FANTASTIC [1973]

There are several people out there in the blogoverse that will tell you Fantastic is their favorite K-Tel album including Lisa Wheeler bka K-Tel Classics girl and this lady, who had the Canadian version but apparently can't count.  Coincidentally for both of those ladies, Fantastic was also their first K-Tel album and you never forget your first do ya?

For HERC, Fantastic was a later pick-up (early 90s maybe) and it currently ranks as one of the oldest K-Tel albums in his collection; it is the 1973 in the title of this blog.  The song selection is one of the most diverse to be found on a single album, featuring Number Ones across three of the four charts: Pop, R&B and Adult Contemporary.  Not one but two Elton John Top 6 hits to boot.

FANTASTIC [1973]		K-tel Scale:		23.77
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	COU	AC
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree	Dawn feat. Tony Orlando	1			1
Crocodile Rock	Elton John	1			11
Hocus Pocus	Focus	9
Little Willy	Sweet	3
Lean On Me	Bill Withers	1	1		4
I Wanna Be With You	Raspberries	16
The Free Electric Band	Albert Hammond
Misdemeanor	Foster Sylvers	22	7
L. A. Freeway	Jerry Jeff Walker
I’m Doin’ Fine Now	New York City	17	14		8
I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby	Barry White	3	1		27
The Morning After	Maureen McGovern	1			6
Twisting The Night Away	Rod Stewart
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia	Vicki Lawrence	1		36	6
The Twelfth Of Never	Donny Osmond	8			7
Armed And Extremely Dangerous	First Choice	28	11
It Sure Took A Long, Long Time	Lobo	27			3
Randy	Blue Mink
Back When My Hair Was Short	Gunhill Road	40			37
Rock And Roll Part Two	Gary Glitter	7
Power To All Our Friends	Cliff Richard
Rocket Man	Elton John	6			39

The Canadian version of Fantastic also features 22 Original Hits by 21 Original Stars as the same two Elton John songs carried over from the US release.

FANTASTIC [1973]		K-tel Scale:		22.36
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	COU	AC
Brother Louie	Stories	1	22
Crocodile Rock	Elton John	1			11
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree	Dawn feat. Tony Orlando	1			1
Hocus Pocus	Focus	9
Little Willy	Sweet	3
Lean On Me	Bill Withers	1	1		4
It Sure Took A Long, Long Time	Lobo	27			3
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia	Vicki Lawrence	1		36	6
Bongo Rock	Incredible Bongo Band				35
I’m Doin’ Fine Now	New York City	17	14		8
I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby	Barry White	3	1		27
The Morning After	Maureen McGovern	1			6
Make My Life A Little Bit Brighter	Chester
Cry Your Eyes Out	Les Emmerson
Uneasy Rider	Charlie Daniels	9			37
The Free Electric Band	Albert Hammond
Misdemeanor	Foster Sylvers	22	7
I'm A Stranger Here	Five Man Electrical Band
Minstrel Gypsy	Stampeders
Bondi Junction	Peter Foldy
Swamp Witch	Jim Stafford	39			31
Rocket Man	Elton John	6			39

In 1997, as part of the K-Tel Classic Reissue Series of compact discs (first covered here), Fantastic was issued across two volumes with each disc having just ten songs. Both discs are in high demand with prices to match even though several of the tracks on Volume 2 do not appear on the original 1973 vinyl album or 8-track tape (above).

Per a suggestion from a reader, HERC ran the two CDs through the K-Tel Scale formula.  (Results can be seen below.)  He also ran them through as one 20 track album just to see what kind of score it would get.  HERC didn't submit that full grid for publishing but In case you're wondering, it scored a 24.70.

FANTASTIC Vol 1 [1997]		K-tel Scale:		23.20
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	COU	AC
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree	Dawn feat. Tony Orlando	1			1
L. A. Freeway	Jerry Jeff Walker
Lean On Me	Bill Withers	1	1		4
I Wanna Be With You	Raspberries	16
The Free Electric Band	Albert Hammond
Hocus Pocus	Focus	9
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia	Vicki Lawrence	1		36	6
Armed And Extremely Dangerous	First Choice	28	11
Back When My Hair Was Short	Gunhill Road	40			37
Rock And Roll Part Two	Gary Glitter	7

FANTASTIC Vol 2 [1997]		K-tel Scale:		24.80
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	COU	AC
Twisting The Night Away	Rod Stewart
I’m Doin’ Fine Now	New York City	17	14		8
I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby	Barry White	3	1		27
One Toke Over The Line	Brewer & Shipley	10
Power To All Our Friends	Cliff Richard
The Morning After	Maureen McGovern	1			6
Stay Awhile	The Bells	7			8
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet	Bachman-Turner Overdrive	1
Misdemeanor	Foster Sylvers	22	7
It Sure Took A Long, Long Time	Lobo	27			3