World Top 12 (1970 - 1975)
“World Top 12” was almost entirely released on the Flag label, which was a subsidiary of Boulevard. Boulevard were part of Allied Records, and came under the wider umbrella of Saga, a cut-price classical and pop enterprise based in Kensal Road in London.
Boulevard started the series with the first two volumes on the Boulevard label itself, and they were both also made available in coloured vinyl. They followed up with a somewhat premature end-of-year collection which essentially re-issued volume 1. Flag’s decision to follow volume 3 with volume 34 brought the volume numbers in line with the catalogue sequence, and may have been inadvertent - although they stuck with it for the rest of the series. Thus, it may appear that 49 volumes were released – but of course it was only 19.
These recordings overlap extravagantly with other covers albums of the day, particularly the “Pick of the Pops” / “Parade of Pops” stable. Volume 2 for example, exactly matches “Pick of the Pops” volume 5 on Deacon, while Volume 11 corresponds with Windmill’s “Parade of Pops” volume 6. Meanwhile, the "Hits" / "Smash Hits" 8-tracks (see separate page) seem to have adopted these albums for their contents during 1973 - at least two of those collections exactly match LPs listed below.
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Tape editions CLICK THE ICON |
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Spin-off EPs CLICK THE ICON |
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Overseas editions CLICK THE ICON |
16 Hit Songs (BLVD 4901) Jun 1970
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In The Summertime / Question / Groovin' With Mr Bloe / Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha / All Right Now / Honey Come Back / Cottonfields / Love Of The Common People / Lola / Lady D'Arbanville / Neanderthal Man / Yellow River / Daughter Of Darkness / American Woman / Up Around The Bend / Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours
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Volume 2 (BLVD 4902) Nov 1970
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(Blame It) On The Pony Express / It's Only Make Believe / I Hear You Knocking / When I'm Dead And Gone / I'll Be There / Snowbird / Cracklin' Rosie / Home Lovin' Man / San Bernadino / Nothing Rhymed / Woodstock / We've Only Just Begun
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Volume 3 (FLAG 033) Mar 1971
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Rose Garden / My Sweet Lord / (Where Do I Begin) Love Story / Dream Baby / It's Impossible / Jack In The Box / Hot Love / Another Day / Baby Jump / Sweet Caroline / My Little One / If Not For You Comments: This album exactly corresponds with “Pick of the Pops volume 6” on the Deacon label, which credits the recordings as “A Hensley Music Production”.
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Volume 34 (FLAG 034) Jun 1971
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Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep / I Did What I Did For Maria / Knock Three Times / Don't Let It Die / Co-Co / I Am... I Said / Banner Man / I'm Gonna Run Away From You / Pied Piper / Me And You And A Dog Named Boo / If You Could Read My Mind / Black And White Comments: This LP is number 4 in the series but is billed as volume 34, in line with its catalogue number. This anomaly would never be corrected; all volume numbers from here on are 30 ahead of their correct numbers.
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Volume 35 (FLAG 035) Sep 1971
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Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum / I Believe (In Love) / Cousin Norman / It's Too Late / Another Time Another Place / Move On Up / Freedom Come Freedom Go / Hey Girl Don't Bother Me / What Are You Doing Sunday / Bangla-Desh / Let Your Yeah Be Yeah / Butterfly |
Volume 36 (FLAG 036) Dec 1971
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Sing A Song Of Freedom / Theme From Shaft / Soley Soley / Something Tells Me (Something Is Gonna Happen Tonight) / No Matter How I Try / Banks Of The Ohio / I Just Can't Help Believing / Is This The Way To Amarillo / Sleepy Shores / Jeepster / Tokoloshe Man / I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing Comments: This album was also released as an 8-track cartridge on the Opus label (8T 3133). The cartridge was issued in both black and white plastic shells.
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Volume 37 (FLAG 037) Feb 1972
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Telegram Sam / Have You Seen Her / Storm In A Teacup / My World / Poppa Joe / Day After Day / Baby I'm A Want You / American Pie / Son Of My Father / All I Ever Need Is You / Where Did Our Love Go / Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are) |
Volume 38 (FLAG 038) Jun 1972
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Metal Guru / Circles / Supersonic Rocket Ship / Little Bit Of Love / Little Willy / Oh Girl / Join Together / Puppy Love / Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day / Rockin' Robin / Song Sung Blue / Take Me Bak 'Ome |
Volume 39 (FLAG 039) Aug 1972
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Love Theme From 'The Godfather' / Layla / 10538 Overture / School's Out / Seaside Shuffle / All The Young Dudes / Where Is The Love / You Wear It Well / Conquistador / Lean On Me / Ain't No Sunshine / Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby |
Volume 40 (FLAG 040) Sep 1972
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I Didn't Know I Loved You (Til I Saw You Rock 'N' Roll) / You're A Lady / Burning Love / Mouldy Old Dough / Wig-Wam Bam / Goodbye To Love / How Can I Be Sure / The Guitar Man / Donna / John I'm Only Dancing / In A Broken Dream / There Are More Questions Than Answers |
Volume 41 (FLAG 041) Dec 1972
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The Jean Genie / Hi Hi Hi / Help Me Make It Through The Night / Nights In White Satin / Sing Don't Speak / Desperate Dan / You're So Vain / Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand) / Always On My Mind / Big Seven / A Brand New Song / Relay Comments: This album has the same contents as Windmill’s “Parade of Pops” vol 6.
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Volume 42 (FLAG 042) Mar 1973
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Blockbuster / By The Devil (I Was Tempted) / Killing Me Softly With His Song / Gonna Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse / The Twelfth Of Never / Doctor My Eyes / 20th Century Boy / Part Of The Union / Feel The Need In Me / Cindy Incidentally / California Saga-California / Cum On Feel The Noize |
Volume 43 (FLAG 043) Jun 1973
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Can The Can / Albatross / Sweet Illusion / Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) / Rubber Bullets / Live And Let Die / The Groover / Welcome Home / Snoopy Vs The Red Baron / Born To Be With You / Can You Do It / Take Me To The Mardi Gras |
Volume 44 (FLAG 044) Aug 1973
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You Can Do Magic / I Think Of You / Summer (The First Time) / Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose / Bad Bad Boy / All Right Now / Fool / 48 Crash / (Dancing) On A Saturday Night / Like Sister And Brother / Young Love / Rising Sun |
Volume 45 (FLAG 045) Dec 1973
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The Show Must Go On / Radar Love / Take Me High / Solitaire / Teenage Rampage / How Come / Pool Hall Richard / Tiger Feet / Dance With The Devil / Star / The Love I Lost / Walk Right Back Comments: Same model as on the previous edition.
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Volume 46 (FLAG 046) Mar 1974
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I Get A Little Sentimental Over You / The Most Beautiful Girl / Billy Don't Be A Hero / Jet / Jambalaya (On The Bayou) / Who Do You Think You Are / Everyday / School Love / Remember Me This Way / Long Live Love / Smokin' In The Boys' Room / Who's In The Strawberry Patch With Sally |
Volume 47 (FLAG 047) Jun 1974
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There's A Ghost In My House / (You Keep Me) Hangin' On / Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me / Can't Get Enough / Hey Rock And Roll / Guilty / One Man Band / A Touch Too Much / The In Crowd / The Man In Black / Liverpool Lou / Go (Before You Break My Heart) |
Volume 48 (FLAG 048) Aug 1974
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I'm Leaving It (All) Up To You / Summerlove Sensation / Honey Honey / You You You / The Black Eyed Boys / Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe / Mr Soft / Kung Fu Fighting / Y Viva Espana / Rock 'N' Roll Lady / Love Me For A Reason / Just For You |
Volume 49 (FLAG 049) Jan 1975
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Now I'm Here / Never Can Say Goodbye / January / Promised Land / Please Mr Postman / Purely By Coincidence / Angie Baby / Boogie On Reggae Woman / Sugar Candy Kisses / Good Love Can Never Die / The Bump / Goodbye My Love Comments: unlike the rest of the series, this LP has yellow labels with red print. |
End-of-year collections
All of these collections were released on the Boulevard label, rather than Flag.
1970: 1970 Top 12 (BLVD 4060)
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In The Summertime / Love Of The Common People / Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha / All Right Now / Honey Come Back / Lola / Lady D'Arbanville / Neanderthal Man / Yellow River / Daughter Of Darkness / American Woman / Up Around The Bend Comments: Features Elton John. This is in fact a re-issue of standard LP volume 1 (“16 Hit Songs”), less four tracks. It shares the same cover art.
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1971: 1971 Top 12 (BLVD 4067)
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Woodstock / I Hear You Knocking / My Sweet Lord / (Where Do I Begin) Love Story / Rose Garden / Hot Love / Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep / Hey Girl Don't Bother Me / Knock Three Times / Butterfly / Maggie May / Coz I Luv You Comments: Cover design as per standard volume 3. This album is another incarnation of the LP “Top Hits of the Year” which was issued by both Deacon and Windmill. It contains two tracks not previously available in the “World Top 12” series (“Maggie May” and “Coz I Luv You”) .
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1972: 1972 Top 12 (BLVD 4116)
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Telegram Sam / American Pie / Metal Guru / Join Together / Take Me Bak 'Ome / You Wear It Well / Layla / You're A Lady / There Are More Questions Than Answers / Mouldy Old Dough / Puppy Love / Love Theme From 'The Godfather' Comments: All tracks from the main series.
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1973: 1973 Top 12 (BLVD 4117)
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You're So Vain / Help Me Make It Through The Night / Blockbuster / 20th Century Boy / Young Love / Cum On Feel The Noize / Relay / Can The Can / Rubber Bullets / Welcome Home / (Dancing) On A Saturday Night / Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose Comments: All tracks from the main series.
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