HIT MACHINE [1976]

listen to Hit Machine on Spotify

Probably the first K-Tel album HERC ever received was Hit Machine from 1976. He had been buying singles since 1974 (owning fully half of Hit Machine's tracks on 45s) and bought his first album in 1976 because the single he wanted was sold out. The K-Tel albums were a value for single buyers so HERC soon became a K-Tel album buyer. Sure he had to save up for a few weeks to afford an album but he was rewarded with more of his favorite songs than the same amount of money could have bought him off the singles rack. As the first, it is probably the most played K-Tel album in the Kollection as well with not a bad song among the 20 ALL TOP 10 (though not in the US) HITS! With every song a winner, this one should score well on the K-Tel Scale.

Hit Machine holds a very special place in HERC's heart. It was a gift for his 10th Christmas which is probably the greatest childhood Christmas he can remember; rivaled only by the Evel Knievel Scramble Van Christmas of 1974.

courtesy of our friends at plaidstallions.com

As expected, this one rocked the K-Tel Scale. With twelve songs from 1976, seven from 1975, and one from 1974, this is a great slice of AM Top 40 radio circa Fall 1976 featuring a little bit of pop, rock, soul, and country. Landing eight #1's on the Billboard Hot 100 and a total of ten #1's on the Cashbox equivalent, Hit Machine is jam-packed with crossover singles featuring Number Ones across the board on the R&B, Country, Disco, and Adult Contemporary charts as well. Only Rick Springfield's "Take A Hand" missed the Top 40, coming in at #41. That song and the zero points it earned on the K-Tel Scale is the only thing that kept Hit Machine from becoming the highest-scoring K-Tel album on the K-Tel Scale thus far. Instead, it settles in at the #2 spot. Not too shabby. HERC's favorites are yellow in the chart below.

HIT MACHINE [1976]		K-tel Scale:				35.60
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	DISCO	AC	CB	WLS
(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty	KC & The Sunshine Band	1	1			1	3
Right Back Where We Started From	Maxine Nightingale	2			5	1	2
Moonlight Feels Right	Starbuck	3			2	3	21
Summer	War	7	4	COU	1	15	10
When Will I Be Loved	Linda Ronstadt	2		1	3	1	4
Happy Days	Pratt & McClain	5			7	6	3
Our Day Will Come	Frankie Valli	11		10	2	14
(You're) Having My Baby	Paul Anka with Odia Coates	1			5	1	1
Love Really Hurts Without You	Billy Ocean	22				16	38
Disco Duck (Part 1)	Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots	1	15			1	1
Island Girl	Elton John	1			27	1	1
A Fifth Of Beethoven	Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band	1	10	COU	13	1	4
Let Your Love Flow	Bellamy Brothers	1		21	2	1	3
Welcome Back	John Sebastian	1			1	1	1
Evil Woman	Electric Light Orchestra	10				9	6
Take A Hand	Rick Springfield
Rock And Roll All Nite	Kiss	12		COU		17	6
I'm Not Lisa	Jessi Colter	4		1	16	5
Who Loves You	Four Seasons	3			7	7	2
Disco Lady	Johnnie Taylor	1	1			1	4

listen to the Canadian version of Hit Machine on Spotify

The Canadian version of Hit Machine featured eight song substitutions including the requisite five Canadian artists' contributions and thus scored rather poorly on the K-Tel Scale. The album was also released in Brazil and the UK with radically altered artwork (Brazil used the Power House cover) and track listings (the UK included eleven songs on each side of the album for a total of 22 ORIGINAL HITS).