K-tel's FULL TILT [1981]

One of the more commonly available K-tel albums in HERC's experience is 1981's Full Tilt.  It is a solid album from top to bottom with the only weak spot being one of Al Stewart's lesser hits.  Hard to say why it seems to so common when compared to other K-tel albums - Did they simply just press a bunch? Was it that big of a seller?

Whatever the reason, the fourteen song album is also easy to come by online.   Whether as an eight-track (front and back, shown above) or cassette (J card, below) or vinyl album, Full Tilt has more of a web presence than any other K-tel album HERC has thus far researched.  Each of the three formats of the album has the exact same songs - just in a different order, with only the first and last song consistent among them.  HERC is pleased to feature the album as the first in his newly re-launched series of posts dedicated to the classic 1974-1984 K-tel albums in his collection.

As part of this refreshing, HERC has spent months weeks days hours massaging and manipulating chart data to arrive at a value that could be used to compare albums based on the number of hit singles across four charts each album contains. HERC calls this magic bullet the K-tel Scale.  Each album will have a table like the one below.

FULL TILT [1981]		K-tel Scale:		28.71
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	Disco	AC
The Tide Is High	Blondie	1		1	3
Let My Love Open The Door	Pete Townshend	9
Whip It	Devo	14		8
Hot Rod Hearts	Robbie Dupree	15			24
Take Your TIme (Do It Right) Part 1	The S.O.S. Band	3	1	1
I'm Happy That Love Has Found You	Jimmy Hall	27
Who'll Be The Fool Tonight	Larsen-Feiten Band	29			22
He's So Shy	Pointer Sisters	3	10	26	13
You're The Only Woman (You & I)	Ambrosia	13			5
Shining Star	The Manhattans	5	4		21
Midnight Rocks	Al Stewart	24			13
Misunderstanding	Genesis	14			32
Ain't That A Shame [live]	Cheap Trick	35
Hit Me With Your Best Shot	Pat Benatar	9

As was sometimes the case, K-tel simultaneously issued Full Tilt in Canada with a different track listing. Actually, there is but one song that appears on both the U.S. and Canadian versions of Full Tilt, that same Al Stewart song that HERC alluded to earlier:

the cover of the Canadian version of Full Tilt

Here's the thing about the rest of the 16 songs - that's right, the Canadian Full Tilt has two more songs than its American counterpart - they are pretty good.  Even with the Canadian Content Regulations that require 25% of the songs be from Canadian artists - three of those failed to crack the Top 40 in the U.S., otherwise its K-tel Scale would have been significantly higher.

FULL TILT [1981]		K-tel Scale:		17.25
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	Disco	AC
Upside Down	Diana Ross	1	1	1	18
I'm Alright	Kenny Loggins	7
Too Hot	Kool & The Gang	5	3	5	11
Turning Japanese	The Vapors	36
Drugs In My Pocket	The Monks
You Better Run	Pat Benatar
Doin' It Right	The Powder Blues Band
Wasn't That A Party	The Rovers	37
More Love	Kim Carnes	10			6
Lucky Me	Anne Murray				8
Never Knew Love Like This Before	Stephanie Mills	6	12	5	5
Carrie	Cliff Richard	34
Midnight Rocks	Al Stewart	24			13
How Do I Survive	Amy Holland	22			34
Atomic	Blondie	39
Make A Little Magic	The Dirt Band	25			12

The Spotify playlist below features 26 of the 29 tracks from both versions of Full Tilt.  As with any HERC'S M!X, some full-length album cuts have been substituted for the single edits. You're welcome, music fans.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

As a special bonus, HERC found a full length recording of Full Tilt, Canadian style, complete with all the crackles and pops he remembers.  Listen below: