In case anyone has been dying to know whether or not major (and legit minor) labels did fake-hits LPs... well, now you know. Here's an RCA budget LP of hit copies, all performed by "The RCA Camden Rockers." I wonder if they were "Stars of Radio, TV, Stage and Screen" working under another name. Or, possibly, the famous budget outfit known as "Vocals and Orchestra by Popular Artists." The RCA Camden Rockers. Bet RCA dreamed that one up on the spot. "How about the 'RCA Camden Rockers'?" "Why not? This is just a budget issue, so... sure. Whatever."
I like the bit of the three teenage girls listening to The Great Artie Shaw on (surprise!) the RCA Camden label. It's the one lying on the floor, to the left of the sleeveless LP. (Record jackets never showed people handling records properly...) Of course, a junk label wouldn't have pushed the jacket photo toward the bottom, as here. Anywhere, here's the LP they're inexplicably grooving to:
I can't identify the other three jackets (there's an album leaning up against the girl in pajamas). RCA has taken a type of scene common to cheap-label issues, only with some "cheesecake" added. The gal on the hammock-style chair is saying, "We're on the cover of The Biggest Hits of '59, and we're listening to Artie Shaw?" And those haircuts...
So, you might figure that these RCA (Camden) fake hits are bound to be a notch or two above the junk-label product, and you would be... wrong. The opening fake, Venus, sounds like the one put out by Synthetic Plastics Company (SPC), featured in this post. As in, the very same track. When I have a moment to do track comparisons, I imagine I'll find some other numbers lifted (legally, I'm sure) from the junk labels. This all confirms my feeling that RCA never put tons of pride into its budget line. That didn't prevent a lot of great stuff from coming out on RCA Camden, but RCA clearly didn't give a hoot on a release of this type.
At any rate, some excellent fakes, topped by I Need Your Love Tonight, which is graced by terrific Elvis-sound-alike singing--long before that became an industry. And Hawaiian Wedding Song features an expert impersonation of Andy Williams--something that never became a trend. (No cut on Andy, who was a superb vocalist.) Pink Shoe Laces sounds different from the Tops label version, though it could have been borrowed from another cheapo label or group thereof. Speaking of Tops, even on its cheap LPs, it managed to spring for twelve tracks, yet RCA only gives us ten here. The old you're-not-paying-for-a-full-album-so-you're-not-going-to-get-one attitude. Columbia did the same bit. Then, later, came the post-Endless Summer Capitol reissues of the Beach Boys catalog, with two tracks omitted per LP. But what has any of this to do with Artie Shaw? Why would three teen gals at a slumber party be spinning Artie on that groove-destroying portable? It pains me to think of what players like that did to LPs, especially since I routinely behold the kind of damage they did.
Let the RCA Camden Rockers make your Fourth a blast (and, hopefully, not a bomb). Best word play I can mange at less than three hours to 7/4/20--sorry!
DOWNLOAD: The Biggest Hits of '59, Volume 1--RCA Camden Rockers
Lee