K-Tel Records - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Hawkee · 04-10-2016, 05:03 AM

I was looking through a favorite book of mine called As Seen On TV where it talked about K-Tel Records and I would like to know if you remember K-Tel Records? K-Tel Records released awesome records with singers such as Tina Turner and Rod Stewart and Olivia Newton John but K-Tel Records also released greatest hits albums of just about any popular band or singer such as The O'Jays to Chuck Berry and The Steve Miller Band. When K-Tel Records went out of business it was a truly sad day in music history
Who remembers K-Tel Records and did you have any K-Tel Records albums that were your favorites?
Bestie

1960'sTVfan · 04-10-2016, 10:09 AM

Sure I remember K-Tel Records, I remember them well. During the 1970's they released these "current hits of the day" albums. Some of the album titles were "Believe In Music", "Music Power", "Block Buster", etc. I thought that the songs they chose for those albums was always a mixed bag, some good tunes and some others not so good. I remember thinking to myself, "I can do much better than that!"

In a way, those K-Tel albums inspired me to create my own greatest hits of the 70's collection, which I worked on over the years and now have it completed. It's a total of 366 songs on 30 CD's, covering all the years from 1970 to 79. I think I did a great job with the song selection, it's the best of everything, hard rock, pop, ballads, country, soul, disco. There are a few tunes I left off that I could have included, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

dakert · 04-10-2016, 08:20 PM

I still have a bunch of K-Tel lps from the 70s and the best thing is I still have a record player, actually 2. I like them all but one of my favorites is Music Machine which has songs from 1976/77 and 2 bonus posters--Andy Gibb and KC and The Sunshine Band

Penny Lane · 04-10-2016, 08:43 PM

K-Tel! I haven't heard that name in years! I remember the commercials but I never ordered anything.

1960'sTVfan · 04-10-2016, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dakert

I still have a bunch of K-Tel lps from the 70s and the best thing is I still have a record player, actually 2. I like them all but one of my favorites is Music Machine which has songs from 1976/77 and 2 bonus posters--Andy Gibb and KC and The Sunshine Band

Music Machine is a fairly decent K-Tel LP, eight songs from the album are in my 70's hits collection.

Edison · 04-10-2016, 11:45 PM

Ah, a blast from the past. Got out 25 Rock Revival Greats (1972), and gave it a spin. Little scratchy, but that's..kinda groovy.

IllinoisTVFan · 04-11-2016, 12:55 AM

I used to buy these and the other ones from Ronco. Sometimes you got a good deal and it was the original artists. Other times it was a rip off. If I recall, there was a studio group called "The Original Artists" so an album could say "sung by the original artists". These would be like the Now That's What I Call Music CDs of today because most albums only had a few hit songs and the rest were filler so the compilations were good. Plus my parents were more likely to give me money for these instead of an actual album where I would listen to 1-3 songs.

Hawkee · 04-11-2016, 02:18 AM

Do you remember a children's album that was made by K-Tel Records that was called The Ronald McDonald All-Star Party? My teacher had this album on cassette form and it featured Ronald McDonald singing songs with a kids group which was The All-Star Party and it featured guest appearences by the cast of Sesame Street Bugs Bunny Shamu The Whale from Sea World Strawberry Shortcake and many other cartoon favorites and this K-Tel album was a favorite of me and my classmates when I was in school. The only K-Tel album I have in my music collection features Tina Turner singing country music and also features Gloria Gaynor as well.
Bestie

Edward216 · 04-11-2016, 02:42 AM

Oh yeah I remember K-Tel records, of course I was still a kid then. Basically compilation albums of the most popular songs at the time. But I never owned any myself.

I actually did a search for K-Tel records on Amazon one time just out of curiosity. And I was surprised that many of the albums were still available. Interestingly, most of them were only available on vinyl record and not cd. There were a couple that you could find on cd but not many.

Ed.

UMFaninMD · 04-11-2016, 08:57 PM

My grandparents had a K-Tel album of late 70's hits. Two of the songs I remember on it were Talking in Your Sleep by Crystal Gale and Love is in the Air by John Paul Young.

AB · 04-12-2016, 04:16 PM

I had several of the K-Tel Albums. They carried them at one of the drugstores along with other As Seen on TV items. I used to drive my mom crazy wanting to buy that stuff.

These are two of the albums I had back in the day.

1960'sTVfan · 04-12-2016, 10:04 PM

Those K-Tel albums were actually a rip off because they would put shortened versions of some songs on the albums. I imagine maybe they did this so they could fit 10 or 11 songs on one side of an album, but still it was a rip off. Back in the day though, most people probably didn't care or notice.

Ohio8 · 04-13-2016, 05:54 PM

This is a good one.

Edward216 · 04-14-2016, 03:17 AM

I remembered too that there was another company back then that basically did the same thing of making compilation albums of the latest hits. It was called Sessions Records. I think they sold a lot of albums too.

Ed.

1960'sTVfan · 04-14-2016, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward216

I remembered too that there was another company back then that basically did the same thing of making compilation albums of the latest hits. It was called Sessions Records. I think they sold a lot of albums too.

Ed.

Ronco was another company that released latest hits compilation albums. "Good Vibrations" and "Get It On" were a couple album titles.

04-10-2016, 05:03 AM	#1
Hawkee Michael Fassbender Fanatic Moderator Forum Star Join Date: Jan 17, 2016 Location: California Posts: 10,769	K-Tel Records I was looking through a favorite book of mine called As Seen On TV where it talked about K-Tel Records and I would like to know if you remember K-Tel Records? K-Tel Records released awesome records with singers such as Tina Turner and Rod Stewart and Olivia Newton John but K-Tel Records also released greatest hits albums of just about any popular band or singer such as The O'Jays to Chuck Berry and The Steve Miller Band. When K-Tel Records went out of business it was a truly sad day in music history Who remembers K-Tel Records and did you have any K-Tel Records albums that were your favorites? Bestie
	__________________ Hawkee and Aguilar, Hoping to be a great team

04-10-2016, 08:43 PM	#4
Penny Lane Butter Pie Forum Icon Join Date: Jul 03, 2001 Location: Beneath the blue suburban skies Posts: 51,027	K-Tel! I haven't heard that name in years! I remember the commercials but I never ordered anything. Attached Images
	__________________ Vulgarity is no substitute for wit- Lady Violet Crawley

04-12-2016, 04:16 PM	#11
AB Member Eternal Member Forum Icon Join Date: Dec 26, 2006 Location: The South Posts: 59,429	I had several of the K-Tel Albums. They carried them at one of the drugstores along with other As Seen on TV items. I used to drive my mom crazy wanting to buy that stuff. These are two of the albums I had back in the day. Attached Images

04-13-2016, 05:54 PM	#13
Ohio8 Member Forum Star Join Date: Jul 29, 2003 Location: Wherever you aren't. Posts: 18,912	This is a good one. Attached Images
	__________________ "Shorter of breath and one day closer to death." -- Pink Floyd

04-10-2016, 10:09 AM	#2
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,073	Sure I remember K-Tel Records, I remember them well. During the 1970's they released these "current hits of the day" albums. Some of the album titles were "Believe In Music", "Music Power", "Block Buster", etc. I thought that the songs they chose for those albums was always a mixed bag, some good tunes and some others not so good. I remember thinking to myself, "I can do much better than that!" In a way, those K-Tel albums inspired me to create my own greatest hits of the 70's collection, which I worked on over the years and now have it completed. It's a total of 366 songs on 30 CD's, covering all the years from 1970 to 79. I think I did a great job with the song selection, it's the best of everything, hard rock, pop, ballads, country, soul, disco. There are a few tunes I left off that I could have included, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

04-10-2016, 08:20 PM	#3
dakert Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 10, 2007 Location: Altoona PA Posts: 3,411	I still have a bunch of K-Tel lps from the 70s and the best thing is I still have a record player, actually 2. I like them all but one of my favorites is Music Machine which has songs from 1976/77 and 2 bonus posters--Andy Gibb and KC and The Sunshine Band

04-10-2016, 11:45 PM	#6
Edison Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 01, 2006 Posts: 2,430	Ah, a blast from the past. Got out 25 Rock Revival Greats (1972), and gave it a spin. Little scratchy, but that's..kinda groovy.

04-11-2016, 12:55 AM	#7
IllinoisTVFan Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 22, 2011 Location: South of Chicago Posts: 4,072	I used to buy these and the other ones from Ronco. Sometimes you got a good deal and it was the original artists. Other times it was a rip off. If I recall, there was a studio group called "The Original Artists" so an album could say "sung by the original artists". These would be like the Now That's What I Call Music CDs of today because most albums only had a few hit songs and the rest were filler so the compilations were good. Plus my parents were more likely to give me money for these instead of an actual album where I would listen to 1-3 songs.

04-11-2016, 02:18 AM	#8
Hawkee Michael Fassbender Fanatic Moderator Forum Star Join Date: Jan 17, 2016 Location: California Posts: 10,769	Do you remember a children's album that was made by K-Tel Records that was called The Ronald McDonald All-Star Party? My teacher had this album on cassette form and it featured Ronald McDonald singing songs with a kids group which was The All-Star Party and it featured guest appearences by the cast of Sesame Street Bugs Bunny Shamu The Whale from Sea World Strawberry Shortcake and many other cartoon favorites and this K-Tel album was a favorite of me and my classmates when I was in school. The only K-Tel album I have in my music collection features Tina Turner singing country music and also features Gloria Gaynor as well. Bestie

04-11-2016, 02:42 AM	#9
Edward216 Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 18, 2014 Location: Central Time Zone Posts: 4,630	Oh yeah I remember K-Tel records, of course I was still a kid then. Basically compilation albums of the most popular songs at the time. But I never owned any myself. I actually did a search for K-Tel records on Amazon one time just out of curiosity. And I was surprised that many of the albums were still available. Interestingly, most of them were only available on vinyl record and not cd. There were a couple that you could find on cd but not many. Ed.

04-11-2016, 08:57 PM	#10
UMFaninMD I love a mystery Senior Member Join Date: Apr 19, 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,287	My grandparents had a K-Tel album of late 70's hits. Two of the songs I remember on it were Talking in Your Sleep by Crystal Gale and Love is in the Air by John Paul Young.

04-12-2016, 10:04 PM	#12
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,073	Those K-Tel albums were actually a rip off because they would put shortened versions of some songs on the albums. I imagine maybe they did this so they could fit 10 or 11 songs on one side of an album, but still it was a rip off. Back in the day though, most people probably didn't care or notice.

04-14-2016, 03:17 AM	#14
Edward216 Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 18, 2014 Location: Central Time Zone Posts: 4,630	I remembered too that there was another company back then that basically did the same thing of making compilation albums of the latest hits. It was called Sessions Records. I think they sold a lot of albums too. Ed.