This week, as we celebrate our 700th pageview here at HERC's Hideaway, HERC brings you another blast from the past from the stacks of wax in the Hideaway's Audio Archives: K-Tel's Mind Bender featuring 22 "Original Hits" by the "Original Stars". This phrase is used so much in the television commercials and trumpeted on the covers but what does it mean?
1) By including a lot of music, they are providing value - most albums back then had an average of 10 songs so K-Tel was giving you more than TWICE as much music for your allowance bucks and
2) There were hit collections similar to K-Tel and Ronco that were advertised "less than honestly" shall we say like this one:
Did you notice they needed two whole records just to contain 20 poor sounding cover versions? Nowadays, there is a somewhat similar practice going on amongst music streaming services where studio groups perform the music of otherwise unavailable artists "in the style of" those artists. Admittedly, at least on the few tracks HERC has heard, they do a much better job then whoever was singing in that commercial.
It wasn't all sunshine and soda pop when you bought a K-Tel album, either. In order for them to cram those 20 or more "Original Hits" on a single slab of vinyl, they often performed their own fades, ending songs before their originally recorded endings resulting in many K-Tel exclusive edits. Why didn't they advertise that?
"22 Exclusive Edits of 22 Original Songs by 22 Original Artists"
Then there would be no room left on the cover for cheesy pseudo-psychedelic graphics, artist names and a few artist pictures.
Mind Bender is an above average hit-packed collection of diverse songs being played on radio stations around the country in 1976. There's a little bit of something for everyone on this collection: rock, pop, soul, country, TV theme song, even an early disco tune!
The song that stands out on the collection for HERC though is that dated tribute to the Citizen's Band (CB) Radio Craze of the mid-Seventies, C.W. McCall's "Convoy".
For those of you who don't know, CB Radios were like cellphones and Facebook before there were cellphones and Facebook - complete strangers would get on there and share information. Mostly they seemed to be used to avoid speed traps. And like cellphones and Facebook accounts almost EVERYONE had one... in their vehicle. Ask someone you know who was driving in the mid-Seventies if they were rockin' a CB in their hooptie. HERC bets they were and if they say they weren't, they are obviously having trouble with their memory.
CB Radio infiltrated music, movies (Smokey and the Bandit and the film version of Convoy starring Kris Kristofferson which featured a different version of the song, shown in the video above) and TV shows like "BJ and The Bear" as well as "Dukes Of Hazard". By the early Eighties, CBs had disappeared from the average driver's vehicle, sometimes replaced by the first brick-sized cellular phones, though they remained in use in diesel truck cabs.
FACT: HERC's Grandma's CB handle was "Red Snapper".
Like every other person on the planet, HERC had this proto-country rap song "Convoy" down cold: "It was the dark of the moon/on the Sixth of June..." It was a huge hit, reaching Number One on the Pop and Country charts. HERC even ordered its parent album, Black Bear Road, as one of his 6 Free Albums when he joined the RCA Music Club later that year.
One day while rapping it up in front of a group of young ladies in the hall, a teacher happened to wander by just as HERC chose to freestyle a bit with lyrics. It was the first time HERC had dropped an F*Bomb and the first time he had after school detention. He had to stand with his nose touching the wall for 30 minutes.
TRIVIA: A year after the original, Mr. McCall recorded and released a sequel to "Convoy". It managed to peak at #101 on the charts so not many people heard its sing along pirate chorus or silly foreign accents. It was called "Round The World With The Rubber Duck" and now you can hear this rarity for yourself. (It's also available on Spotify.)
Another popular CB radio themed song of the time was "The White Knight" by Cledus Maggard & The Citizern's Band who was really just Jay Huguely. (See what he did there?) HERC always felt it was more of a novelty song to cash in on the craze whereas "Convoy" was more of a tribute. That's his story and he's sticking with it.
Enjoy the Mind Bender re-creation playlist below!
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