The album covers featured primitive graphics. The titles were often cheesy. The songs lacked great sound quality and sometimes were sloppily edited. Yet K-Tel albums introduced me to a number of great artists and ultimately helped form my musical tastes.
K-Tel albums compiled the hits of the day into one album, offering convenience for the consumer who lacked time or money to purchase individual singles. These compilations were organized by theme—rock, R&B, new wave, country, or dance—and ranged from well-known artists to one-hit wonders. Today, Now That’s What I Call Music CDs fill this role, but in the 70s and 80s K-Tel dominated the American market.
Founded by Canadian entrepreneur Philip Kives, the company sold items such as nonstick fry pans, the Veg-O-Matic, and the Feather-Touch Knife (similar to Ron Propeil’s Ronco). In early 1966 Kives decided to branch out into the music business, releasing his first compilation album, Twenty-Five Country Hits, that same year. He named his company K-Tel in the late sixties, and went on to sell half a billion albums worldwide by the eighties, according to K-Tel’s website. Like his products, Kives also created splashy TV ads to announce the latest record releases (such as the below example).
As a child, I loved receiving the latest K-Tel collections for Christmas or birthday gifts, and would play the LPs until the grooves wore down. Many years later I realized that my first introductions to rap and various seminal rock artists came from K-Tel.
The first two albums I remember receiving were Wings of Sound (1980) and Dancer (1981). The former’s cover featured, appropriately enough, multicolored wings and offered a selection of top 40 hits. Most notably, this album introduced me to Nick Lowe and Bob Dylan, along with the still-catchy one-hit wonder “Driver’s Seat” by Sniff ‘n The Tears. Lowe’s “Cruel to be Kind” remains one of the most clever rock songs of the early 80s, and Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” marks his overtly religious phase. As a kid I couldn’t quite grasp Dylan’s sound, but of course later learned of his tremendous influence on rock and folk.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Great stuff Kit, and a bit of a walk down memory lane for me too. Like so many other things with music these days, I think downloads were the death knell for these types of collections (Now Thats What I Call Music notwithstanding). Great stuff here though...nicely done.
-Glen
2 - JC Mosquito
I even have some KTel stuff under the company name Syndicate Products Ltd., a subsidiary company from the mid to late 60s. I still listen to this tootsy frootsy meets protopsychgaragepunk music - once you develop a habit for bubblegum (or cheese - take your pick), it's hard to stop.
3 - Marcia Neil
Those of us who sat in homes or rental-premises waiting for the Feds to shut down RIAA piracy within factory domains instead were faced with...K-Tel.
4 - Kit O'Toole
Thanks for commenting, and thanks, Glen--I enjoyed the walk down memory lane, too. :)
5 - Jim Lockard
What a great reminder of those good old days. I hadn't thought of K-Tel in many years. Thanks for the memories.