String of Hits 2

[iefje]

Change Of Address only contained four original tracks, and three of those were instantly forgettable.

I personally don't agree. I think the four original tracks are all worthwhile additions to every Shadows fan's collection.

[drakula63]

It seems to me that the Shadows didn't start to enjoy really good record sales again until Moonlight Shadows in 1986. This was an all-covers album with a sleeve illustration that was certainly the most eye-catching and memorable since String of Hits/Another String of Hot Hits. I think that the cover art is so important for an album, especially then, and Hits Right Up Your Street (1981) suffered from a bad title and bad cover design and art. Both XXV and Guardian Angel were mediocre albums in both appearance and content... I actually think that, in '83, The Shadows Silver Album probably outsold XXV.

Change of Address never quite hit the highs of String of Hits, for me, but Midnight Creepin' is a highlight... as is their version of Equinox Part V. I'd be willing to bet that an all-new String of Hits album in 1980 would easily have been top ten.

[Fenderman]

Change Of Address only contained four original tracks, and three of those were instantly forgettable.

I would tend to disagree as i think the tracks are very pleasant. Midnight Creepin' probably being my personal favourite.
However i agree with the previous poster that they suffered from poor album covers, in the first half of the 80's. XXV has a terrible cover and is not the best album they made. I like the Reflection cover which is quite eye catching.
My Pickwick CD cover for Hits right up your street features a street with guitars in the sky but i don't think that's the original cover.

[Moderne]

The Change of Address LP was recorded at Abbey Road - any significance in this? After that they reverted to Brian's Honeyhill and/or Hank's Nivram Studios. Is this because Honeyhill/Nivram studios weren't ready...or because Abbey Road was still the EMI Artists' studio? I know Brian's '70s DJM LPs were recorded at The Music Centre in Wembley. Looking at the String of Hits and Another String of Hot Hits covers...I think you may be overthinking the cover art thing, Chris. For me, String of Hits was the beginning of the end...and yet, commercially, it was the foundation for another ten years in The Shadows' career; a lucrative period in terms of LP sales and tours which they probably wouldn't have been able to achieve otherwise. Yes, String of Hits was a No.1 album - after the ITV strike ended and the adverts for it finally appeared on telly. "You bought Twenty Golden Greats so you obviously still like Apache, Wonderful Land and FBI...but now it's covers all the way."

Outdigo was the highlight of Change of Address for me - not helped by the incorrect writing credit which said that it was a Marvin/Welch/Bennett arrangement. Hello Mr W.A.M. was the arrangement, of course, and was the play-out music after every Shadows concert I was lucky enough to see through the '80s.

[drakula63]

Yeah, I might be overthinking it... but I do tend to scrutinise things and I have a very meticulous way of looking at things, to the point that I try to figure out patterns and the process that lies behind things happening, etc... etc... etc... I've always thought that the cover art for Another String... was a bit elaborate for what was somehow a lesser album. There were indeed some very good cover paintings for the MFP albums in the 70s (Tom Chantrell did a great one for a Geoff Love Bond themes album and a couple of sci-fi themes albums a year or two later), but I'm not sure the same level of care and detail went into el cheapo album covers in the 80s. Another String was, as has been stated, more of an MFP type album (like 'Rock On With...) rather than a full-priced album. I am just imagining myself as the head of EMI Records in about February 1980 as String of Hits gets to the top... what do I do? I think 'we need another one of these!' and give the Shads or Brian Goode a call. And then get onto the art department ASAP and tell them to get something worked out for the front cover... confident that it's going to happen. If the Shads had been having top ten albums for the previous decade then maybe things would have been different, but SoH came from out of nowhere and must have got everyone thinking. To my way of thinking, another album along the same lines would have been the obvious follow-up.

Looking back, I can actually remember seeing the advert for it in the paper and assuming, immediately, that it was their 'new' album. I can even remember riding into town on my bike (with my brother) and buying it. It fell slightly below my expectations but, as I've said, some of the tracks were new to me so I wasn't too disappointed! I am reminded, for some strange reason, of Lew Grade selling The Persuaders! TV series to American television, on the strength of it starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, before having actually asked the actors in question of they wanted to do it!

Anyway... both Moonlight Shadows and Reflection seemed to follow the SoH formula and enjoyed more success than any Polydor album that preceded them. I agree that things were pretty much set in stone after SoH and that was probably the inevitable way forward. SoH probably saved their career and gave them the bargaining power to get a good deal from Polydor, Sadly, I don't think that any of the Polydor albums were as good as String of Hits.

[Fenderman]

Parisienne Walkways was a standout track but might have preferred if Hank had played it a bit more heavier but was still a great track along with Cavatina which had already been a single.

[MikeAB]

Thank goodness for the arrival of iPods and personal playlists. By taking your favourites off all the cover albums some terrific 'virtual' albums can be made up. In fact I never play any Shads or Hank album in the original track lay out especially 'Sound Of' as I don't like a lot of it (vocals especially), for example adding Brazil where it should be with the best of 'Dance With' etc. Some 25 playlists like that are on my iPod (old fashioned I know but I much prefer it to streaming).

[drakula63]

I'm actually glad that they put an original, group-composed track on String of Hits, as it must have meant some pretty healthy composer royalties when the album sold so well. If Black is Black was taken off this album, then it provided a good reason - possibly the ONLY reason for some - to by Another String...

[iefje]

Thank goodness for the arrival of iPods and personal playlists. By taking your favourites off all the cover albums some terrific 'virtual' albums can be made up. In fact I never play any Shads or Hank album in the original track lay out especially 'Sound Of' as I don't like a lot of it (vocals especially), for example adding Brazil where it should be with the best of 'Dance With' etc. Some 25 playlists like that are on my iPod (old fashioned I know but I much prefer it to streaming).

I am probably more old-fashioned than that. When I listen to music in my car, I either use the built-in CD-player, using only self-made CDRs or the USB-port, using an USB-stick with self-made MP3 or WAVE files from the original CDs. When I listen to music in my living room, I exclusively use the original 'physical' music carriers vinyl and CD.

I find streaming services a very expensive way of listening to music, depending on what you are listening to. I don't want to pay monthly subscription fees, just to listen to my favourite music. I'd rather invest once in a nice LP or CD and enjoy listening to that.

[iefje]

But going back on topic, in the 1980's my father bought the Dutch MFP pressing of "Another String Of Hot Hits", which was issued in 1984.