Such a natural cover pose, no? And, sorry, these are not "all the latest hit recordings," needless to say. They're copies of the latest hit recordings, to be precise--but Allegro was purposely avoiding the option of being precise. These delightful jobber rack relics were, after all, designed to work as con jobs. Though, I'm not sure who would look at this LP at the supermarket and seriously think it contained the genuine articles.
That said, and lousy engineering aside, this is a fun set, with Whole Lot of Shaking Going On (could they have meant Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On?) the standout track, to my ears--an out of control cover with far too much low end, and a singer who loses the meter about midpoint. But it's raw and rocking, and in some ways it's even funner than the original. (I've been listening to these things too long, possibly.) And, speaking of inflated bass response, I had to re-EQ Chances Are and Fascination just to get those tracks to the point of listenability. And I'm talking about two levels of EQ'ing. The engineer must have fallen asleep at the console, knocking one of the knobs to max setting. However, I kept Shaking as is, since the bad engineering, oddly enough, only helps the track. It makes a wild take sound even moreso.
Wake up Little Susie is competent by cheap-knockoff standards, while Jailhouse Rock (which I suspect must exist on Broadway, credited to Jack Richards) is quite good. Meanwhile, its highs are quite broken up--again, the engineer goofed up. It doesn't help that this collection was pressed on brittle styrene, and I suppose the awfulness of the Jailhouse fidelity could be blamed on that fact--however, it's the only track with "scritchy" highs, so it's likely not the pressing but indifferent mastering.
I like the way these "latest hit" LPs feature all the then-current hits, even the "adult pop" type, which means that we get to hear My Heart Reminds Me and Melodie D'Amour in the same set as Be-Bop Baby and That'll Be the Day. That's why these albums are such good intros to their particular eras. And a possibly little-known fact about Honeycomb is that it was penned by none other than Bob (How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?) Merrill. True. Personally, I prefer the 1954 Georgie Shaw Honeycomb version to the 1957 Jimmie Rodgers hit, but that's just me.
Mr. Lee--a hit for the R&B girl group, the Bobbettes--is another track I had to unmuffle from its poor EQ'ing, but I got it sounding perfectly fine. And it's cool to have an R&B number in the mix, and one done in an authentic (i.e., non-"pop cover") fashion. For all its engineering faults, this is one cool, zero-budget Record Corp. of America offering. And I wouldn't pay any mind to the 1956 copyright on the back jacket, given the 1957 hits we're hearing here. (Hearing here?)
Oh, and for once the jacket listing conforms to the label order. That's odd. Also, note the "M" suffix which follows the standard Tops in Pops 1670 catalog number, likely designating the edition. To the fun, guilty or otherwise:
DOWNLOAD: Tops in Pops--All the Latest Hit Recordings (Allegro 1670M)
TRACKS
Wake up Little Susie
Jailhouse Rock
Melodie D'Amour
My Heart Reminds Me
Be-Bop Baby
Hula Love
Chances Are
Fascination
Whole Lot of Shaking Going On
Mr. Lee
That'll Be the Day
Honeycomb
Oh, and here's the Value Hit Parade Tunes (Broadway) co-release, sitting right there in my record rows:
Lee
9 comments:
Radio did sound like that, way back when, mixing rockers with "Melodie d'Amour" (ra-ta-da da-da). TV, too, with the likes of Ed Sullivan giving us Danny and the Juniors along with Patrice Munsel (and Senor Wences).
Buster,
That's what I love best about these collections. I even remember Barbra Streisand played on the same AM station that had "Satisfaction" on rotation. Things were less stylistically segregated, once upon a time.
Lee - Right, and you saw them on TV, too. I remember Streisand very early on appearing on NY-based talk shows. I loved her early albums, along with the Stones' first few! And you would see the Stones on syndicated shows like Mike Douglas' program. ("What are you gonna play, Mick?" "Naw Foid Away.)
Gosh, I think I remember Frank Zappa on Soupy Sales' show a few years later.
Buster--
That must have been something!
Soupy's show was a little surreal without Frank. I am sure he added to the strange atmosphere.
Actually, I can't be certain it was Soupy's program. It may have been Lloyd Thaxton's, another syndicated show.
3/26/22
RobGems68 Wrote:
Re: Buster:
That wasn't Frank Zappa you saw on Soupy Sales show, it was Alice Cooper. He appeared on a 1979 episode which had a gag about a piano playing flea who gets squashed accidentally by Soupy, and caused White Fang to throw a pie at both Soupy & Alice. You would expect a pie in the face guesting on Soupy's program; that's why Frank Sinatra wanted to be on his show back in 1965, he not only was a fan, but he wanted a pie in the face as well. He got what he wanted in a memorable waiter sketch with Sammy Davis Jr. & Trini Lopez all getting pies in the faces with Frank, and making a real big mess of the soundstage. The confusion between Frank Zappa & Alice Cooper is coincidental. Alice was signed to Bizarre/Straight Records by Frank Zappa & Herbie Cohen in 1969 for his first three albums. It was the third ("Love It To Death" from 1971) that was the big breakthrough hit. As for the album you put up, Lee, it's great! Sloppy mixing & engineering only adds to its unique charm of cheapness. I can picture buying this in 1957 at the local Great Scott or Wrigley's grocery stores in Detroit for $1.99.
RobGems68,
Thanks! And these Record Corp. of America sound-alikes were the real deal. Or should I say, the unreal deal...
From what I can tell, Oberstein may have obtained his recordings for his later Top In Pops releases from Gilmar Records... which I have an obvious soft spot for in terms of their higher quality sound-a-like pop hit covers.
Gilmarvinyl,
Interesting. Or Oberstein could also have dealt directly with Broadway.
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