I was hoping to find proof that the Waldorf 18 Top Hits series was mail-order, but I needed to find an ad to prove it. Well, I struck budget oil on eBay--four copies of Waldorf's Top Hit Club News and some associated brochures. In the zip file, I've included a couple cover scans, a piece on Loren Becker (whose The Song of Daniel Boone, penned by Enoch Light, made it to 48 on Cash Box's Top 50), two articles about the recording of Waldorf singles, and more. It's cool that some Top Hit Club member held onto these. Or maybe these were never mailed. Who knows?
Debbie Reynolds, of all people, took the time to visit THCN editor Buddy Basch and pose with him--any publicity is good publicity, I reckon. The above scan shows her very own reproduced autograph. The two Light-er Side articles (Get it? Light-er Side?) name some of the musicians used on Waldorf sessions, at least during its golden period, and they give interesting info on how the orchestras were miked and the singers isolated, if necessary. I doubt that the other cheapies took quite as much care with their tracks.
$9.99 from eBay. I was right on it. I wasn't expecting any counterbids, and there weren't any. "All 18 Top Hits only $2.98, postpaid." How can you beat that? Interestingly, the tiny Top Hit Club News mags showcased the big names in pop recording, clearly to create a connection in the reader's mind between the products of the big labels and the products of Enoch--a way of legitimizing Enoch's budget offerings. And there's the standard confusion between the real and the fake--the ad copy that practically equates the genuine article with the not so genuine: "Here are the actual records that bring you 18 of the country's Top Record Hits for just 17¢ each. The list price of these hit tunes on separate records in the stores is up to 89¢ each." The actual records. Well, yes, Waldorf produced actual records. Hard to argue with that. But 89 cents, of course, was approximately the cost of a major label single, not a budget imitation thereof.
Hm. But Waldorf crossed the line here: "These are the top selling 'pops' in the nations stores..." Yikes. The top selling "pops" titles, yes, but not the top selling "pops." But why quibble? 18 Top Hits, only $2.98. And no postage. And a lot of hype for less than three bucks.
Download and enjoy!
DOWNLOAD: Waldorf Top Hit Club
Lee
11 comments:
I had no idea that a cheapo label put out such promotional material. I thought their only promotion was to bellow "cheap-CHEAPER-CHEAPEST!!" But I gather this was to drive sales through the mail-order channel, so maybe it was necessary.
Anyway, very intersting stuff!
It's better than I'd hoped for. I was expecting to uncover a magazine ad for the things, but this is way better. Waldorf Music Hall, says Wikipedia, was sold in Wooldworth, but I always figured the "18 Tops Hits" packages had to be mail-order.
Promenade had similar hit packages (typically, two 45 EPs), but it's clear from the packaging that they were displayed in racks. I suspect Promenade did both "rack jobber" sales and mail order. Interesting Billboard piece that gives some clues as to how the mail-order routine worked, though this piece dates from after ABC-Paramount acquired Waldorf and the Top Hit Club: https://books.google.com/books?id=KiEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=%22top+hit+club%22+%22waldorf%22&source=bl&ots=f_kuwCoo4K&sig=ACfU3U3EEywVoTjFfV-lYeHaxQLCGPe5VQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmp-TcxMnrAhXLY98KHb3lAOwQ6AEwEXoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22top%20hit%20club%22%20%22waldorf%22&f=false
I had almost thought The Top Hit Club of America was something made up, but I would have been very wrong...
And the detail of advertising the Top Hit Club through radio ads--that would never have occurred to me as a way to do it. Different era, different ways.
Nice detective work here. On my desk I have an envelope I found in a record somewhere advertising either early Columbia House mail order or something similar. Nothing this old or interesting, but I thought it was worth holding onto.
Good find!
I don't think I've come across Columbia House advertising, though I had a lot of Reader's Digest material--catalogs, forms. But I really didn't consider those worth keeping, as the RD stuff is kind of... blah.
This is really interesting. Thanks.
Hi Lee, such fascinating information. I have read Enoch Light was a cut above the rest. So, I can believe that he would go the extra mile, so to speak, with his products in any form. I remember talking to my sister years and years ago, and I seem to recall she said 45 RPM singles, I think were 49 cents (maybe 79 cents) each in the mid-1960s in California when she was buying them. That was for a Rolling Stone, Ruby Tuesday or a Bob Dylan Lay, Lady, Lay 45 RMP she told me. I seem to recall years later when I bought them, they were higher in price. Maybe 99 cents for the top 45's of the week, but 1.29 for the rest. LP's were 4.99-5.99 each. So, if a 45 RPM was 89 cents in the mid-1950s, wow that was expensive. Bryan
KL,
You're welcome!
Bryan,
I remember 45s being about 99 cents around 1964. But my memory of days gone by is not always reliable. Yes, 89 cents would have been expensive for the previous decade--maybe Waldorf was exaggerating a bit. (They wouldn't do that, would they? (-:) I was really thrilled to find this literature. It looked like it had sat around, unread, for 60-plus years. Maybe it did!
Left in an office, stuck in someone's desk... who knows?
I bought these as a teen. If you read the info closely you will see that they say'newly recorded' Top pops did not necessarily mean the records heard on the radio but rather the most popular songs. I believe Waldorf had a huge mail order business and these were recorded on 3 record set in 78 and 45 rpm as well as 12 inch LP. I have several from 1956 through 1958. Waldorf sold the same series in stores by the albums were titled "8 Top Hits". The 8 top hits store albums had the full length songs, while the mail order had edited versions. Earlier Tops Records had packs of 4 records labelled Parade of Hits, 16 Top Tunes and they were full length. When they began to put out 2 record sets of 12 top tunes they were edited. Their 12 inch LPS had the full length versions.
Bill,
Thanks for the interesting background! I agree that ultimately the cheapies weren't claiming to provide the original hits, but they all tried very hard to imply as much. Their packaging bordered on false advertising, imo, but that was part of the fun! I knew that the Waldorf and Tops EPs were edited, as were the SPC fakes (Prom/Promenade), with the full versions on the LPs, though I didn't realize the Tops "Parade of Hits" singles were full versions. I would have assumed those were cut down, too (and I would have been wrong). Kind of ironic that the club material was chopped down, as opposed to the in-store LPs, sold wherever jobber racks could be found. As you may know, the legend persists that parents, not their kids, bought these budget versions, but I've suspected forever that young folks did a lot of the purchasing. Thanks for helping confirm this. And thanks for dropping by.
To Anonymous: When I started buying 45's around 1973-74, they were 77c each at Woolworth's and 88c at Gamble's (a hardware chain that also sold stereos, records, etc.) Can't remember what they were at Musicland or at Goldfine's Department Store.
Oldies were more expensive; only Musicland and Goldfine's carried them, and I think they were something like $1.19 each. Goldfine's wholesaler supplied oldies shrink-wrapped to a cardboard backing that was about twice the height of the record, but the same width.
Woolworth's did have cutout oldies (with a hole drilled through the label) packed in a plastic bag; I think they were 39c each or 3 for $1.
Post a Comment