betty Green, The Brigadiers Quartet, The Four Brigadiers, and virtuoso trumpeter "Red" Solomon.  And... wouldn't the Brigadiers Quartet and the Four Brigadiers be the same singing group?

Oh, and the jacket says Oh, My Papa, but the label says Mein.  I did not einen Fehler machen.  And I used the full title for the last track, as printed on the original label (Prom 1068)--The Gang That Sang "Heart of My Heart."  It was shortened for this LP.  Full length HITS but half-titles.  I'm shocked!



So... eight highly competent early-period fake hits, with more to come, and with a long Rock Around the Clock post coming up.  Still working on that one.  Enjoy!








DOWNLOAD--Parade of Hits A' Poppin' (Parade Records 5002, prob. 1954)



Stranger in Paradise (Wright-Forrest)--Loren Becker w. Enoch Light Orch.
To Be Alone (Billy Vaughn)--Artie Malvin w. Vincent Lopez Orch.
That's Amore (J. Brooks-H. Warren)--Artie Malvin w. Bobby Byrne Orch.
Why Does It Have to Be Me (C. Sigman-P. Faith)--Loren Becker w. Bobby Byrne Orch.
Oh, Mein Papa (Burkhart)--"Red" Solomon, Trumpet Virtuoso, Acc. by Bobby Byrne Orch.
Changing Partners (M. Coleman-J. Darion)--Betty Green w. Bobby Byrne Orch.
Love Walked In (George and Ira Gershwin)--The Brigadiers Quartet
The Gang That Sang "Heart of My Heart" (Ben Ryan)--The Four Brigadiers w. Enoch Light Orch.



Lee


10 comments:

Ernie said...

Whenever I see this LP in a stack at the thrift store, I have to look at it for a minute before I realize it's a budget label thing. That cover just looks so much like something Steinweiss would have produced in that time period. They've really nailed his style in many ways with this one, and I'm sure that led to additional sales to people who weren't paying close attention.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lee, I have not listened to this selection yet, but will grab it right now. Anything in my book from Enoch Light is always above the others. So this has to be in that group too. Thanks a lot for posing it. Bryan

Gilmarvinyl said...

I had another Hits A' Poppin' record once. It was in awful condition, it looked like it had been played hundreds of times, the grooves were all gray. Great share, keep up the fake hits, soon I will need to make a new playlist on my Google Play account for these fake hits, the limit is 1000 songs per play list and with this I now have over 950 songs in the playlist, 34 hours of fake hits!

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Ernie,

That hadn't occurred to me--that this is imitation Steinweiss. I can find nothing about the artist credited here--"Alessandro"--except for four Disocgs entires, all of the "Hits A' Poppin.'" In fact, they're all the same design! Only the colors differ. Very, very cheap.

Bryan,

My pleasure! This was a slight challenge, since the vinyl is hard as a rock and a bit noisy, but that's what I'm here for. (Hm. Did that make sense?) Enjoy!

Gilmarvinyl,

I lucked out with my two 10-inchers, which are in VG-- shape, or thereabouts. And I have 45s and 78s in this series. The best of the 78s, of course, is the one in the least condition. Thanks for the nice words, and I'll have to look up Google Play to see what it is!

Eric said...

Thank you for the upload. Bobby Byrne did several sessions for Command and Grand Award, which were Enoch Light labels. Artie Malvin sang with the Glen Miller Armed Forces Band.
Although this was not one of the records I had, it is good to know that my ears were good enough to recognize that these were well played and sung.
Your clean-up is amazing.
Any more of this series will be welcome. I know we had the Orange "Bobby Powers' and the Blue 'Vocal Stars".
BTW I have a number of albums that would fit your blog perfectly. But I am too lazy to transfer them. I would like to find them a good home. They are like zucchini in season, plentiful and free, and your transfers increase their musical value.

Eric said...

Did I say thank you?? Well thank you.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for the nice words. More coming up. And I never turn down vinyl donations. (-:

Ernie said...

Look, here are my other 'missing' comments! I'm such an idiot. :(

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Well, I'm the guy who commented on YouTube that Merv Griffin's "popcorn" record was being played too slowly, so don't feel too bad. Got a rude response, and I was rude in return. Some guy who assumes everyone knows what "popcorn" means, because he's so epically cool.

John Engstrom said...

Lee,

Shipmate, first of all thanks for your service. I am a retired Marine. I am amazing at the variety of music that you post here. I'm looking for the following songs by budget labels. If you have any of these, can you please post them? Thanks.

Bob Hamilton & Robinetters - Rock-In Robin (Coast To Coast 1254)
Al Christi - It's All In The Game (Coast To Coast 1255)
Four Jacks - Hernando's Hideaway (Gateway 1083/Big 4 Hits 94)
Jan Lattier & Four Jacks - The Breeze And I (Gateway 1120)
Four Jacks - It's A Sin To Tell A Lie (Gateway 1127)
Four Jacks - My Bonnie Lassie (Gateway 1143)
Eileen Scott & Four Jacks - Whatever Wille Be Will Be (Gateway 1178)
Four Queens - Born To Be With You (Gateway 1178)
Jack Daniels & Four Jacks - Somebody Up There Likes Me (Gateway 1183)
Paul Shelly & Four Jacks - Oh Lonesome Me (Gateway 1249)
Four Jacks - Big Man (Gateway 1250)
Johnny Hodges & Four Jacks - Do You Want To Dance (Gateway 1250)
Dick Warren - Little Star (Gateway 1253)
Bobby Von & Jim Holowood & Playboys - If You Only Knew (Gateway 717)
Bobby Von & Jim Holowood & Playboys - The Whole World In His Hands (Gateway 717)
Corwins - Twilight Time (Gilmar 219/Value EP 154)
Tami Jackson - I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You) (Hit 701)
Tami Jackson - Sugar Pie (Hit 702)
Four Jacks - Amor (Top Tunes 1071)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Semper Fi Shipmate,

John