documenting MFP's fab covers albums!

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Welcome to this online archive of all that is HITS and HOT HITS - Music For Pleasure's classic album series of the 1960s and 1970s. Each album has its own page documenting the songs and artwork, and we also include an outline of overseas editions where known.

Any album in the series can be accessed either by visiting one of the main pages listed to the left, then clicking on the LP thumbnail - or you can jump around using the drop-down menus by hovering your mouse over one of the categories then selecting your chosen album.

If you prefer, you can "read through" the site by starting with Hits '67 and clicking "Next" on each successive page which will eventually take you to the end. And don't forget the Song List, if you want to look up a specific track and find out which album it's on.

This is an unofficial site. We are not connected to Music For Pleasure in any way - we just love them!

We begin with a little overview...

History

The story of Hot Hits - indeed the story of the budget hit covers album itself - begins with Australian Bill Wellings. Pondering how he might get a start in the record business without star names to record, he hit upon the idea of releasing anonymous cover versions of popular songs, which could be sold more cheaply than the hit versions. To this end, he created the Top 6 label in early 1962, and flogged his wares to retailers from the boot of his car. 

Top 6 became a hit format, consisting of half a dozen cheap tunes packed onto one EP. Top 6 consolidated its early success in February 1964, when Pye - whose studios were being used to record the tracks - became the label's distributor (as reported in Billboard, left).

Under Pye's wing, the EPs became "Top Six" (rather than "6"), and significantly, through 1964, parallel LPs were also issued - four in total - marking the real start of this format. The first is pictured right.

The EPs continued to flow after the LPs were shelved, the Pye-distributed editions numbering upwards of 40 by 1967, when the series finally folded. The fact was, Bill Wellings had a better idea up his sleeve and was intent on conquering the LP market (where the real money was) instead.

Wellings commenced by branching into a new label - Top Ten Spectacular - which was also the title of his first (and probably only) self-made covers LP (right).

Hits...

No sooner had Top Ten Spectacular appeared than Wellings hooked up with MFP, a label recently created by EMI and book publisher Paul Hamlyn, intent on selling budget-priced LPs. And so a deal was quickly done, MFP commencing their Hits series straight away, and in doing so, unwittingly creating a whole popular music sub-industry.

The first covers album issued by MFP was called Hits '67 and rounded up several recent hit songs as anonymous soundalikes, with four tracks pulled in from Top Ten Spectacular. The only indication of where these recordings originated was in the small print: "A BWD Production". (BWD was Bill Wellings' company - his initials plus D for his wife, Dee (Doris).)

A short while after, Smash Hits appeared, and so a series was underway. So successful was it that within a year, several imitation series had been launched, with labels such as Marble Arch, Rediffusion and Fontana all elbowing their way in. The real competition though was Top of the Pops, launched in mid-1968.

Top of the Pops not only had a groovy name, but revolutionised the sleeve design with a scantily clad model on every issue. MFP carried on in their own way, but Top of the Pops was stealing the limelight. At the start of 1970, MFP's Hits '70 appeared with its old-style sleeve design, looking distinctly pale against Top of the Pops' current release (left). Clearly for MFP, a re-think was needed...

In 1970, MFP gave in and released Hot Hits, basing the cover art on their rivals' template. This though was the remaking of the MFP Hits LP, and the series would continue with volume after volume, looking good and selling well. In 1971, with Hot Hits at volume 6, budget LPs were accepted into the official chart and the album crashed it at number 1 on the first day. A couple of subsequent editions also went top 3, as MFP stood shoulder to shoulder with Top of the Pops.

By now, Hot Hits had pushed the cover designs further. During 1971 they began using location shots of the models engaged in a different sport on each LP. The photography was top-notch and the lens men were duly credited on the sleeves - Brian Ward, Jack Wood, Peter Meech, Terry Beard, Dick Swayne and Peter Marriott all pitching in. Meantime, MFP also indulged in the end-of-year review idea, compiling annual retrospectives packed with highlights from the series. Then in 1973, Bill Wellings decided to end his work with MFP, and focused instead on other areas of the music business. Hot Hits was currently at installment 20.

Afterwards

With Wellings' departure, the series came to a halt but why MFP didn't simply go it alone is not obvious. Once this successful series stopped appearing,  MFP hardly bothered with the format again. They attempted a new series in 1974-5 under the Chart Choice banner, but it stalled after only three albums. Top of the Pops by contrast continued to go from strength to strength, with scarcely any credible rivals on the scene.

There are a few odd MFP releases in the second half of the 1970s which generally fit the format. Smash Hits '75 revived the old end-of-year round-up, but the contents were all bought in from Beatt International. It was followed a full year later by Smash Hits '76, but this album was on the sub-label Fanfare, who also hosted Hits '77, which would be the final release of its kind from MFP.

After Hot Hits, Bill Wellings went on to produce a couple of London musicals. He is also believed to have formed the group Electric Coconut, whose Australian album, Popcorn, is shown left, and which includes an array of cheesy synthesiser instrumentals. (It was released as Go-Moog in the UK, with the act named Elektrik Cokernut.)

Sadly, Bill Wellings died in 2010, but over the years, his Hot Hits legacy continued to gain popularity. In 2001, a 45-track double CD was released on the RPM label, celebrating this classic strand of 1970s pop (right). It features fantastic sleeve notes by budget LP expert Tim Joseph.

History shows that the MFP albums, from Hits '67 through to Hits '77 make for a tidy count of forty LPs over the span of exactly a decade. This website gives details for each and every one of them.