1974 "20 Top Hits" Record Offer commercial

1974 "20 Top Hits" Record Offer commercial... "because of low royalties we can't reveal the artists"

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People & Blogs

Tags:

• 1974
• 20
• Top
• Hits
• Record
• Offer
• commercial
• ad
• 70s
• 1970s
• campy
• camp
• ktel
• k-tel
• ronco

[orangehornet57]

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.

[pacmanindy]

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!

[dingorudi]

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.

[GregDad100]

"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.

[clintonearlwalker]

@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.

[lrd9999]

@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]

@chazcov08 Yea, the "original artists" who sold off all their rights to buy crack, then re-record their hits to make the rent payment to the trailer park.

[lrd9999]

@thunderbay63 "in the original style" was the euphemism they sometimes used on these.

[lrd9999]

@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 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.