Radio-Friendly Pop

A lot of great music got played on the radio, and we don’t hold that against them.

Paul Revere and the Raiders – The Spirit of ’67

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More Sixties Pop Recordings

  • Both sides here are full-bodied and Tubey Magical, the right sound for America’s answer in 1966 to those pesky Brits and all their chart-topping songs
  • 4 stars: “The Spirit of ’67, Paul Revere and the Raiders’ third gold-selling, Top Ten album to be released in 1966, marked the triumph of the group’s in-house writing team of lead singer Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere, and producer Terry Melcher… Paul Revere and the Raiders were riding high.”

This vintage Columbia 360 pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.

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Stevie Wonder – The Woman In Red

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  • The Woman In Red finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated with an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side two – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Surprisingly good sound, perhaps the best sound Stevie Wonder got after about 1976 – we were shocked as you no doubt are
  • A superb collection, including I Just Called To Say I Love You and Love Light in Flight
  • “An ingenious jump from his trademark, spectacular, blend of Funk, R&B and Soul, contaminated with Pop, Disco, Gospel and Reggae, to a brand new Synth-pop/Pop-soul sound that characterizes his ’80s works.”

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Elvis Presley – Something For Everybody

  • This outstanding copy boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from beginning to end 
  • If you want to know just how rich, spacious, natural and Tubey Magical even a reissue Elvis record can sound, here’s your chance to find out
  • Recorded partly in Nashville by the brilliant Bill Porter, and with the Jordanaires singing backup, what’s not to like?
  • “…his voice is better than ever, and this is reflected in the arrangements, most of which are closer in spirit to the finely crafted pop symphonies of Roy Orbison than they are to any of Presley’s earlier work.” 

This pressing has the glorious sound of 1961 in its grooves.

Most of the man’s records don’t sound good on most pressings, and more often than not the best sounding pressings are just too noisy to interest most audiophiles. Not so here though, as this was one of the quietest we played in our recent shootout. (more…)

The Fifth Dimension – Live!!

  • Live!! finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on all FOUR sides
  • Bones Howe once again engineered, which means you can be sure the tonality is correct from top to bottom and the breath of life is captured beautifully in the midrange
  • The sound here is rich and full-bodied with much less grain and much more Tubey Magic than every other copy we played
  • Hal Blaine on the drums, Joe Osborne on bass and Larry Knechtel on keyboards – not too shabby!
  • 4 stars: “The performance offers an adequate sampling of the 5D’s classics and concurrent pop songs that attendees would likely be familiar with.”

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Art Garfunkel – Breakaway

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TAS List Records Available Now

  • This outstanding pressing boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Top sound for some of the best tracks: My Little Town, I Only Have Eyes for You, 99 Miles from L.A. and more
  • Superb space and clarity, with the rich, tubey smoothness that’s missing from most copies
  • The keyboards are full and rich, the guitars ring sweetly
  • Richard Perry went for the Big Sound here and he got it 

The problem with this album is that, for whatever reason, practically every copy you find is to some degree grainy, harsh and shrill in the loudest passages of the music. When the music gets loud, the sound often becomes strained and unpleasant. A copy like this one that doesn’t do that is the exception, not the rule.

Listen to the song ‘Disney Girls’ on side one. If you own the average pressing – odds are your copy is in fact quite average unless you went through a pile of copies and played them in order to find a good one – parts of that song will sound painfully hard and shrill, assuming your playing the record at the kinds of levels we do.

Which is the main reason I’ve never understood what qualified this record to be on the TAS Super Disc list. Now, having heard the best of the best copies sounding so big, rich and tubey, I can certainly say I hear what impressed HP (he likes that sound, as do we). It may indeed be a very well recorded album, but it clearly falls short for our own Rock and Pop Top 100 List. As you know we play a lot of amazing albums around here. (more…)

Lionel Richie – Dancing on the Ceiling

  • Lionel Richie’s third album makes its Hot Stamper debut here with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl for the most part too
  • This copy has real depth to the soundfield; full-bodied, present vocals; plenty of bottom end weight; and lovely analog warmth
  • Filled with quintessential Richie favorites, including Say You, Say Me, Love Will Conquer All, and of course, the title track
  • 4 stars: “…He adds a bit more dance to this album, and while the grooves are funkier than anything since the Commodores… Dancing on the Ceiling is a solid, enjoyable affair…”

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The Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA



  • An excellent reissue pressing of this Beach Boys classic from 1963 – this one earned Double Plus (A++) grades for sound or BETTER – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • The sound is big, open, rich, full-bodied and spacious, with the performers front and center (as well as left and right)
  • 4 stars: “The real breakthrough… The LP was a huge hit, vital to launching surf music as a national craze, and one of the few truly strong records to be recorded by a self-contained American rock band prior to the British Invasion.”

NOTE: Vintage covers for this album are hard to find in clean shape. Most of them will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG, and it will probably be VG+. If you are picky about your covers please let us know in advance so that we can be sure we have a nice cover for you.

It’s hard to find great sounding Beach Boys records, so when we first heard a Hot Stamper of this title we were blown away. The sound is big, open, rich and full, with the performers front and center (as well as left and right). The highs are extended and silky sweet. The bass is tight and punchy. And this copy gives you more life and energy than others by a long shot (more…)

The Fifth Dimension – Portrait

  • Portrait makes its Hot Stamper debut with superb Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • The sound here is especially rich, smooth, and sweet, as well as more Tubey Magical than every other copy we played outside of our shootout winner
  • You can thank legendary engineer and producer Bones Howe, the man behind the amazing recordings of The Association, The Turtles and even the likes of Tom Waits(!)
  • Quiet vinyl for a vintage Bell Sound pressing – to be sure, not many survived in this kind of audiophile playing condition
  • 4 stars: “The Age of Aquarius, the 5th Dimension’s fourth album, was the group’s commercial peak… The 5th Dimension were the successors to the L.A. vocal group mantle passed on by The Mamas and the Papas… their work had a sheen and a zest that sometimes contrasted with the original tone of the material.”

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Jefferson Starship – Spitfire

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Reviews and Commentaries for The Jefferson Airplane

  • Insanely good sound for this Shootout Winning copy of the Starship’s 1976 release — Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the first side and solid Double Plus (A++) sound on the second
  • Forget whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl they’re making – the Tubey Magic, size and rock and roll energy of this very special vintage pressing simply cannot be beat
  • “Spitfire was Jefferson Starship’s 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus (1975), and it found the band in a cooperative mood… [it] was more than the sum of its parts, boasting the sort of vocal interplay and instrumental virtuosity that had always been the hallmarks of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.” 

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Roy Orbison – The Orbison Way

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Reviews and Commentaries for Roy Orbison

Only the second copy to ever hit the site and boy is it KILLER — Triple Plus (A+++) or very close to it throughout. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this Tubey Magical record for you.  (more…)