Happy Holidays Everyone

[Willa]

By the mid 70's K-Tel records were the original hits, by the original artists, but somehow abbreviated. A person I knew who went to sound recording school said that K-Tel would cut out small parts of each song, which is how the albums had about 10 songs per side. They were great for kids and cheapskates. There were always a bunch of great songs with a few duds thrown in. I loved "Goofy Greats" (vintage novelty songs from the 50's and 60's) and I seem to recall having "Dynamite" with a faux glitter cover., that had hard rock sounds that were just a little mature for a 9 year old, like the song "Where Evil Grows" by the Poppy Family:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfeEcCLMtxk

There was a documentary about K-Tel, from a few years ago. They were a Canadian company, that branched out into cheap "As Seen on TV" products, many of which were super popular. Their t.v. ads had very low production values. Despite this, "Super Slider Snowskates" were a major hit with the kids in my town, c.1975 or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ysOQZY6iw

They also made the Krazy Karpet - a thin plastic sheet with a slick surface that was a complete hazard on any snowy hill as they went REALLY fast. K-Tel should have had stock in dentists offices and fracture clinics ! The cheap products were really fun but also very dangerous !

[mjt]

If that kid was me, I might have been holding a (1970's) Cher album, or if she is more 10 or 11ish then definitely an ABBA album. Or a stack of K-Tel records. Did you have those in the US ?

K-Tel's US subsidiary is/was based in a suburb of Minneapolis. In the early 1990s I worked in a building that was formerly the K-Tel records building. Not surprisingly it was on K-Tel Drive. Down the street was the headquarters for Rollerblade...

[heartwood]

Julie, Julie, Julie do you love meeee?
Julie, Julie, Julie do you really carrrre?

[awomanwithahammer]

Julie, Julie, Julie do you love meeee?
Julie, Julie, Julie do you really carrrre?

Easy come, easy go!

Those were really awful, weren't they? Thanks for the memory, Jade. Don't tell me you were a fan, too!

I didn't know all that about K-Tel. I remember seeing the commercials on TV, but that's about all. Obviously, my musical tastes were more sophisticated (see above). That's interesting about the building, Matt.

[phil]

You can sing along to those K tel records with Mr microphone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4ny7KivzA