Acrobat’s British Hit Parade series has been established for well over a decade as a unique range of completist original artist collections comprising every record that appeared in the UK record sales charts in every year since the charts began in 1952. In recent years Acrobat has introduced parallel collections which consist of the B sides of all the records included in the main compilations, and these have proved hugely popular with collectors, since many of the records concerned have never been available on CD and are very rarely heard.

This 3-CD set is the companion product to our existing 1953 British Hit Parade (ACTRCD 9000) and features the B sides of the tracks on that collection, excluding the ones which appeared on the original collection as Double A-side hits. In this pre-rock ‘n’ roll era, B sides tended not be afterthoughts dashed off at the end of a session, and were generally afforded exactly the same time and treatment as the A sides, with full orchestral arrangements and productions, so these are high quality recordings, featuring some of the illustrious names from what was often called the golden age of popular music. As ever, it’s an eclectic snapshot of an ignored but fascinating aspect of the pop business, including in-depth 10-000+ word booklet with background notes on every record.

REVIEWS

“The latest in another ongoing series from Acrobat and once again these B-side sets are in many ways more enjoyable and certainly more interesting than corresponding sets of the A-sides. In those far off days the B-side was not the throwaway it later became, but a legitimate and complementary part of the record, and this is proven time and time again by so many of the sides included here. 74 tracks and a sample of the listing is sufficient to get collectors salivating no doubt and it would be invidious to pick out a few from such an embarrassment of riches. The usual thoroughly annotated information and detailed track commentary in the liner booklet all add to the enjoyment making this a thoroughly rewarding set.” – Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 338)