Get ready for K-Tel's "Pure Rock"

You have voted and it's official:  K-Tel's Pure Rock is next on this month's Adventures in Vinyl.

Pure Rock was released with little fanfare in 1981.  This is an interesting album and very different from K-Tel's earlier compilations.  Unlike other K-Tel albums, there are no tv or radio commercials associated with this record.  One of the hallmarks of K-Tel in the 70s was was their ubiquitous presence on tv.  In addition, the album is not overly edited.  There are only 14 songs on the album as opposed to the usual 20 or so on most K-Tel albums in the 1970s.  This was a change that K-Tel began implementing in the 1980s--less songs, but higher quality.

And finally, this album has very little to do with 1981.  The more popular K-Tel albums capitalized on hit songs ("20 Original Hits! 20 Original songs!") and contained songs from the year in which the album was released.  On Pure Rock, only one song dates from 1981---Pat Benatar, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."  That song reached to #46 on the Billboard Year End Hot 100. 

Other than that, most of the other songs span the previous decade.  The oldest song is "Long Train Runnin'" by the Doobie Brothers, released in 1973.  That song made it to #41 on the year end chart for that year. Then there's Boston.  Styx.  Foghat. ZZTop.  Eddie Money.  Journey.  The Steve Miller Band...and many, many more.

So join us for Adventures in Vinyl in the month of February for Pure Rock.  Adventures in Vinyl, the only radio show dedicated to the lost art of the K-Tel record compilation, can be heard at the following times:

Saturday, 11 am (Central)  
Sunday, 4 pm (Central)
Tuesday, 1 pm (Central)
Wednesday, 2 am (Central)
Thursday, 10 am (Central)