Well, I jut had a false memory in which I had already put up an album from this series--but it looks like I didn't. Rather, I was recalling this post, in which LPs are similarly strewn across the carpet--except the cover shows three gals having a slumber party. That was an RCA Camden special--this is Hollywood Records, which I'm always confusing with Broadway. And we can imagine the cover girl saying, "Give me that Frankie disc--I hate fake hits!" I don't know what's playing on the vintage 45 rpm player--it's an EP, is all I can see. On the floor, there appears to be... let's see... Eddie Fisher, Frank Sinatra, Eddie again, Nat King Cole, Tennessee Ernie Ford (?), and Arthur Murray. There are at least two other jackets, but they're obscured. So, why would Hollywood Records be plugging the major labels? To give the buyer the impression that Hollywood was a major label? Who'd be that out of it?
The Nation's 12 Big Hit Recordings--that sounds very official, no? As named by the Nation's Twelve Big Hits Association of Cheapsville, Ohio, probably. The exact same over art was used for all of the LPs in this series, as far as I know--I have four others, and it's same guy and gal and 45 rpm player. There was probably a standard catalog number. This has a "C" to distinguish it from, say, A or B. The weird thing with this one: I had just bought a hammered copy of this from eBay, because I saw I didn't have these selections in my 12 Big Hit Recordings stash. The dealer graded it at VG-, which it was, more or less (G+/VG-; who can say?), and so I had to do a lot of sonic surgery to get a good file. Then, right after I'd completed the rip, a much better copy showed up at one of the local Goodwills, along with five other fake-hit LPs. I was stunned, because these things hardly ever show up at the thrifts anymore, but not too stunned to grab them all and shell out my ones. (Or was it two fives? Or a ten?) Next trip to the same thrift, there were two or three more fake-hit comps. Then... nothing more. So far.
That was supposed to be an interesting account, but I don't think it quite made it. Anyway, excellent condition, (this one--not the eBay purchase), but the usual cheap pressing--therefore, some hiss to reckon with. And we're in the 1957/58 realm, a point at which the cheap labels were trading off tracks like crazy--which is to say, most or all of these also came out on Synthetic Plastics Co. and Tops singles and LPs, because I've heard several of these about a million times, to date--At the Hop, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine (which I'm starting to hate), Jailhouse Rock, and Silhouettes. I'll have to do some fast side-by-side comparing, and then I'll get back. Unless I get hopelessly lost in the Media Room jungle.
Nope, here I am. So, I'm playing one of my 12 Top Hits on Tops Records, and April Love is the same as here (except for some Tops reverb). At the Hop--same. Peggy Sue--same (with way more reverb on Tops). Kisses--ditto. Great Balls of Fire--yup. Jailhouse Rock--yup, again. I'm listening to the topside LP in this post, by the way. Much duplication, though the Tops label reverb is kind of annoying next to the undoctored sound here. So, even though a number of these tracks are blog repeats, you're getting purer audio with this rip. And all of the above (save for Kisses) are superior fakes, reverb or no. Meanwhile, I don't recall previously encountering fakes (or non-fakes) of Put a Light in the Window and My Special Angel. Neither one makes my day, though I'm betting the Four Lads did a much better job on the former.
At this point in fake-hits history (late 1950s), SPC (Promenade, Prom, etc.) was putting out the same versions as Tops (and, evidently, Hollywood), so some kind of consolidation was happening. A single outfit providing the masters, maybe. Yet, Broadway (and its sublabel, Value Hit Parade) was still putting out its own fakes. That changed around 1960 or 1961. Broadway had been absorbed. Into what, or by whom, I don't know.
This cover scan is from my eBay copy, which was torn on the "LPH-100-C" part, so I grafted that portion from my Goodwill copy. Now you know.
DOWNLOAD--The Nation's 12 Big Hit Recordings
Lee
13 comments:
This sort of thing happens to me all the time, or at least it dip when I was buying records back before the Covid. I'd see a cool record and buy it. Then with in a week I'd see three more copies that were cheaper or in better shape or something. I've had it happen with things I've never seen before, where I'd buy it, then there'd be a sealed copy at the next thrift store. There's probably a name for that phenomena, but I can't imagine what it'd be. I suspect it's just a trick of the mind. Those other albums are always out there, but you don't notice them until there's a reason to notice them.
Thanks again for the info, Lee!
I thought the LP on the left was a James Melton Tops, but now I see it is the Tennessee Ernie item you identified. I also see the Frankies, Eddies and an Arthur Murray LP. The LP on the right below a Fisher EP is titled "For Young Moderns in Love." I think the EP on the record player is a Capitol, possibly the Sinatra they are fighting over.
I've experienced the phenomenon you and Ernie describe - buying a long-sought record and then immediately finding a better copy - many times. The second copy is usually cheaper.
Just the thrifting god's way of saying, "Nyahh, nyahh!"
Hm. And I thought I'd posted a reply to Ernie--I must not have entered it. I was going to say that the inverse phenomenon--and this has happened to me--is when you're SURE you already have 2 or 3 copies of something, and it turns out you have none. Then you pass it up 10 more times, certain that you have it.
Yeah, I usually wake up to the phenomenon when somebody asks me for a record that I am sure I have - and don't.
Thanks, Lee for this posting. I am on my second listening. Quality is really good to my ears. Enjoying it as I view those throw-away masks on Amazon.de. In my language class, I am the only pupil that wears them. I wear a mask, be professional homemade, or these 3 layer ones as soon as I leave home. Well, back to this post. Wow, these versions are good. Kisses Sweeter than Wine...a real toe-tapper and finger snapper. Do they say that anymore, or is that a term I learned from my father and being a tyke of the sixties. At the Hop, a real favorite of mine, Danny and the Juniors is superior, but this is a snapper too. Great listening... Thanks, two thumbs up... Bryan
Glad you enjoyed, Bryan! Sorry to hear you're the only student wearing a mask--don't people realize what a risk they're taking? You mention Amazon.de--I assume you're in Germany? Yes, some all-time classics on this collection, and even though I make fun of these fakes, I really have high regard for them. All things considered--lack of budget, hurried schedule, etc.--it's amazing they're as good as they are. Though it does seem that fake hits took a big dip in quality during the 1960s--probably because the elaborate productions of that period were hard to do on the cheap. (To use another old phrase.) I don't think "finger snapper" is used much anymore--not outside of the record collecting world, anyway. Within the world of collecting, though, I imagine it's still in use. For a while, back in the '90s or so, it was fashionable to use words like "nifty" and phrases like "a real bopper." I don't think there are any rules governing this stuff. Thanks for chiming in--always great to hear from you.
I have heard these before on a set of "Popular Record" 78 rpm EP records. My copies were in sorry shape, with lots of jumps and surface noise that could not be filtered out even with DeNoise and ClickRepair. Two programs I purchased an access key for from the creator, a retired Australian Mathematician who created this software suite which filters out pops and clicks in one application and another background noise. They manage to do their job without noticeably impacting the original audio quality when done conservatively/correctly. It is nice to hear the full versions without any skips or jumps to detract from the music. I think the covers are pretty competent, for the most part. I am definitely thankful for a better copy of them to grace my digital music collection at last.
Gilmarvinyl,
Happy to provide them! This LP showed up in unusually good condition (for this type of LP), so it wasn't hard to make the tracks sound good. I agree--these are very competent covers. Interesting to learn they also appeared on the Popular Record label--I assume you're talking about the Record-O-Mail label ("Extended Play Records"). Discogs refers to the label as "Popular Extended Play Records," but there were different categories in the "Extended Play Records" line, including a rhythm and blues series, I believe. Those, not surprisingly, go for bigger bucks...
Yes that was exactly what I was referring to. My wife and peers don't understand my interest in these things being in my mid-twenties, but I still love these sort of things just the same.
A couple of other budget labels recycled this cover photo--Broadway and an outfit called Palladium. The Palladium label must have issues with Sinatra, because they blacked out the one on the floor and replaced the record in the Tab Hunter look-alike hand with one from the Ink Spots! I only have the cover for the Palladium LP (Which has 18 cuts instead of 12) Inside the jacket was a copy of the hugely collectable Alan Freed Rock & Roll Dance Party Volume One which includes Alan's introductions, overdubbed cowbell ringing and phonebook thumping on a set of mostly Rock-tinged Big Band Instrumentals with the Modernaires (who are far better known for their work with Glenn Miller than their stuff with Paul Whiteman) doing the Platters' hits "Only You" and "The Great Pretender" to name just a couple. The Broadway LP fakes were unimpressive to my ears so off it went to my local Goodwill not long after I listened to it and paid two bucks for it at a record store in a neighnboring town where I live. Palladium LP had hits from 1959 like "Kookie Kookie Lend Me Your Comb", "Pink Shoelaces" and a Misspelled "Tijuana Jail" on the jacket!! These budget labels swapped cover art as well as tapes!!
Hi Lee,
Thanks for posting. I believe the LP on the cover, on the far left is Duke Ellington's "Ellington Showcase".
Kim,
It certainly looks like it! Thanks for the i.d., and glad you enjoyed!
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