Best-selling international title of 2020

ARTIST: Bob Newhart
TITLE: The Complete Albums 1960-62
CAT NO: ADDCD3167
GENRE: Comedy
FORMAT: 2CD

A perennial favourite in the US, Bob Newhart: The Complete Albums 1960-62 (ADDCD3167), was the biggest international seller title from the Acrobat catalogue in 2020.

Everybody needed something to smile about last year and Newhart’s celebrated deadpan comedy style was just the tonic we all needed.

Newhart, who will turn 92 this year, started out as an advertising copywriter in Chicago who wrote comic satirical monologues with a work colleague. He would send tapes of them to radio stations, which led to an introduction to Warner Bros Records, who signed him on the strength of the audition tapes.

He expanded his material to develop a stand-up routine and became a popular nightclub performer. However, it was his first LP in 1960 The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart which launched him to prominence, using the technique of portraying one end of a telephone conversation. It became the first comedy album to reach No.1 in the Billboard album charts, winning a Grammy in 1961 for Album Of The Year. The album also made No.2 in the UK album charts, where certain tracks became popular on radio request shows. That same year, he released the follow-up album The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back, which also went on to win an award for Best Comedy Performance – Spoken Word.

This 2CD set features every track from those two albums and also from his next two albums Behind The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart and The Button Down Mind On TV.

A thorough overview of the first crucial years of his career, this collection includes such legendary sketches as Driving Instructor, Bus Drivers School, Abe Lincoln Vs Madison Avenue and Introducing Tobacco To Civilisation. For many younger generations Newhart is fondly remembered as Papa Elf in the Christmas movie Elf or Professor Proton on The Big Bang Theory, but the comedian will be forever known as one of the greats… an original observationalist with a subversive streak whose style transcends time and continues to influence generations of comics.

ARTIST: Tom Lehrer
TITLE: The Collection 1953-1960
CAT NO: ADDCD3149
GENRE: Comedy
FORMAT: 2CD

ARTIST: Patsy Cline
TITLE: Complete Releases 1955-62
CAT NO: ACTRCD9064
GENRE: Country
FORMAT: 3CD

ARTIST: Annette Funicello
TITLE: The Singles & Albums Collection 1958-62
CAT NO: ADDCD3325
GENRE: Pop
FORMAT: 2CD

ARTIST: Hank Williams
TITLE: The Complete Singles As & Bs 1945-1955
CAT NO: ACQCD7104
GENRE: Country
FORMAT: 4CD

ARTIST: Hank Snow
TITLE: The Complete US Country Hits 1949-62
CAT NO: ADDCD3113
GENRE: Country
FORMAT: 2CD

ARTIST: Various
TITLE: 'Telstar' Hot 100 December 22nd 1962
CAT NO: ACQCD7144
GENRE: Easy Listening
FORMAT: 4CD

ARTIST: Dion & The Belmonts
TITLE: The Singles & Albums Collection 1957-62
CAT NO: ADDCD3324
GENRE: Easy Listening
FORMAT: 2CD

ARTIST: Link Wray
TITLE: The Collection 1956-62
CAT NO: ADDCD3316
GENRE: Rock ’n’ Roll
FORMAT: 2CD

10.

ARTIST: Roy Orbison
TITLE: The Complete Sun, RCA & Monument Releases 1956-62
CAT NO: ADDCD3236
GENRE: Rock ’n’ Roll
FORMAT: 2CD