Some, but not all, sounded like the originals. I'm very doubtful that was Paul McCartney. A few years ago Rolling Stone made a big deal about one of their compilations. It featured Elvis, the Beatles, Springsteen, and other artists rarely featured on such collections. If any of these were the originals, maybe the label got 2nd generation tapes or something.
They sounded like karaoke-type songs that you hear on the record player. Artists kept confidential due to low-paid royalties? That's cruel. This product was possibly a scam!
The musicians used on these ripoff comps were often studio guys - and they are probably BETTER players than the original players. The big difference here is the producer, who did not have the time or desire to cut and mix the record with any sparkle. And in many cases, the "original artist" was not the songwriter, who just wanted to make more money off off the same composition. These discs are the result of major label greed.
"Because of low royalties, we cannot reveal the artists." What a crock. I recall a group called the Sound Effects that recorded these kinds of LPs in the mid-1970s. Even as a little kid, I knew these were just cheap imitations.
I got the 1968 version of this for my 7th birthday, but hadn't been listening to the radio enough to know that they weren't original. There was one song "Never trust your lover with your best friend." that I haven't heard since, must have been a local hit or something. These were so cheesy; guess only those too young or too old to know they were fakes bought them.
@lrd9999 caa71661 jarred my memory; the one I had was by Hit Records of Nashville; I remember the "HIT" logo on the label. I guess that "Never trust your lover..." song could have been a recent country hit.
@ToddSweeneyOnce - Actually, this was sold around the country; one website has two ads of similarly execrable "soundalike" compilations from TEJ as originally aired in Detroit - another city that's gone down the tubes.
Half of these sound like the covers they used to drop on these collections. And they don't reveal the artist so they don't have to reveal it's a remake. The "low royalties" excuse is actually correct as the royalties for the remakes go to the original artist. They used to do the same thing with the word "Faux". Everything in the 70's was "Faux". "That's means it's French right?"
The best part is when the words like "Band on the Run" fly up and towards the camera, they wiggle all over. Apparently, they (we) didn't have the technology to make it go straight.
@altfactor This works all the time even today. There are tons of CDs that are made the same way using studio cover artists that they try to pass off as the real deal.
Pickwick used to put out a series of albums like this under the "Sounds Like" title. I had an album titled "Sounds Like Stevie Wonder" and a "Sounds Like The Beatles".
"Because of low royalties we can't reveal the artists"......................."The BIG Sounds Of Todays BIG BIG Hits!!!" LMFAO!!! More like they (the bands covering these BIG BIG hits) didn't want to be associated with these "2 Super Albums". They probably got more money to record the covers of these songs than any "royalties" from TEJ??? record company. TEJ records........lol, .......... located directly across the alley from the law offices of "Leaned Over And Toukit"
@DamienCarrass - TEJ and other such companies actually got into trouble with the FTC due to their "Because of low royalties, we can't reveal the artists" spiel . . . on future ripoff compilations, they were forced to reveal the (hack) band behind the sound-alike recordings (sample text: "...the biggest, baddest hits, by Dimensional Sound").
And TEJ was affiliated with Brookville Records, which put out legitimate compilations of original recordings (perhaps the most famous being "Elvis").
@okrabay I don't know how old you are, but I doubt you remember these. They'd get some super crappy band to sing the famous songs, and if you didn't pay attention, or more likely, you got one as a gift, you had an album that was basically crap. I still have at least 2 of them. One is some knock off band trying to sing ABBA, I think it was a gift. It's horrible.
@clintonearlwalker According to the wiki page on "soundalikes", Lou Reed got his start in music recording tracks like these. His limited musical skills fit his proto-punk style perfectly, but I can't imagine how horrible he'd sound doing an imitation of, say, a Jay & The Americans record. I'm sure the price was right, though.
@lrd9999 I have at least 2 of these "knock off" albums that were probably given to me as gifts. 2 songs I remember are "Convoy" and "Saturday Night". None of the songs were done by the original artists and they sound like crap. I think the idea behind these albums is when you were a kid you didn't know any better and could be "tricked". Famous popular songs, $4.95!!!, (when a decent album with the original artist was about $8.00), what a great deal!! People didn't know they were crap.
@frankmat - Actually, the original versions were absolutely great - especially if placed alongside these one-dimensional renditions by the misleadingly-named "Dimensional Sound" (the ones who couldn't be revealed "because of low royalties") - perhaps the group name was a reference to which studio they were recorded in?
"Band on the Run" could sound much worse, don't you think?It's funny how these LPs were popular in the 70s everywhere (We had our own french brand of "fakes" comps too).What about those british LPs with pinups on the covers? My grandma got hold of one once. Was it "Smash Hits" or something? I heard the record just once - she wouldn't give it to me because the cover was "rude" according to her.Couldn't care less about the cover,I wonder what was on it! She ended up chcking it :/
@dummytree The UK cover-version compilation albums with the half-naked female models on the covers were called 'Top Of The Pops', and had no connection with the popular music television show of the same name.
@marksoutof10 Thanks ! It's taken a while but I did find a website on the Top of the Pops series, even if i was looking for "Smash Hits or somtehing" :)
does anybody know of any of the commercials of "oldies" that i remember from san jose california...they would list songs, but have footage of girls pillow fighting each other.
These may have been covered versions of the following songs. Rush Limbaugh one time talked about cheap anthologies of popular music sund by unknown artists.
@plaetoe - Not just the songs, but the LP cover artwork.
Incidentally, apparently all such record offers had the same address (Box 9985, Washington, DC 20015 in the D.C. market; in the Detroit area, the address would've been Box 466, Southfield, MI 48037; does anyone have P.O. boxes for other cities, i.e. New York, L.A., Chicago . . . ).
Yeah - You see these these CD's, sometimes in multipacks, called "Hits of the 80's", "Hits of the 90's" "Country Hits", etc. and somewhere in small letters you see "Performed by The Countdown Singers" or "The Hit Crew" or some similar name.
Egads, and has anyone heard these CD's with instrumental lullaby versions of rock songs for babies!?!
@MrSammyReed We also had Top of the Pops, Impact Music Promotions, and yellow flexible discs from Ambassador, and more. A very big trickery by Impact Music Promotions is that they published the original artists and songs despite no master or copyright disclaimer.
@MrSammyReed - If Dimensional Sound were around in the 1950's, would they have attempted to do Abbott & Costello's "Who's On First"? And if so, how would they have screwed it up - "Who's on first, What's on second, I don't know who's on third"?
Madacy used to put out good quality '70s compilation albums back in the 1990s (their "Rock On" series). Those were all original recordings and original artists. Now, however . . . nothing but knockoffs like this dreck. BTW - for lonelyvagabond: "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" was a top 20 hit for Stevie Wonder in 1974 and is on his "Innervisions" album. It was used as a slogan/jingle a few years ago for either Circuit City or Tweeter Etc.
@elc1960 Wow! This is the ONLY reference I can find on the internet of this song ... and the crazy thing is, Barry Manowar seems to be a recent band. It was originally a country song done by a comedy group that I remember from the 80's
This T.E.J. Records outfit makes K-Tel seem like a high class operation in comparison. At least K-Tel would usually put the original artists on their compilation albums.
They didn't have these just for Rock & Roll. I was in Jr. HS around this time & had a "Music Appreciation" class. The teacher was doing a lesson on Broadway Shows & he was playing a generic non-original cast recording of some show (don't remember what). When the record started playing & he heard it, he looked at the record player? "What in the world is this?" He said. Listened for a few more seconds, said, "I can't listen to this", took it off the record player & threw it right in the garbage!
@RRaquello LOL - that would have been a great lesson in "Music Appreciation" right there. The teacher had good taste and he was trying to impart that to you and your clasmates. Good man.
I could tell you the company, too- they're the same outift who sold "late night TV" record packages as "Brookville Records" {i.e. Kermit Schaefer's repackaged "Bloopers" albums}. And quite successful, at that
@fromthesidelines - Brookville also marketed (under the RCA Special Products umbrella) the famous "Elvis" 2-record set - consisting solely of The King's 1956-62 hits, while the photos shown of him on TV were mainly from the 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii" era.
Remember one time,was going someplace with a guy I knew.Got into his car,and he popped one of these sound alike 8 Track tapes into his deck.Think it was the one with "American Woman" on it.How I managed to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter,I'll never know.
It was a hit by Sister Janet Mead in 1974. I too had forgotten about it until I looked it up on Youtube. I immediately recalled the melody though I hadn't heard it in 35 years.
@elc1960 - From what I read, Sister Janet Mead is still around. You're probably confusing her with The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire, a.k.a. Jeanine Deckers, of "Dominique" fame) who did off herself.
see you young ones of today, we oldies back then were easily pleased, we'd put anything on the turntable and give it a spin, I wonder what pizza sounds like, it would have to sound better than this.
What became of Ronco? did they sober up long enough to give their own product a listen?
This is sad. I had a K-Tel music express album when I was little which was basically a compilation like this. They had the actual artists tracks on it though. Jigsaw-sky high and Elton John's Philadelphia freedom.
We have another set from this company called "Rock On '74". The cover looks the same except the colors are yellow and green on this one. It's awful, for sure. The artist is a group called "Dimensional Sound" (sorry, shouldn't have told you that due to low royalties lol ). There were tons of ripoff records and 8 track tapes made. The only reason we have this is it came in a bunch of records I picked up as a group at a yard sale.
@chumrain - After 1977, "Dimensional Sound" was replaced as T.E.J.'s house "cover knockoff band" by "Dynamic Sound" - another misnomer, as that group's sound was not all that dynamic, if the one-dimensional sound of this album is of any indication.
"Werewolf" was by Five Man Electrical Band, who charted big in 1971 with "Signs." "Werewolf" only made it to #64 in 1974. I have these records in my collection, BTW. They're even worse than they sound on TV.
Hey, thanks for the "Werewolf" info. I've never heard that one but "Signs" is one of my favorite 70's tunes. I always put that one on when I get into a 70's flashback mood.
Very cheesy 70's kitsch!!! I remember, when I was 12 years old, I had my mother send away for a record called "Summer 71", which was advertised on endless TV commercials at the time. I was disappointed when I received the LP...it wasn't the original artists, but a group called "The Northern Lights". I still have that LP, although I haven't played it in years. K-Tel and Ronco at least had the original recordings and artists, albeit edited. Now K-Tel issues re-recorded oldies, some on iTunes.
The tubular bells tune reminds me of the time I was at the park. I was about 8 years old. I poured coke and 7-up into a frisbee and my little brother and friend splashed their hands into. That song was playing in the background.
What the crap? "because of low royalties..." a commercial would NEVER say that nowadays. I know it was 1974 but my first thought about it was "People could just look it up on the Internet". Can't believe I caught myself thinking that.
i think they said ''beacause of low royalties we cant reveal the artists'' is beacause they had different singers who's voices sound alike to the singers, and they probably did not want anyone to know... idiots.
There were quite a few of these crap covers collections by no-name musicians and singers. A poor-man's instant record collection! Keep your eyes peeled at garage sales. Ha! I like your comment about how the singers sounding half pissed. Good one!
Here in the UK we had a very similar records, cheap and cheesy cover versions, with unknown singers and musicians. But this is how Sir Elton John started out, recording songs and playing piano on these cheap records.
at least ktel and ronco used the original songs, even though they edited the crap out of the songs. this is a waste of $ 4.99, I wonder how many refunds they had to give out?
So bad, they're embarrasing...while I remember the K-Tel (US) and Ronco LPs (which were original-artists compilations), cheapo anonymous cover band knockoffs like this were also common.
In the CD age, you got Madacy and Drew's Famous Party Music grinding out knockoff re-records (and some lout in the UK reissuing the Top of the Pops series--the Hallmark/Pickwick UK ripoff LPs whose only claim to collectability is the cheesecake covers it had).
I remember a similar album, I'll have to look for the commercial, it was something like "Summer Hits '77" by The Original Artists and the commercial has some sexy 1977 bleach blonde chick dancing. Later I realized that the cover band perfoming every song on the album were called "The Original Artists"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes! My brother bought a similar album "Summer Hits '76.." or something like that. In the commercial they mentioned something about "sound effects" which went right over our heads. Turns out it was the name of the band who covered all the hits, "The Sound Effects"!
"Because of low royalties we can't reveal the artists"...That's hilarious! That singer on The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me is unbelievably bad. Nice post.
That's because no one bought it in 1974, and the people who did ended up throwing them in the garbage when they found out it wasn't the original artists.
I applaud your bravery at this admission! My first album purchase was a K-Tel collection, Out of Sight--which of course had bad edits of the original hits of the day. Clapton's version of I Shot the Sheriff was on it, as were Canadian hit makers the Stampeders. The others have faded into memory.
Seriously, they should call this album Pop Imposters Vol. 1! The saddest thing about this isn't that the songs are fakes, but that anyone thought the original songs were good enough to copy them in the first place!
Yup the best for me when places I love to go to are still open.Some family members are still alive. From being a little baby to a toddler to a little kid just having fun in the world. With no problems coming down hard on you like now.
What I miss most is the gas rationing. Oh - and the disco. Yeah - definitely the disco. Vietnam, Watergate, Kent State, Iran Hostage crisis, the rise of radical Islam and OPEC.
Them was the days. Well, there *were* hiphuggers. :)
@Gorbachenko Thank god nostalgia is now all about the '80s and '90s, though Hawaii Five-O is back on TV and doing well and Wonder Woman may get a remake, and today's electrodancepop isn't unlike disco, just worse!
Happy you are that in your countries they were obliged to mention, even in a capcious way, that the recordings weren't the originals. In brazil they sold the same trash without a mere suggestion about it. And not only collections! I remember a "Beatles" album which cover was a girl wrapped by the Union Jack... Also the main tv network released its soap-operas "international soundtracks" featuring original songs of unknown artists (who were, in fact, all brazilians) and the rest was covers.
What always made me laugh, was some of the bogus claims on the album covers like "Can you tell the difference between these recordings and the original artists?"
K-tel still gets away with it. Selling non-original artist albums on iTunes these days. Also recently seen non-original artist K-tel cheapo CDs at motorway service stations.
That's right. These are NOT done by the original artists. They even have CDs like this now. They don't want to pay the royalties, so they get sound-alikes to do the songs. OR they get the original artist to re-record the song. Those REALLY suck because they don't sound the same anymore.
Some, but not all, sounded like the originals. I'm very doubtful that was Paul McCartney. A few years ago Rolling Stone made a big deal about one of their compilations. It featured Elvis, the Beatles, Springsteen, and other artists rarely featured on such collections. If any of these were the originals, maybe the label got 2nd generation tapes or something.
orangehornet57 1 week ago
They sounded like karaoke-type songs that you hear on the record player. Artists kept confidential due to low-paid royalties? That's cruel. This product was possibly a scam!
pacmanindy 4 weeks ago
The musicians used on these ripoff comps were often studio guys - and they are probably BETTER players than the original players. The big difference here is the producer, who did not have the time or desire to cut and mix the record with any sparkle. And in many cases, the "original artist" was not the songwriter, who just wanted to make more money off off the same composition. These discs are the result of major label greed.
dingorudi 1 month ago
"Because of low royalties, we cannot reveal the artists." What a crock. I recall a group called the Sound Effects that recorded these kinds of LPs in the mid-1970s. Even as a little kid, I knew these were just cheap imitations.
GregDad100 2 months ago
I got the 1968 version of this for my 7th birthday, but hadn't been listening to the radio enough to know that they weren't original. There was one song "Never trust your lover with your best friend." that I haven't heard since, must have been a local hit or something. These were so cheesy; guess only those too young or too old to know they were fakes bought them.
lrd9999 3 months ago
@lrd9999 caa71661 jarred my memory; the one I had was by Hit Records of Nashville; I remember the "HIT" logo on the label. I guess that "Never trust your lover..." song could have been a recent country hit.
lrd9999 3 months ago
Not the original artists....wow...this record sucks.
USMCDAD47 3 months ago
From Washington, DC? Well, now I understand. Most shit comes from there anyway.
ToddSweeneyOnce 4 months ago in playlist Unsorted
@ToddSweeneyOnce - Actually, this was sold around the country; one website has two ads of similarly execrable "soundalike" compilations from TEJ as originally aired in Detroit - another city that's gone down the tubes.
wmbrown6 4 months ago
I can't believe companies were allowed to sell this shit, lol.
ToddSweeneyOnce 4 months ago in playlist Unsorted
My Mom and I used to laugh at how bad the songs sounded on these phony compilation album commercials.
mx94racer 5 months ago
STRAIGHT FAKE COVERS!! IF YOU BOUGHT THIS ALBUM, YOU'RE MOST LIKELY STILL ANGRY YOU GOT JERKED!
mtdinstrumentals 6 months ago
Half of these sound like the covers they used to drop on these collections. And they don't reveal the artist so they don't have to reveal it's a remake. The "low royalties" excuse is actually correct as the royalties for the remakes go to the original artist. They used to do the same thing with the word "Faux". Everything in the 70's was "Faux". "That's means it's French right?"
cranie4 6 months ago
1st The Songs are not Original Artist ,Listen Close
funone2no 7 months ago
The artists all suck, and (big surprise), so does the announcer!
38ddkelly 7 months ago 2
The best part is when the words like "Band on the Run" fly up and towards the camera, they wiggle all over. Apparently, they (we) didn't have the technology to make it go straight.
TaurenBedtime 7 months ago
@TaurenBedtime - Apparently each line was zoomed by having it posted on an easel board and the camera would move it however they were told to.
wmbrown6 7 months ago
This was a group of sound-alike songs by studio session players.
People were conned into thinking that they were buying the original hits by the original artists.
They got duped!
At least K-Tel's records, although a bit more expensive, WERE original hits by the original artists.
Today, such a scheme would probably never work. I think music fans are more sophisicated and intelligent than they were then.
altfactor 8 months ago
@altfactor - I'm not so sure - especially given the high ratings of shows like "Glee."
wmbrown6 8 months ago
@altfactor This works all the time even today. There are tons of CDs that are made the same way using studio cover artists that they try to pass off as the real deal.
yourmediateacher 5 months ago
LMAO!!!! thhis is too funny!
MsTexas73 8 months ago
Yep i bought that set and then was very disapointed when i realized it was not by the original artists and the songs sounded totally different
RetroGoop 8 months ago
Pickwick used to put out a series of albums like this under the "Sounds Like" title. I had an album titled "Sounds Like Stevie Wonder" and a "Sounds Like The Beatles".
thatmuse76 9 months ago
they were called scab records
bravebelt67 9 months ago
ha ha ha one of those
as recorded by" lol wtf was werewolf??
Doctorfreek 10 months ago
@Doctorfreek - "Werewolf" was a VERY minor hit (didn't even make the Top 40) by the Five Man Electrical Band of "Signs" fame.
wmbrown6 9 months ago
@wmbrown6 never even heard of it lol gonna go look it up
Doctorfreek 9 months ago
@wmbrown6 ok I looked it up..I actually have this song on a Halloween comp. never knew who it was singing it though lol now I do.
Doctorfreek 9 months ago
Total Grandpa gift, Although he did give me a copy of Physical Graffitti, when I was 10, he said you like music don't you?
MrSavoy63 10 months ago
The worst one is the (obviously) white guy covering Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing". Couldn't have sounded any lamer if he tried.
elc1960 10 months ago
"Because of low royalties we can't reveal the artists"......................."The BIG Sounds Of Todays BIG BIG Hits!!!" LMFAO!!! More like they (the bands covering these BIG BIG hits) didn't want to be associated with these "2 Super Albums". They probably got more money to record the covers of these songs than any "royalties" from TEJ??? record company. TEJ records........lol, .......... located directly across the alley from the law offices of "Leaned Over And Toukit"
DamienCarrass 11 months ago
@DamienCarrass - TEJ and other such companies actually got into trouble with the FTC due to their "Because of low royalties, we can't reveal the artists" spiel . . . on future ripoff compilations, they were forced to reveal the (hack) band behind the sound-alike recordings (sample text: "...the biggest, baddest hits, by Dimensional Sound").
And TEJ was affiliated with Brookville Records, which put out legitimate compilations of original recordings (perhaps the most famous being "Elvis").
wmbrown6 11 months ago
Trying to imagine the XM Top 20 station playing a classical tune (like The Entertainer)....can't imagine it....gotta love the 70's.
jth54321 11 months ago
Two GIANT records! 16 inch transcription discs?! LOL! This is hilarious!
APyleOfVinyl 11 months ago 2
None of the top 20 'rock hits' on these 2 LPs were the original artists. What a rip off.
roperkids 11 months ago 2
8 tracks,and records;hard to believe they actually existed.
HUSKY57887 1 year ago
I feel like my elementary school music teacher had this. Cause they couldn't play the real songs in class?
eslubin 1 year ago
i think this is fake.
erinjohn11 1 year ago
Didn't New York City airings of these ads carry the byline "N.Y. Residents Add Sales Tax" on that ending title card, as on:
watch?v=j4IncC5Kduo
wmbrown6 1 year ago
they must have not made much royalties back then at $4.95
okrabay 1 year ago
@okrabay I don't know how old you are, but I doubt you remember these. They'd get some super crappy band to sing the famous songs, and if you didn't pay attention, or more likely, you got one as a gift, you had an album that was basically crap. I still have at least 2 of them. One is some knock off band trying to sing ABBA, I think it was a gift. It's horrible.
clintonearlwalker 1 year ago
@clintonearlwalker According to the wiki page on "soundalikes", Lou Reed got his start in music recording tracks like these. His limited musical skills fit his proto-punk style perfectly, but I can't imagine how horrible he'd sound doing an imitation of, say, a Jay & The Americans record. I'm sure the price was right, though.
lrd9999 3 months ago
@lrd9999 I have at least 2 of these "knock off" albums that were probably given to me as gifts. 2 songs I remember are "Convoy" and "Saturday Night". None of the songs were done by the original artists and they sound like crap. I think the idea behind these albums is when you were a kid you didn't know any better and could be "tricked". Famous popular songs, $4.95!!!, (when a decent album with the original artist was about $8.00), what a great deal!! People didn't know they were crap.
clintonearlwalker 3 months ago
I actually own this!!!
YesYou123333 1 year ago
My favourite is Oh Very Young!!!
archangle81 1 year ago
1974 doesn't sound like it was a great year for music.. judging by this video
frankmat 1 year ago
@frankmat - Actually, the original versions were absolutely great - especially if placed alongside these one-dimensional renditions by the misleadingly-named "Dimensional Sound" (the ones who couldn't be revealed "because of low royalties") - perhaps the group name was a reference to which studio they were recorded in?
wmbrown6 1 year ago
Awful, just awful...
oldbanjoman 1 year ago
Back in the day, I never bought into these, even when they were tempting.
TammiWayKewl 1 year ago
"Band on the Run" could sound much worse, don't you think?It's funny how these LPs were popular in the 70s everywhere (We had our own french brand of "fakes" comps too).What about those british LPs with pinups on the covers? My grandma got hold of one once. Was it "Smash Hits" or something? I heard the record just once - she wouldn't give it to me because the cover was "rude" according to her.Couldn't care less about the cover,I wonder what was on it! She ended up chcking it :/
dummytree 1 year ago
@dummytree The UK cover-version compilation albums with the half-naked female models on the covers were called 'Top Of The Pops', and had no connection with the popular music television show of the same name.
marksoutof10 1 year ago
@marksoutof10 Thanks ! It's taken a while but I did find a website on the Top of the Pops series, even if i was looking for "Smash Hits or somtehing" :)
dummytree 1 year ago
This album doesn't have the original artists.If I bought that I would be totally undelighted and get my money back.
devilsreject70 1 year ago
@devilsreject70 You'd want your money back for those two super LPs?
marksoutof10 1 year ago
does anybody know of any of the commercials of "oldies" that i remember from san jose california...they would list songs, but have footage of girls pillow fighting each other.
TEMPmichaelhansen 1 year ago
I remember these- All the songs that appeared on this LP were recorded by one or group of studio musicians. No original artists.
rayjr62 1 year ago
At that price I can buy copies for my friends too!
c8udyp 1 year ago
I remember getting suckered with one of these because I thought it included the original artists, not rehashes. That's why it was so cheap.
kenroar 1 year ago
These may have been covered versions of the following songs. Rush Limbaugh one time talked about cheap anthologies of popular music sund by unknown artists.
wkat950 1 year ago
LOL LP records and 8 tracks.. Then later cassette tapes!!!!!!
TheZeke1974 1 year ago
What horrid covers.....
plaetoe 1 year ago
@plaetoe - Not just the songs, but the LP cover artwork.
Incidentally, apparently all such record offers had the same address (Box 9985, Washington, DC 20015 in the D.C. market; in the Detroit area, the address would've been Box 466, Southfield, MI 48037; does anyone have P.O. boxes for other cities, i.e. New York, L.A., Chicago . . . ).
wmbrown6 1 year ago
You could easily be fooled too. Remember you were listening to the ad on a two inch speaker from your 13" b & w TV.
at90percent 1 year ago
Cheezy knockoffs of your favorite hits.
at90percent 1 year ago
Albums like this are still being made. Search your Internet dealers!
SlimeTron5000 1 year ago
@SlimeTron5000
Yeah - You see these these CD's, sometimes in multipacks, called "Hits of the 80's", "Hits of the 90's" "Country Hits", etc. and somewhere in small letters you see "Performed by The Countdown Singers" or "The Hit Crew" or some similar name.
Egads, and has anyone heard these CD's with instrumental lullaby versions of rock songs for babies!?!
MrSammyReed 1 year ago 2
@MrSammyReed We also had Top of the Pops, Impact Music Promotions, and yellow flexible discs from Ambassador, and more. A very big trickery by Impact Music Promotions is that they published the original artists and songs despite no master or copyright disclaimer.
SlimeTron5000 1 year ago
What are the Original Artists doing nowadays? A reunion tour perhaps?
smokeemonkee 1 year ago 2
"Oh very young, what we leave, as this time."
As you can tell, these records got some words wrong. Examples I have in my record collection:
"Car Wash" - "Lemme tell ya what's better than bein' a b----"
"Blinded by the Light" - "Wrapped up like a..." - well, you know.
"Name of the Game" - "I seen you twice. It is your time."
"This Song" - "It don't infringe anyone, it's got the right sound."
Did you know Dimensional Sound even did "Earache My Eye"?!
I do have a strange record collection.
MrSammyReed 1 year ago
Excuse me:
That's "Dont infringe on anyone, it's got the right sound."
When I can't even get a mis-sung lyric right...
MrSammyReed 1 year ago
@MrSammyReed - If Dimensional Sound were around in the 1950's, would they have attempted to do Abbott & Costello's "Who's On First"? And if so, how would they have screwed it up - "Who's on first, What's on second, I don't know who's on third"?
wmbrown6 1 year ago
Ha ha, they aren't even sung by the original artists. What a bunch of crap!
LazyTimeGirl 1 year ago
brings back so many memories.
scrowfan41 1 year ago
Total music piracy job. They figured if they didn't mention the artist names they wouldn't get sued. Wild, wild west back then.
roaringchicken92 1 year ago
Madacy used to put out good quality '70s compilation albums back in the 1990s (their "Rock On" series). Those were all original recordings and original artists. Now, however . . . nothing but knockoffs like this dreck. BTW - for lonelyvagabond: "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" was a top 20 hit for Stevie Wonder in 1974 and is on his "Innervisions" album. It was used as a slogan/jingle a few years ago for either Circuit City or Tweeter Etc.
elc1960 1 year ago
IF you can imagine, it was kinda like the Monkee's doing Hendrix, these were really ripoff albums.
1952kid 1 year ago
I'm still waiting for "Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song
Ever Made". I Sent 3.95 extra for Rush Delivery!
MillBelater 1 year ago
i love how fake this shit is...Man what a scam!
juunky887 1 year ago
and they still make albums like this :(
sjj500 1 year ago
Some of the knockoffs . . .
- "The Sound of Peoria" by LSMFT
- "Ripoff Band on the Lam" by Broken Wings
- "I Can Last Forever Without You" by the Plumbers
- "Dennie and the Single-Engine Propellers" by Dean Baldry
- "The Show Can Go On - But I Can't" by Two Cat Evening
- "Sneering and Ridiculing Bird" by Carl E. Lymon and Dames Sailor
- "Bellicose Tubes" by Old Mikefield
- "Smog on My Coccyx" by John Salt Lake City
- "Let It Slide" by Backdoor-Turncoat Overweight
wmbrown6 1 year ago 3
@wmbrown6 My favorite was "How Can I Tell You I Love You (When I Can't Even Breathe Down Here)" by Barry Man-O-War.
elc1960 1 year ago
@elc1960 Wow! This is the ONLY reference I can find on the internet of this song ... and the crazy thing is, Barry Manowar seems to be a recent band. It was originally a country song done by a comedy group that I remember from the 80's
.
Rude909 6 months ago
@wmbrown6 LOLHAHAHAHAHA!!!
BigMDS67 1 year ago
This T.E.J. Records outfit makes K-Tel seem like a high class operation in comparison. At least K-Tel would usually put the original artists on their compilation albums.
thunderbay63 1 year ago 2
@thunderbay63 "in the original style" was the euphemism they sometimes used on these.
lrd9999 3 months ago
Crap-tacular!
menchitty11 1 year ago
Real songs fake artists. LOL!
zenbodybuilder 1 year ago 2
Shite!!
jurrasiccoast 1 year ago
Wow......this is just......
sad......
archer1949 1 year ago
They didn't have these just for Rock & Roll. I was in Jr. HS around this time & had a "Music Appreciation" class. The teacher was doing a lesson on Broadway Shows & he was playing a generic non-original cast recording of some show (don't remember what). When the record started playing & he heard it, he looked at the record player? "What in the world is this?" He said. Listened for a few more seconds, said, "I can't listen to this", took it off the record player & threw it right in the garbage!
RRaquello 1 year ago 2
@RRaquello LOL - that would have been a great lesson in "Music Appreciation" right there. The teacher had good taste and he was trying to impart that to you and your clasmates. Good man.
elc1960 10 months ago
"Tubular Bells", great makeout music, lol.
edybeast 2 years ago
I could tell you the company, too- they're the same outift who sold "late night TV" record packages as "Brookville Records" {i.e. Kermit Schaefer's repackaged "Bloopers" albums}. And quite successful, at that
fromthesidelines 2 years ago
@fromthesidelines - Brookville also marketed (under the RCA Special Products umbrella) the famous "Elvis" 2-record set - consisting solely of The King's 1956-62 hits, while the photos shown of him on TV were mainly from the 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii" era.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
I could tell you the "ARTIST".
Dimensional Sound.
That bad Space Echo almost made me a believer...LOL.
frankiebones01 2 years ago
@frankiebones01 - "Dimensional Sound"? Sounds more ONE-dimensional to me . . .
wmbrown6 1 year ago
Remember one time,was going someplace with a guy I knew.Got into his car,and he popped one of these sound alike 8 Track tapes into his deck.Think it was the one with "American Woman" on it.How I managed to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter,I'll never know.
DwighttFrye 2 years ago
I remember these "generic" compilations! My mom and I used to laugh at these commercials because they sounded so TERRIBLE!!
mx94racer 2 years ago
Since when was The Lord's Prayer a top 20 hit?
dwlightfoot 2 years ago
It was a hit by Sister Janet Mead in 1974. I too had forgotten about it until I looked it up on Youtube. I immediately recalled the melody though I hadn't heard it in 35 years.
tamspeci 2 years ago
It was a TOP 5 hit.
hollies65 2 years ago
@tamspeci She committed suicide a few years ago (don't remember the date).
elc1960 1 year ago
@elc1960 - From what I read, Sister Janet Mead is still around. You're probably confusing her with The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire, a.k.a. Jeanine Deckers, of "Dominique" fame) who did off herself.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
@wmbrown6 I stand corrected. You're right, she is still alive. Thanks!
elc1960 1 year ago
priceless! just priceless!
a poster here was right when he said that late night tv just isnt the same anymore without these ads.
rainydaywoman1957 2 years ago
The Entertainer actually first came out in 1899 (What do you mean "Today's Hits?")
pannoni1 2 years ago
The Entertainer was a pop hit in the early '70s as a result of the Paul Newman / Robert Redford movie, "The Sting".
Deshard62 2 years ago
That's the "Real Don Steele" announcing..... (from 93 KHJ, and K100) Los Angeles
frederickonair 2 years ago
I expect Don Steele got paid more for the voice over, than all the unknown cover artists put together for recording this dreadful record.
mukatuna 2 years ago
I remember calling them up to say I was somewhat but not absolutely delighted. So close.
amronmig 2 years ago
oh yes and more lol
jacobcschick01 2 years ago
This is the kind of album your parents would buy you because they didn't know any better.
RJS3566 2 years ago 20
LOL! Exactly.
kirbygene 2 years ago
Surely when people ordered this mess they THOUGHT they'd be getting the original artists...no matter how AWFUL the samples sounded! LOL
sgrho 2 years ago 2
see you young ones of today, we oldies back then were easily pleased, we'd put anything on the turntable and give it a spin, I wonder what pizza sounds like, it would have to sound better than this.
What became of Ronco? did they sober up long enough to give their own product a listen?
lefty5128 2 years ago
This is sad. I had a K-Tel music express album when I was little which was basically a compilation like this. They had the actual artists tracks on it though. Jigsaw-sky high and Elton John's Philadelphia freedom.
DSmith99000 2 years ago
I would still rather buy this collection than any compilation from "Now This Is Music"
pvtpyle74 2 years ago 2
We have another set from this company called "Rock On '74". The cover looks the same except the colors are yellow and green on this one. It's awful, for sure. The artist is a group called "Dimensional Sound" (sorry, shouldn't have told you that due to low royalties lol ). There were tons of ripoff records and 8 track tapes made. The only reason we have this is it came in a bunch of records I picked up as a group at a yard sale.
chumrain 2 years ago
@chumrain - After 1977, "Dimensional Sound" was replaced as T.E.J.'s house "cover knockoff band" by "Dynamic Sound" - another misnomer, as that group's sound was not all that dynamic, if the one-dimensional sound of this album is of any indication.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
i got this for XMAS one year, i was so pissed when i played it.
timeclock4000 2 years ago 3
Timeclock4000, read RJS3566's comment.
kirbygene 2 years ago
I want the 8 Track! Whew, cheesy cover bands doing bad 70's songs- just what I always wanted. Isn't that Pat St. John announcing this sad offer?
cnomad 2 years ago
"So you don't forget, send before midnight tomorrow!........love that line LOL!
vynilistic 2 years ago
werewolf ?
HeyMrKong33 2 years ago
"Werewolf" was by Five Man Electrical Band, who charted big in 1971 with "Signs." "Werewolf" only made it to #64 in 1974. I have these records in my collection, BTW. They're even worse than they sound on TV.
baysadaye 2 years ago
Hey, thanks for the "Werewolf" info. I've never heard that one but "Signs" is one of my favorite 70's tunes. I always put that one on when I get into a 70's flashback mood.
HeyMrKong33 2 years ago
I want a refund.
larrystarstruck 2 years ago 26
You're obviously not delighted, then.
marksoutof10 2 years ago 2
I wouldn't pay $4.99 for it now.
gtasahomo 2 years ago 4
Very cheesy 70's kitsch!!! I remember, when I was 12 years old, I had my mother send away for a record called "Summer 71", which was advertised on endless TV commercials at the time. I was disappointed when I received the LP...it wasn't the original artists, but a group called "The Northern Lights". I still have that LP, although I haven't played it in years. K-Tel and Ronco at least had the original recordings and artists, albeit edited. Now K-Tel issues re-recorded oldies, some on iTunes.
tobyradloff 2 years ago
I remember my nephew buying a tape pack in the 80's, Go For The Ton it was called and it was 100 80's hits by studio singers.
They couldn't even spell the titles correctly on the pack, I Want To Known What Love Is, whole thing was bloody woeful.
It was a ton alright, of pure crap.
lefty5128 2 years ago 2
I loved all these songs back in the day.... lol!
selmasoo 2 years ago
this is funny, fake singers, cheap looking album covers and some guy talking into a sound echoed reverb, hehe
Why even make this commercial if they couldnt put the real artists voices and other stuff.
KidAJonni 2 years ago
yup these were the fake singers doing covers.
bloggo1 2 years ago
I wonder what would happen if someone DID order now?
thezaylady 2 years ago
The tubular bells tune reminds me of the time I was at the park. I was about 8 years old. I poured coke and 7-up into a frisbee and my little brother and friend splashed their hands into. That song was playing in the background.
Gitsie007 2 years ago
not the originals artists........WTF!!!
scaramoochscaramooch 2 years ago 4
What the crap? "because of low royalties..." a commercial would NEVER say that nowadays. I know it was 1974 but my first thought about it was "People could just look it up on the Internet". Can't believe I caught myself thinking that.
Lesrevesdhiver 2 years ago
Don't You Worry About A Thing? Werewolf? I know most of my classic one-hit wonders, and most of those songs are unrecognizable.
LonelyVagabond 2 years ago
i think they said ''beacause of low royalties we cant reveal the artists'' is beacause they had different singers who's voices sound alike to the singers, and they probably did not want anyone to know... idiots.
1bz78a 2 years ago 3
I gotta have it now. This is the most awesome rock album set I've ever seen.
bURRkEEF 3 years ago 5
Look everyone it's an early karaoke singers record.
This makes K-Tel look like gold.
I wonder who the singers were?
It can't be the Stars On 45 as these singers sound half pissed.
They probably pulled in people off the street to have a go.
lefty5128 3 years ago
There were quite a few of these crap covers collections by no-name musicians and singers. A poor-man's instant record collection! Keep your eyes peeled at garage sales. Ha! I like your comment about how the singers sounding half pissed. Good one!
bartonim 2 years ago
They probably sound half pissed because of the low royalties.
larrywbg 2 years ago
Here in the UK we had a very similar records, cheap and cheesy cover versions, with unknown singers and musicians. But this is how Sir Elton John started out, recording songs and playing piano on these cheap records.
mukatuna 2 years ago
@mukatuna - The irony is, Sir Elton was ripped off on this compilation by (One-)Dimensional Sound.
wmbrown6 1 year ago
"Money back if not delighted"
They obviously didn't want to sell many copies, did they?
marksoutof10 3 years ago 2
at least ktel and ronco used the original songs, even though they edited the crap out of the songs. this is a waste of $ 4.99, I wonder how many refunds they had to give out?
wall1977 3 years ago
So bad, they're embarrasing...while I remember the K-Tel (US) and Ronco LPs (which were original-artists compilations), cheapo anonymous cover band knockoffs like this were also common.
In the CD age, you got Madacy and Drew's Famous Party Music grinding out knockoff re-records (and some lout in the UK reissuing the Top of the Pops series--the Hallmark/Pickwick UK ripoff LPs whose only claim to collectability is the cheesecake covers it had).
Irwin the Disco Duck, anyone?
SeanElGatoTelevision 3 years ago
I remember a similar album, I'll have to look for the commercial, it was something like "Summer Hits '77" by The Original Artists and the commercial has some sexy 1977 bleach blonde chick dancing. Later I realized that the cover band perfoming every song on the album were called "The Original Artists"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SpiralAim 3 years ago 9
Yes! My brother bought a similar album "Summer Hits '76.." or something like that. In the commercial they mentioned something about "sound effects" which went right over our heads. Turns out it was the name of the band who covered all the hits, "The Sound Effects"!
SenhordoBonfim 3 years ago 2
HAHAHAHA!! Now that's awesome LOL
wilkes85 3 years ago
@SpiralAim Yeah I think there was also a cover band that did one of these records called "The Original Sound Effects" lol
gummodude 1 year ago
Operators are standing by!
bodaciouscowboy 3 years ago
"Because of low royalties we can't reveal the artists"...That's hilarious! That singer on The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me is unbelievably bad. Nice post.
robsretropalace 3 years ago 2
I feel about ready to ralph! It's amazing that some company had the balls to actually put that album out.
34fitz 3 years ago
WTF?
RedOctober1979 3 years ago
I'm still looking for this on eBay - haven't found one yet!
VideoNitekatt 3 years ago
That's because no one bought it in 1974, and the people who did ended up throwing them in the garbage when they found out it wasn't the original artists.
wilkes85 3 years ago
I actually do own this. I bought it as a kid in 1975
antlovesmel 3 years ago
I applaud your bravery at this admission! My first album purchase was a K-Tel collection, Out of Sight--which of course had bad edits of the original hits of the day. Clapton's version of I Shot the Sheriff was on it, as were Canadian hit makers the Stampeders. The others have faded into memory.
bartonim 2 years ago
I remember my grandmother bought me this album.I only used it to clean my weed,sorry Grammy.
shmbla73 3 years ago 3
Seriously, they should call this album Pop Imposters Vol. 1! The saddest thing about this isn't that the songs are fakes, but that anyone thought the original songs were good enough to copy them in the first place!
RabidBuffyFan 3 years ago
The 70's were really a screwed up time. I wonder why people are trying to bring those days back.
Gorbachenko 3 years ago
Because Gorbachenko it was better then for some people like me than the shitty time everybody having now.
TimeBolt 3 years ago 4
You must have lived in a different 1970s from the one I lived in...
Gorbachenko 3 years ago
Yup the best for me when places I love to go to are still open.Some family members are still alive. From being a little baby to a toddler to a little kid just having fun in the world. With no problems coming down hard on you like now.
TimeBolt 3 years ago 4
What I miss most is the gas rationing. Oh - and the disco. Yeah - definitely the disco. Vietnam, Watergate, Kent State, Iran Hostage crisis, the rise of radical Islam and OPEC.
Them was the days. Well, there *were* hiphuggers. :)
ObamaJugend 3 years ago
@Gorbachenko Thank god nostalgia is now all about the '80s and '90s, though Hawaii Five-O is back on TV and doing well and Wonder Woman may get a remake, and today's electrodancepop isn't unlike disco, just worse!
pannoni1 1 year ago
wow
Lesli2 3 years ago 2
crap
heaped 3 years ago
Happy you are that in your countries they were obliged to mention, even in a capcious way, that the recordings weren't the originals. In brazil they sold the same trash without a mere suggestion about it. And not only collections! I remember a "Beatles" album which cover was a girl wrapped by the Union Jack... Also the main tv network released its soap-operas "international soundtracks" featuring original songs of unknown artists (who were, in fact, all brazilians) and the rest was covers.
acidenterockband 3 years ago
8-track...lol
UtopianSeeker 3 years ago
What always made me laugh, was some of the bogus claims on the album covers like "Can you tell the difference between these recordings and the original artists?"
gomemdesoto 3 years ago
K-tel still gets away with it. Selling non-original artist albums on iTunes these days. Also recently seen non-original artist K-tel cheapo CDs at motorway service stations.
gomemdesoto 3 years ago
There isn't a hell hot enough for the producers of this album.
devtrev 3 years ago 2
That's right. These are NOT done by the original artists. They even have CDs like this now. They don't want to pay the royalties, so they get sound-alikes to do the songs. OR they get the original artist to re-record the song. Those REALLY suck because they don't sound the same anymore.
chazcov08 3 years ago