Top Of The Pops (Hallmark Records / Pickwick)

 

Top Of The Pops
Hallmark Records / Pickwick)
1968 - 1985

For those of you who caught my post last week on Springbok Hit Parade, this is somewhat of a continuation of that post. As I mentioned in that write up, I spent many of my younger years overseas, which gave me the opportunity to be exposed to a lot of music not necessarily being played on US shores.

One such avenue for this was through the series, Top Of The Pops. These were periodically released vinyls which collected hits from around the globe. However, to get around the high cost of licensing, these particular recordings were cover versions. Some of which were sung by the likes of Tina Charles and Elton John, before they made it big.

While I'd like to dive deep into this series, credit is due where it is due. The below photos come directly from the Top Of The Pops LP site, and you really would be giving this site the dues it deserves by checking them out. They have a fantastic history of this series all laid out, including a history of the label and information on other related titles from Hallmark Records.

Much like the Springbok series my sister played for us, my brother and I didn't personally own any of these records. They belonged to her.

I don't think my sister had many of these records. In fact, the one in the below photo with the girl in red is the only cover I recognize.

It's interesting to note that the series took a sudden hiatus in 1982 with volume ninety-one, and then in 1985 randomly released a volume ninety-two.

Unlike Springbok, there were a few volumes of Top Of The Pops which got remastered and released on CD. However, these are incredibly difficult to track down because they weren't released in the USA.

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