Thursday, January 24, 2013

Chart Busters box set surfaces in Brazil

A while back, I posted details of a Readers Digest box set called "Chart Busters", which I picked up on a charity shop run (see here). Little did I know when I bought it, that it contained tracks from a range of covers albums including Hot Hits, Top of the Pops, 12 Tops, Parade of Pops... and so on.

Anyway, I have since come across some more information on this release, revealing that the box - plus an intriguing extra - was also issued in, of all places, Brazil - thereby representing the export of a good cross-section of the UK covers industry, with recordings from most of the main labels. Here are some images of the box:



It's noticeable how deep the box is, as compared to the UK one, with the track listings printed under the lid. The label logo can be seen on the top - it's Borges & Damasceno, rather than Reader's Digest, who were a budget label in Brazil (surprise, surprise). More interesting still are the contents of the box:




The upper image shows all the records laid out, and they are in red printed inner sleeves, in contrast to the UK edition which had each individual LP in a conventional sleeve. And what's that blue sleeve at the top? It's a seventh album, which was not included at all with the UK set! Here's the full cover artwork for it:


The album is called "Rock 'n' Roll of the 50s" and I have yet to find a UK equivalent. It contains cover versions of classic 50s hits such as "Rock Around The Clock", "Long Tall Sally", "Peggy Sue", "Be-Bop-A-Lula", "Shake, Rattle And Roll" and so on. I wonder where these recordings originally came from?

7 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks very much! Any knowledge of a UK edition? Would it have been on mfp?

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  2. I wonder if this album was issued as a bonus with the original Readers Digest box set? It wasn't uncommon for Readers digest box sets top be offered with a bonus disc so it may be that this was a bonus disc for this set. Mine doesn't have one unfortunately. :-)

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  3. It's possible, though I've never heard of one, and Googling has so far failed to throw up a UK edition. The UK boxes did have a Readers Digest certificate inside them - sadly, mine has been lost.

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  4. The Bonus Rock and Roll record was specially compiled from the BWD back Cat. It was never released on its own for retail sale.

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  5. Well, that would explain why it's not easy to find. Do you know if it was just in Brazil, or whether it was in the UK set as well?

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  6. There's a cassette version of this on Ebay right now!

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