MUSIC EXPLOSION [1977]

Some collectors don't consider 1977's Music Explosion a true K-tel album simply because it says Commonwealth Music instead of K-tel. Those in the know and those of us that can read recognize the catalog number under the Commonwealth logo as a K-tel matrix and the back of the album, along the bottom where the Distribution and Copyright notices are listed, it says the address for Commonwealth Music is 11311 K-tel Drive, Minnetonka, MN 55343 - which is the exact same address you'll find on the back of most K-tel albums.

We file this one under K-tel in our collection, and it's a good album with a few noticeable differences:

• The aforementioned Commonwealth Music label
• only sixteen songs, rather than the usual twenty or more that K-tel albums of the time had
• modified slogan - instead of Original Hits Original Stars, it says Great Hits Original Stars

The songs on the album are from 1970-1976, with the average release year working out to be 1975. Of the sixteen songs, fifteen have appeared on other K-tel albums - some have appeared twice or even three times on other albums. The odd song out is:

All but two of the songs on Music Explosion were Top 10 Pop hits, including five #1 songs. In addition, two songs that failed to top the pop chart crossed over and became #1 on other charts. Overall, this album would be expected to score well on the K-tel Scale, and it does not disappoint, coming in with an impressive 35.63, giving it second place in the Top 10 All-Time behind Music Express. Less than one point separates the top three albums.

MUSIC EXPLOSION [1977]		K-tel Scale:				35.63
		Billboard Top 40s
		Pop	R&B	DISCO	AC	CB	WLS
Moonlight Feels Right	Starbuck	3			2	3	21
Misty Blue	Dorothy Moore	3	2		14	3	7
Rock Your Baby	George McRae	1	1		19	1	1
That’s The Way (I Like It)	KC & the Sunshine Band	1	1	18		1	1
Jungle Boogie	Kool & the Gang	4	2			8	12
Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)	Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids	29				25	33
Rocky	Austin Roberts	9			22	11	8
Get Dancin’	Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes	10	32	3		10
More More More	Andrea True Connection	4	23	2	23	3	9
Sky High	Jigsaw	3			4	5	4
Midnight Train To Georgia	Gladys Knight & the Pips	1	1		19	1	6
Making Our Dreams Come True	Cyndi Grecco	25			13	21
Rockin’ Chair	Gwen McCrae	9	1	COU		10	10
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia	Vicki Lawrence	1		36	6	1	1
I Just Can’t Help Believing	B.J. Thomas	9			1	11	2
A Fifth Of Beethoven	The Walter Murphy Band	1	10		13	1	4

Those of you keeping score at home know that I have three of the songs from Music Explosion on 45, and by popular demand, here are those off-kilter, full frontal scans of those 45s from my collection:

click to embiggen

Dig that totally retro label maker title strip on "Sky High". When I bought the single new in 1975, that part of the label was already bubbling. My primitive attempts to repair it actually made the issue worse. I took the record to school for music class one day, and my music teacher had me write my name on it to ensure she'd get it back to me. (That's what those two small blue boxes are obscuring in the scan.) After school, I went by the music room to pick up the 45 and noticed the bubbled part of the label had been torn off. I was upset about it until I got home and showed Dad, who got out the Dymo label maker and printed up the label seen above.

In 2009, K-tel revived the title and gist of the cover art of Music Explosion on compact disc. The only problem is, gee whiz, it has none of the songs from the original vinyl album and 8-track tape. The fourteen songs on the CD are from the years 1973-1976, and they lean towards pop and AC more than R&B and Disco. Still, with eleven Top 10 hits including four #1s, this disc should score well on the K-tel Scale, though officially it can't compete with its vinyl brethren in the rankings.

MUSIC EXPLOSION [2009]		K-tel Scale:				32.83
		Billboard Top 40s
		Pop	R&B	DISCO	AC	CB	WLS
The Rockford Files	Mike Post	10			16	10	12
Roll On Down The Highway	Bachman-Turner Overdrive	14				8	4
Sweet Home Alabama	Lynyrd Skynyrd	8				7	3
Love Hurts	Nazareth	8				9	5
Fooled Around And Fell In Love	Elvin Bishop	3				3	4
Beth	Kiss	7			14	7	3
Keep On Smilin'	Wet Willie	10				16	15
Billy, Don't Be A Hero	Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods	1		COU	20	1	1
(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody's Done Somebody Wrong Song	B.J. Thomas	1		1	1	1	2
Before The Next Teardrop Falls	Freddy Fender	1		1	19	1	13
Theme from S.W.A.T.	Rhythm Heritage	1	11	DISCO	6	1	3
Brazil	The Ritchie Family	11	13	1	5	10
So You Are A Star	Hudson Brothers	21				20
Drift Away	Dobie Gray	5			12	8	5

With a score of 32.83, this disc would be Top 5 in the rankings. Sorry, Charlie.