The Hits Series

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,075
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Does anyone remember the Hits music compilation series? If so, do you collect them or own any?

I have been collecting the Hits albums for many years since I was a child.

I have always been a Now! Music fan, but I would buy the odd Hits album if I liked some of the tracks on it, or if I saw one cheap for a quid at a car boot.

I have very nearly completed the entire CD collection, I just need 5 or 6 more and I will have the complete set from start to finish. The earliest one I have is Hits '93 Volume 3 and the latest one I have is Hits 57.

I have owned some for years that I have picked up over time, but recently I have found a lot of them in charity shops. I have actually got quite a few duplicate copies of some of the albums.

The other day I found Fresh Hits '98 in Oxfam for 99p and Hits 97 for 50p!

I would be very interested to know if anyone else is a collector, or owns any as they were quite popular years ago, and were a competitor with the Now! Music series.

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,075
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    I got Huge Hits 99 for 50p today - In mind condition :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,075
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    I have nearly finished my Hits series collection, I went out today and bought:

    New Hits 96, New Hits 2000, Hits 58 and Hits 59 :p
  • pete137pete137 Posts: 18,342
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    I have the first 5 Hits compilations on vinyl. I got them as a kid in the 80's and they are in the loft now. Not sure if they are worth anything.
  • Grabid RanniesGrabid Rannies Posts: 4,588
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    I have Hits 1-6 on cassette - they still all play fine, apart from 1&2 being quite muffled :( Although I do think I may have 1&2 on vinyl also stashed away. Hits 3, 4 and 6 I've had all these years, and acquired the others later on in charity shops.

    Hits 3 IMO is the best compilation I've ever owned - out of all 28 tracks, I only think one is naff (Shakin' Stevens Lipstick Powder And Paint), but fortunately it's at the end of Side 2 so easy to leave out :) I've got two original tape copies of it, and really must get it onto my PC for posterity!

    Hits 3 also marked the first of only a handful of times Madonna has appeared on a British compilation series, with Dress You Up. I used to ask my sister to play that song over and over when I was 6, no sign there that I was going to grow up gay lol :D:o She also has Borderline on Hits 4, La Isla Bonita on Hits 6, Cherish on 11 and in the late 90s, Frozen was on Hits something or other when the series was rebranded.

    I also have Hits 6, 7 and 8 on CD - although 6 is only a 'highlights' one-disc affair, like the earlier Nows were on CD. I have 9, 10, 11 ('Monster Hits') and 12 ('Snap It Up') on tape, although a considerable dip in song quality is found on them (well, this was from 1989 onwards). 12 was the last official one I believe before the series was revived in the format the OP is referring to, in the late 90s.
  • Billy HicksBilly Hicks Posts: 475
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    Good thing about the Hits albums is that in general today they're a lot cheaper to but and collect, indeed some you can buy in CeX for prices as low as 20p(!) which for 2-disc albums containing 40-odd songs is a pretty epic bargain. You'll also find a ton of tracks not on the Nows, indeed if you combine a Now and equivalent Hits album (say Fresh Hits 97/Now 37, or Hits 56/Now 55) you'll get an almost complete discography of every major hit released in that musical era.

    They did really well for a long time and right up to the early noughties were a strong competitor, but ended up making a few mistakes - repeating tracks on consecutive albums, editing many down so they'd fit more on one CD etc - and then completely lost interest during the sales slump of the mid noughties fizzling out around 2006, which at least means that the Nows since then have improved a lot in their song choices and featured a lot more major releases.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,075
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    Good thing about the Hits albums is that in general today they're a lot cheaper to but and collect, indeed some you can buy in CeX for prices as low as 20p(!) which for 2-disc albums containing 40-odd songs is a pretty epic bargain. You'll also find a ton of tracks not on the Nows, indeed if you combine a Now and equivalent Hits album (say Fresh Hits 97/Now 37, or Hits 56/Now 55) you'll get an almost complete discography of every major hit released in that musical era.

    They did really well for a long time and right up to the early noughties were a strong competitor, but ended up making a few mistakes - repeating tracks on consecutive albums, editing many down so they'd fit more on one CD etc - and then completely lost interest during the sales slump of the mid noughties fizzling out around 2006, which at least means that the Nows since then have improved a lot in their song choices and featured a lot more major releases.

    Yeah I have to agree with you! CeX are crazy for the prices they sell them for... I got Hits 59 for 20p yesterday and Hits 58 for a quid!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,075
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    I should really check the discs before I buy them - I realised that in my New Hits 96 box there was Disc 1 and Now 43 Disc 1 :p
  • glyn9799glyn9799 Posts: 7,391
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    I'm going to try get hold of all of these. I've got all of the Now albums from the 00's, but quite a few big hits are missing, most of which are contained on these albums, such as Holly Valance, A1, Blu Cantrall, Dido, Jennifer Lopez etc. I want to fill the gaps :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,075
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    glyn9799 wrote: »
    I'm going to try get hold of all of these. I've got all of the Now albums from the 00's, but quite a few big hits are missing, most of which are contained on these albums, such as Holly Valance, A1, Blu Cantrall, Dido, Jennifer Lopez etc. I want to fill the gaps :D

    Yeah I've nearly got the whole complete collection, all except for Fresh Hits '96, Fresh Hits 1997, Huge Hits 2000 and Hits 50! :p

    I always see the same Hits albums in charity shops locally, but I've never seen the above ones that I need to complete the set. It's annoying... The most common one I've seen is Fresh Hits '98. :)
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