Anyone old enough to remember these from the early 70's? Listening to a 60 min documentary on Radio 2 now, but it'll be on Listen Again. Must admit I bought some. They were nothing to do with the TV show TOTP but were cheap albums with cover versions of the latest hits. Always a scantily-clad girl on the cover. Some of the covers were truly bad but the cover of Bohemian Rhapsody is considered rather good. Kenny Everett was so impressed apparently that he defied his bosses at the new fledgling Capital Radio and played it interspersed with Queen snippets and asked if listeners could tell the difference.

Ah yes, I remember them well. And I also remember how livid I was when I discovered that they weren't the real artists!

So elated, though, when K-Tel came along, as their albums featured the original artists. Pity they used to cut out a verse or two of the songs though to fit them all on.

Yes i remember them albums as well and still think i got a few tucked away somewhere.

They were truly awful when you think of it,but when the only other albums in our house were old musical soundtracks and the Best of Bosa Nova they were like gold dust.

Benny Hill was apparently so angry that they covered Ernie that he vowed never to release another song and he didn't!

I am a HUGE fan of the TOTP albums and have collected several. I also collect similar compilations such as 'Parade of Pops' (Chevron Records, and sold in Woolies). Another was Pye's albums called '12 Chartbusters'.

And I have been surprised and delighted at the sheer quality of the recordings. Dont let anyone ever tell you that they were all rubbish copies of the originals, in my experience many of the TOTP, Parade and Chartbusters albums did an excellent job of recreating the sound of the songs. Yes, some were ropey, but more often than not, the covers were good. A lot of the musicians were excellent session musicians and singers. And it shows.

The best TOTP albums website:

http://freewebs.com/toppopper/

Off topic slightly

funnily enough I was on about this the other day but why is it obligatory for most music compilations to have a girl on the the cover, or in the ad, in their underwear? OP mentioned that the TOTP's album sleeves used to show a girl in their underwear, I guess this is where the idea originated but never understood the concept and furthermore why it's still used today?