January was always traditionally the month when Acrobat came out with its latest series of British Hit Parades collections, but that process was halted by the change in the copyright laws a few years back which meant that the series had to stop at 1962.

 

However, with a couple of years of our British Hit Parades B sides still to be compiled and released, along with the development of our series of 4-CD sets in the America’s Greatest Hits, Greatest Country Hits and R&B Hits Collections for each year in the 1950s, early ‘60s and also back into the ‘40s, and our expanding selection of US Top 100 and Hot 100 anthologies, we still like to have a chart-focused release in January as well as releasing collections using these themes throughout the year.

 In January 2020, Acrobat is releasing four chart-based products:

 

America's Greatest Hits 1947       Various Artists   (ACQCD7149)

This great value 98-track 4-CD set comprises every record which peaked in the Top 10 of the Best Sellers andthe Top 7 of the Disc Jockey and Juke Box charts during the year, . For reasons of space, it excludes those records were still in the chart at the start of the year, but which peaked in the Top 10 in 1946, and so are included in our existing 1946 collection. It makes for an intriguing and very entertaining musical snapshot of the music scene as the world continued to emerge from the aftermath of WWII. It includes a 15,000+ word booklet with a commentary on every record as well as full discographical and chart information.

 

The Greatest Country Hits of 1960      Various Artists   (ACQCD7150)

This great value 114-track 4-CD anthology includes just about every record which peaked in the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot C&W Sides during that year.   Despite the fact that the pop landscape had been transformed over the preceding years by rock ‘n’ roll and its aftermath, and with the new decade the British Invasion was only two or three years away, the charts still had a familiar look about them for country fans, with many traditional established country stars well-represented, although the smoother Nashville sound certainly characterised many of the hits, and there were  some hot new kids on the block  along with some highly collectable obscurities among the many one-hit wonders. It’s a fascinating and entertaining musical snapshot of the country scene as it entered a new decade It contains a 15,000+ word booklet featuring background notes on every record.

 

The 'Twist' Hot 100     January 13th 1962              (ACQCD7151)

As adjuncts to our highly popular “America’s Greatest Hits” series of collections for each calendar year in the 50s and early ‘60s, we have already produced collections based on landmark moments in the Billboard charts. The collection celebrates a notable chart event of January 1962, namely when Chubby Checker’s record “The Twist” topped the US pop charts for the second time, signalling the approaching peak of the worldwide Twist dance craze – he had first made No.1 well over a year earlier, in September 1960, since which time the dance had started to catch on all round the world. This collection comprises just about all the records in the Billboard Hot 100 of that week (one record is unavailable for copyright reasons) and it provides a fascinating and evocative snapshot of the music scene at what was already a dynamic and transitional time, with The Beatles’ first UK hit only nine months away. It includes seven Twist hits which underline the popularity of the dance. It contains a 15,000+ word booklet featuring background notes on every record.

The 1952 British Hit Parade - The B Sides                Various Artists   (ACRCG712)

This CD set completes the process of going back through the 1950s and releasing B Side collections of our British Hit Parades series, and is a companion edition to the original 1952 British Hit Parade release. It comprises the B sides of the chart entries that appeared in the 1952 A sides set.

Through the year, we will be releasing more similar collection, especially filling in gaps in our catalogue with America’s Greatest Hits 4-CD sets for years in the ‘40s and early ‘50s, along with Greatest Country Hits and R&B Hits for various years during the post-war decades through to 1962 where we don’t already have collections available.

 

We know from e-mails we get from collectors that, alongside our regular single-artist anthologies, these chart-based products provide a particular kind of enjoyment, and we appreciate your continued support for what we do.