Sony Music
Australia’s latest “
Australia only” 2CD compilation has been released to celebrate what would have been Elvis’ 75
th birthday. EIN put on the headphones and details what is right and what is wrong with what could have been a special release.
While the audio Mastering is not credited on the sleeve notes the quality is just fine and appears to be the Vic Anesini 2007 Masters as used on "The King" etc.
"New" greatest hits tracks that are included such as Do the Clam and (Such An) Easy Question are the same as on the Vic Anesini 2007 Elvis At The Movies. Similarly Ain't That Lovin' You Baby is the fabulous quality of Kevan Budd's work on 'Elvis Gold Records - Volume 2' although mastered at a little too high a volume here, presumably to help make it match the sixties tracks on the same CD.
(EIN Note: A thread on the FECC message boards suggests the Masters used are not the most recent)
The cover artwork is attractive as are the two discs – one black and gold, one black and silver; the discs inspired by the original record disc from Elvis’s first LP, Elvis Presley.
The inclusion of hits peculiar to Australia such as Do the Clam, Judy and (Such an) Easy Question is a major selling point for the release, but where are gems such as the always overlooked but sublime Ask Me (a #1 hit in Victoria in the pre National chart period); the poignantly sung There’s Always Me; soul classic Any Day Now; and uptempo hits, Rubberneckin’ and Patch It Up? Using these at the expense of several other “well overdone” hits would have really given the release a much greater different feel to the other “greatest hits” compiles. The track listing is a case of what could have been!
The 20 page booklet is uninspiring. The liner notes comprise basic song, songwriter and chart position for each song and a more detailed description by chart expert, Gavin Ryan. As a result there are many wasted pages. Combining the song details with Ryan’s discussion would have been a more efficient use of pages and allowed the producers to include significantly more archival material.
The booklet design is basic with far too much “white space” on those pages providing the details of each of the 50 tracks, giving them a ‘cheap’ feel. A number of visuals are either irrelevant to the release (e.g. Teddy Bear ‘EP’ cover – did they forget the release was about singles??) or could have been replaced with actual Australian written/published pr (e.g. manybetter options than using the New York Times flyer exist); while a number are reproductions of reissues, not the original release singles; and, generally, higher quality visuals were easily available had the producers gone to the effort.
An important “missing” element is that given the nature of the release the booklet should have included how “Aussies” felt about Elvis and his music. The liner notes lack that sense of emotion, one which would have added appreciably to the narrative and made it more than bland, descriptive text.
The liner notes contributed by chart expert, Gavin Ryan, are good, although the licence taken with chart placings needs to be noted. Despite what is suggested there was no National chart in Australia in 1956 when Heartbreak Hotel reached #3, nor was there one in 1965 when Do The Clam allegedly reached #4. The first recognised Top 40 chart was published in Australia’s iconic music publication, Go-Set, in 1966.
Ryan’s chart placings are taken from a new National chart devised a few years ago by the David Kent organisation. Kent was responsible for the long running Kent Report, but when it created its own ‘historic’ National chart early in the new millennium it raised questions given the subjectivity applied to determine the placings. In the context of the liner notes accompanying Elvis Presley 50 Australian Top Ten Hits, to suggest there was a National chart between 1956 and 1965 is misleading and revisionist history!
Do the Clam is a good case in point. It reached #6 on the NSW (Sydney) chart and #12 in Melbourne, yet Kent ranked it as reaching #4 nationally. This is very suspect (even with the song’s #1 placing in Brisbane) as the vast majority of sales affecting a national placing come from the two most populous states, NSW and Victoria. In the mid 1960s NSW and Victoria made up approximately 64% of the Australian population, while Queensland made up only around 13%. Even if there had been a National chart in 1965 it would have taken a mighty sales effort in all other States to push Do The Clam anywhere near #4!
Similarly, the 1956 recording, Heartbreak Hotel, which broke Elvis globally, peaked at #3 on the NSW (Sydney) chart but not on a National chart.
Not surprisingly, a number of Elvis identities and fans in Australia have asked why the liner notes were not written by a knowledgeable Elvis fan? EIN recommends Sony Music Australia look closely at the excellent booklets put out by Canetoad Records Australia Ltd. Well researched, informative and with ample archival material, they are the way to produce ‘special release’ booklets.
Sony Music Australia is supporting Elvis Presley 50 Australian Top Ten Hits by TV and radio promotion although, so far, little TV promotion has been noticed.
(EIN Note: It appears Sony Music Australia has revised its marketing strategy timetable. More on this on EIN later this week)
Missed opportunities – For Sony Music Australia a number of great opportunities went begging with this release:
Booklet: High quality and relevant visuals should have been essential. Important elements of the original proposal to Sony in 1999-2000 for an Australian Top Ten Hits compilation were that the booklet would include a listing of Elvis’ Gold and Platinum Awards in Australia and reproductions of relevant reviews and articles from the Australian music press as well as reproductions of National Top 40 Charts. These would have been effective and simple ‘value adds’ to the compile.
Marketing: The album was released for what would have been Elvis’ 75th birthday. This coincides with the world's biggest Elvis Birthday celebration, the Annual Parkes Elvis Festival in country New South Wales. With 11,000 Elvis fans invading Parkes you would think strategic marketing in Sony Australia would have automatically realised a golden opportunity existed. By attaching a 'Parkes 2010 Elvis Birthday' sticker and the album would have been the perfect souvenir at a price everyone could afford. This could have been a Number One Australian album!
Instead the album was nowhere to be seen the whole birthday Festival. The Parkes organisers had not been contacted about it, the main Parkes record shop didn't know about it!
As the bulk of the fans in Parkes were the “greatest hits” type buyers, the possibility of selling 4,000 or more copies of the album in a community celebration packed with Elvis, Elvis fans and more Elvis, was on offer. All it would have taken was a Sony Music Australia stand, some large promotional posters with give-away competitions at the “Parkes Main Stage” and available Club events.
With January 8th being so close to Christmas, SONY also stupidly missed the possible, and all-too-obvious, cross-promotion to the Christmas sales!
And for some strange reason, Sony Music Australia failed to involve the major Australian Elvis fan clubs in the development of the album, resulting in missed marketing opportunities and contributing to the album's flawed track selection and inadequate booklet.
Also, in 2010, point of sale promotion seems a much better option than radio advertising in generating sales.
(EIN Note: Since preparing our review we have received a report of a promotional stand for the album in one Sanity store in Melbourne)
Verdict: Elvis Presley 50 Australian Top Ten Hits could have been a special release. However, it is flawed by inadequate track selection, 'basic' booklet content and missed marketing opportunities. This is inexcusable given the release has apparently been two years in the making.
Comment on this review
FEEDBACK
Barry McLean: Wow, after reading the article -, it seems that the people involved in this issue, did not make much of an effort to check things out, and make sure they got it right.
Freya: I agree with your review. This album should have been much, much better. The sound is good but this was the chance to give the fans something special with the booklet and song listing.
Sam: It's about time Sony Aust. put out an Aussie album.
Gerald Michels: Bought this release for its varied and somewhat unique track list. Love it! Great sound. As for the things certain people are complaining about I don't care about that stuff. My only concern is the music and it's great. Besides any collection that doesn't include Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel is 5 stars in my book.
Jeremy: The sleeve notes are very dry and fact laden. The statement about Jailhouse Rock..."The other single from the movie was 'Treat Me Nice' which made the lower part of the Top 50" is plainly wrong since there was only the one single from the film and 'Treat Me Nice' was simply the B-Side to the title song.
Elvis's first film 'Love Me Tender' was originally called 'The Reno Brothers', however the film had been re-titled soon after Elvis recorded the classic ballad and 3 weeks before the single was released. The film was not re-named, as stated in the sleeve notes, because the title song had already become a hit before the film's release.
Similarly, while Elvis knew of Tony Martin's 1950 version of 'It's Now Or Never' it was certainly not the first recorded version as stated. Italian recordings date back to 1901 with perhaps the best-known version being recorded by the great Enrico Caruso who died in 1921. The first known English version was recorded by Charles Harrison in 1915.
Barry McLean: Wow, after reading the article it seems that the people involved in this issue, did not make much of an effort to check things out, and make sure they got it right.
Mark Sawyer: At least it's got Edge of Reality. Any interesting variations on the album?
EIN Comment: Not that we can tell.
Jim McRae: A great mistake with the booklet and where was the advertising? I saw the same 30 second trailer on tv that was on this web site. Not having the set on sale in Parkes was a complete stuff up. What was BMG thinking about (or were they just ignorant to this potential market?)
Still it was great to have an Aussie only issue and they should be congratulated for that (but not too much else). I also failed to see any posters or fliers to promote this issue in record shops etc. Still Elvis rocks on.
Bob Hayden: When I first heard about this release, it amazed me that a lot of lot of the Australian Elvis Fan clubs and Elvis Collectors knew nothing about the release at all.
There were numerous reports on overseas websites, when the un-official announcement was made here in Australia, and it was with interest that I ordered copies from Elvis Australia Website to see what the product would be like.
Over many years there have been Australian made only cds released, and all were excellent, right down to the most important selling point for me “The Booklet”.
I am no expert in re-recordings and found that the sound quality on this release was very good indeed.
The selection of songs, left me aghast to say the least, but the booklet, except for the front and back cover, gave no feeling or relation to the 75 th Birthday Celebrations at all, especially from Australian Elvis Fans.
Going through the book I have made the following observations:-
The pictures on page 4 are all re-issue singles. Issued some (7) years after the original songs were released. Mint copies of these covers are easily obtained from serious Elvis collectors, but in reality should not have been considered full stop. They have no relevance, and if one wanted to be picky only 4 songs from the entire series of ten records released in the re-issued paper covers (known as portrait covers) could be referred to in a small way.
A dullish black/gold/white record label displayed on page 5, could have been replaced with the superb promotional release 45rpm which was issued in “White and Black”, and is a collector’s item these days worldwide. For the very first Elvis record to be released in Australia, more ideas and thoughts should have been sought.
The picture cover on page 6 is far below the excellence that was required. Many Australian Collectors have “MINT” copies of this cover, and one of those should have been used, not this creased and torn copy, that I noticed as soon as I saw the picture. Collectors would have cringed when noticing this-I did.
The paper clipping on page 10 has no reference to Australia or the project what so ever. There are some beautiful Australian COLOURED paper and book reviews that could have been used in lieu of the American paper article.
Inside the back cover, the picture of an extended play 45 rpm cover released some 12 years after the original “Teddy Bear” single was released cannot be explained. This “EP” maybe be keenly sought by overseas collectors, but it also has no relevance to the project. If careful consideration had been given, there we many alternatives that could have been used. I agree completely what EIN wrote in regards this picture included.
The booklet is well below par and contains many things that are totally irrelevant and do not enhance the release at all.
The Australian feelings that could have been included (seeing this was a Special Australian Birthday Only issue) are notably absent, and take a lot away from the booklet big-time. It is only the front and back cover that I really liked.
As I mentioned earlier, I cannot comment on the music, except to say that the average Elvis fan will like the music just like I did. I will leave others to decide that, but I would be very surprised if the co-producers had anything to do with the production of the music in the studio’s of Sony music Australia.
In regards comments on the sales/marketing aspects. Well this is something I am not an expert on, but as I live not far from Parkes, where the biggest Elvis Festival is held each year and especially on his birthday, I found in mind boggling that I could not buy a copy over the festive period. EIN’s comments are spot on.
That was the biggest let down for me as an Elvis fan, and more so a Collector and researcher of Elvis Australian releases since the late 50’s. Not a copy could be seen anywhere during the entire festival, but there was extensive back slapping on websites that I read. How did SONY miss the boat on that one? That has me stumped big-time. Maybe they did not seek further a field and get some of the Australian wide fan clubs to become involved, and send in their ideas and submissions. I am sure someone would have mentioned it, as Parkes is now becoming the biggest Elvis festival in the world.
EIN make a number of relevant points in their review, but one thing is for sure, I do not think the same errors will be made again, by the people who were involved with this release.
Finally, on my weekly Elvis radio show, the number of people who have rang in and mentioned to me they liked all the music, but the booklet left a lot to be desired. They also commented on the Australian charts referred to were non-existent, because when they were young, there were only local charts in the record shope and newspapers, not any national charts until the mid to late 60’s.
Freya: I thought the album was a good one until I read your review. I grew up in the 1950s and I agree there were no national top 40 charts and a lot of state charts. I would have liked to see the charts from then in the booklet.
Peter Werner: Personally I like the album and have no problems with it.
Kim Morrison: I was one of the collectors who contributed to the original proposal for this album to Sony BMG. I have also written to Sony BMG about their treatment of the fans and fan clubs in releasing the album like they have. Sony has not given me a reply. Our idea was a lot better than what they've put out. A big company thinks it can do what it wants well the top 40 shows they got it wrong. If they'd listened to the real fans theyd have had a big hit on their hands.
Col Davison: I agree about the track list and booklet they should have been better. The sound quality is very good. Ihaven't seen any of the advertised promotion for the album.
Jason Bruce: Good sounding album on my player. I don't really care about booklets and it looks ok to me. Why the big fuss?
Geri Walker: My brother John provided input to the original propsal to Sony for this release. He is unwell and has asked me to relay his feelings that what has been released. John believes it is nowhere as good as it could have been. The song differentiation could have been better and the booklet could have been much better.
John wants to know why Sony Music Australia ignored the original proposal for an inferior one?
He also wants to know why the Coalition of Australian fan clubs were not involved in the concept and release of the album.
He is not holding his breath for an answer from Sony.
Aussie compile relegated to "Clearance Bin" after less than a month:
In another example of the failure of Elvis Presley 50 Australian Top Ten Hits 1956-1977, major Aussie online seller, Chaos Music, has relegated the double album to its clearance bin where it can now be bought for only A$13.00! (News, Source: Chaos.com, 10 Feb 2010)
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