Eric's HARD TO FIND 45s ON CD VOL. 8: SEVENTIES POP CLASSICS

the first ad Eric Records placed in Billboard, May 11, 1968

Bill Buster, over at Eric Records, has been in business since 1968, first re-releasing classic singles and then putting out top notch compilations of rare and desirable music from the Firties and Sixties, including the aptly named Hard To Find 45s On CD series, launched in 1996.  After seven numbered volumes, Eric delighted its loyal legion of fans in 2002 with the release of Hard To Find 45s On CD, Vol. 8: Seventies Pop Classics.

an original Hideaway scan

Featuring twenty Top 30 hits spanning the entire decade, the disc was mastered by Tom Daly and Mark Matthews.  Bill Buster himself compiled the tracklist and made the ultimate decisions about which versions and edits to use, even going against his long-standing rule of using original 45 RPM single versions as stated on the cover of each volume in the series. Mark Matthews shared the following insights about the production of the disc back in 2009 on the top40musiconcd forums in response to questions:

Now, even at this project's conception, Tom and myself had pointed out to Bill many of these tracks didn't seem "hard to find" because we collectors vigilantly bought the entire Rhino series, and many other previously issued 70's packages. But he stated his track selection for this release wasn't based on whether they they were ever released before, but rather how many cd's were they were available on in 2002. He pointed out many of the tracks only had 1 or 2 cd's listed in Pat's book at that time, a few were only on the Rhino cd and no where else back then. That was his thinking. But i guess the popularity of the Rhino set had more impact than he thought, since i recall he said this cd didn't sell as well as his 50's and 60's packages. I'd imagine that's why he hasn't done another one. Tom and myself of course submitted a list of remaining 70's rarities to possibly issue on future discs, but then you get back to reality. And even Eric must weigh how many units a cd full of rare 70's hits not-yet-on-cd would sell except to hard-core collectors like you and me. Not enough to justify the 25,000 minimum requirement forced by the majors. 

(Ed. "Pat's book" is Top 40 Music On CD which is now a website where the forum can be found)

The discussion topic was started by Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber, who pointed that while it was a high quality compilation, nearly all of the songs were available elsewhere with thirteen previously appearing on Rhino's Have A Nice Day series, for example.

an original Hideaway scan

Semantics aside, this is a great collection of songs from the Seventies.  Sure HERC had all of the songs on other CDs but now he's got them all on one CD.  Besides, the disc (along with three others from the series, which he'll feature soon) was a gift from an anonymous benefactor this past Christmas.  HERC just wanted to say thank you so very, very much to whoever you are.

all labels from Discogs

Although he enjoys every song on the album, HERC's favorite songs on the disc include "Kiss You All Over", "Love Really Hurts Without You", "Kung Fu Fighting", "Right Back Where Started From", "You Don't Have To Be Star", "My Angel Baby", "Magic", "Ebony Eyes" and "Love Is In The Air".  His most favorite track of the bunch is "Driver's Seat". For the Spotify playlist below, HERC chose his favorite versions/edits of the songs from those available.