First British Hit Parade: The B Sides (Various Artists)

• Track Listing

Acrobat's British Hit Parade series has been established for well over a decade as a unique range of completist original artist collections comprising every record that appeared in the UK record sales charts in every year since the charts began in 1952. In recent years Acrobat has introduced parallel collections which consist of the B sides of all the records included in the main compilations, and these have proved hugely popular with collectors, since many of the records concerned have never been available on CD and are very rarely heard. This single CD set effectively completes the series, and is the companion product to our existing First British Hit Parade (ACRCG 711) and features the B sides of the tracks on that collection, which comprised all the records which appeared in the newly-established Top 15 British record sales chart, first published in November 1952. In this pre-rock 'n' roll era, B sides tended not be afterthoughts dashed off at the end of a session, and were generally afforded exactly the same time and treatment as the A sides, with full orchestral arrangements and productions, so these are high quality recordings, featuring some of the illustrious names from what was often called the golden age of popular music. As ever, it's an eclectic snapshot of an ignored but fascinating aspect of the pop business, including an in-depth booklet with background notes on every record. We are sure British Hit Parades enthusiasts will want this album to complete their collections of the series.