AUSTRALIA

Australia

Australia was a prolific issuer of Top of the Pops albums, starting in 1969. The earliest, those up to and including volume 13, were put out on an Australian version of the Hallmark label, which was administered through a firm called Basic Books. The earliest we have discovered - volume 4 - was also issued (uniquely) as a trio of four-track EPs!

With volume 14 the series was switched to the Summit label, which was an Australian imprint, although the records themselves were manufactured in Britain and shipped over. (From late-1972, the Summit label shared its address with the Australian MFP office.) For the Summit releases, the Hallmark logos were blanked from the sleeves and Summit logos superimposed, front and back, usually in the corners.

Australian marketing ensured that just about all the UK releases between 1969 and 1974 appeared there, including at least three of the Tots albums, all of the Sing & Play series, and the end-of-year-collections. These LPs are all virtually identical to the UK editions, with the notable exception of Volume 21, which had an interesting track change...

We are grateful to Australian collector Frank McDonald for information on the Australian discography, and for his generous donation of photos.

The albums below are grouped by type and are therefore not arranged strictly chronologically.