K SPECIAL
K-tel - Hungry for Hits - 30 Killer Cuts! (K-tel NE 1272 UK) (2025 Remastered Expanded Edition) (2CD) (1984)
Whilst researching for more K-tel compilations to present in my ongoing K-tells series, I came across this very interesting release.
Hungry for Hits was released by K-tel in mid-May 1984 about six weeks after Now That’s What I Call Music II.
K-tel had played a major part in the “featuring original artists” compilations of the 1970s and early 1980s and now wanted to muscle in on the action. This foray was short-lived and didn’t make it past the first hurdle - presumably due to the lack of licensing support from other labels.
By all accounts I'm pretty sure this was the very last UK K-tel release of the original vinyl / cassette series as they just couldn't compete with the massive NOW conglomerate and other rival 2LP compilation albums such as The Hits Album series.
The sleeve features an unusual image - a ravenous-looking wolf. The text is written in bloody ink. Three of the tracks were also included on NOW 3 which followed on 23 July. Curiously they represented some of the biggest hits here - Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time (#3), The Special AKA’s Nelson Mandela (#9) and The Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men (#2). Other top 10 smashes included Shakin’ Stevens maudlin scene-setter A Love Worth Waiting For (held off the pole position by Lionel Richie’s equally morose Hello), Depeche Mode’s metallic People Are People and the smoothness of Sade’s Your Love Is King.
But it’s the (relative) failures that fascinate. Hungry for Hits is memorable because it primarily consists of also-rans, follow-ups to successful hits and long-forgotten pop memories. Nik Kershaw’s endlessly catchy Dancing Girls and Matt Bianco’s superior-to-Lazy-Bed that is Sneaking Out the Back Door. Remember Captain Sensible’s anti-Falklands conflict lament? It’s here and easily slides into Alvin Stardust’s sweet-yet-likeable I Feel Like Buddy Holly.
There’s radio-friendly soul in abundance with The Gap Band, Jeffrey Osborne, Phil Fearon, Shannon and The S.O.S. Band all providing memorable moments. One Blood’s slice of reggae Get in Touch with Me is a genuine obscurity which didn’t even make the top 75 while novelty numbers from "Weird Al" Yankovic and Mel Brooks liven up the third quarter. Indie fans will savour the underrated Eighties by Killing Joke and The Smiths backing Sandie Shaw on Hand in Glove.
Side 4 is a mish-mash of wildly different styles that manages to work surprisingly well. You get Dead or Alive in a less-polished mode (covering KC and the Sunshine Band) alongside Hazell Dean’s hi-NRG classic Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man) with Eurovision entrants Belle and the Devotions’ storming Love Games. This is supplemented by a dour King Kurt number (Mack the Knife), Japanese performance artists the Frank Chickens (John Peel favourites and fresh from supporting The Fall) and some super funkiness from Paul Hardcastle (You're the One for Me / Daybreak / A.M.) The album concludes with a hip hop classic from Break Machine - the joyous Street Dance.
For this 2025 remaster, I have added 10 bonus tracks - all big hits in 1984 (5 per CD) to round out and fill up each disc.
Please note: This detailed and informative write up was originally presented and posted on the excellent blog A Pop Fan's Dream: https://apopfansdream.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/hungry-for-hits-k-tel-1984/, so all credit goes to the original author.
CD01: Tracks 1-20 Time: 79:00
CD02: Tracks 1-20 Time: 77:22
K-tells: 113 Killer Cuts! (Super Devilish Edition) (6CD) (2025)
For those of you who were expecting a Halloween themed collection from K-tel based on the cover art, you won't be disappointed as I have created my own compilation with something for everyone: the kids, the teenagers, the mums, the dads, the grandmas and grandpas!
The ultimate Halloween playlist you'll actually want to hear at your party!
As it states on the cover - 113 KILLER CUTS! - each and every track perfect for any Halloween costume dance party.
This fully packed 6CD set contains many rare and extremely hard to find tracks, with a number featured in their original mono and stereo 7" single edits and mixes. Only the original studio mixes are included. No later re-recordings, 'stereo enhanced' or live versions here!
Compiled as always using the very latest and highest quality digital remasters, with a considerable number of tracks sourced from the original master tapes for superior sound quality and enjoyment.
Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts, covens of witches with all of their hosts. You may think they scare me, you're probably right. Blood, guts and goblins on Halloween night. Trick or treat!
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Track lists
K-tel - Hungry for Hits - 30 Killer Cuts!
CD1
1 Shakin' Stevens - A Love Worth Waiting For 3:21
2 Nik Kershaw - Dancing Girls 3:48
3 Captain Sensible - Glad It's All Over 4:06
4 Alvin Stardust - I Feel Like Buddy Holly 3:52
5 The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men (Original 1984 7" Single Version) 3:33
6 Matt Bianco - Sneaking Out the Back Door 3:47
7 The Psychedelic Furs - Heaven 3:24
8 Joe Jackson feat. Elaine Caswell - Happy Ending 3:41
9 Phil Fearon & Galaxy - What Do I Do? 3:27
10 The Special AKA - Nelson Mandela 4:07
11 Sade - Your Love Is King 3:40
12 The Gap Band - Someday 4:34
13 Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time 4:03
14 Jeffrey Osborne - Stay with Me Tonight 4:56
15 Pat Benatar - Love Is a Battlefield (Original 1983 7" Single Edit) 4:09
16 Prince and the Revolution - When Doves Cry (Original 1984 7" Single Edit) (Bonus Track) 3:48
17 Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark (Bonus Track) 4:02
18 Talk Talk - It's My Life (Bonus Track) 3:53
19 Tina Turner - What's Love Got to Do With It (Original 1984 7" Single Version) (Bonus Track) 3:48
20 George Michael - Careless Whisper (Bonus Track) 5:01
CD2
1 Depeche Mode - People Are People (Original 1984 7" Single Version) 3:46
2 Sandie Shaw with The Smiths - Hand in Glove 2:58
3 Mel Brooks - To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap) (Part 1) (Original 1983 7" Single Edit) 4:31
4 The S.O.S. Band - Just Be Good to Me (Original 1983 7" Single Edit) 4:10
5 "Weird Al" Yankovic - Eat It 3:20
6 One Blood - Get in Touch with Me (Original 1984 7" Single Edit) 4:05
7 Shannon - Give Me Tonight 3:54
8 Dead or Alive - That's the Way (I Like It) (Original 1984 UK 7" Single Mix) 3:08
9 Belle and the Devotions - Love Games 3:19
10 King Kurt - Mack the Knife 3:19
11 Hazell Dean - Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man) 3:38
12 Killing Joke - Eighties 3:51
13 Paul Hardcastle - You're the One for Me / Daybreak / A.M. 6:29
14 Frank Chickens - Fujiyama Mama 4:16
15 Break Machine - Street Dance (Original 1983 7" Single Edit) 3:32
16 Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes (Cowboys & Indians Original 1984 UK 7" Single Version) (Bonus Track) 3:58
17 U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love) (Original 1984 7" Single Version) (Bonus Track) 3:49
18 The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make? (Original 1984 7" Single Edit) (Bonus Track) 3:26
19 Madonna - Borderline (Original 1984 7" Single Remix) (Bonus Track) 3:58
20 The Cars - Drive (Bonus Track) 3:55
113 KILLER CUTS!
CD1
1 Michael Jackson - Thriller 5:57
2 Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters 3:58
3 Olivia Rodrigo - vampire 3:39
4 Little Mix - Black Magic 3:31
5 The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf 3:03
6 The Smiths - Cemetry Gates 2:38
7 Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers - Monster Mash (Original 1962 7" Mono Single Version) 3:13
8 Sheb Wooley - The Purple People Eater (Original 1958 7" Mono Single Version) 2:13
9 The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire! 2:54
10 Richard O'Brien; Patricia Quinn; Nell Campbell; Charles Gray - Time Warp (Original 1975 7" Single Version from the Rocky Horror Picture Show film) 3:18
11 Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (Original 1975 7" Single Version) 2:47
12 Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London 3:22
13 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder on the Dancefloor 3:47
14 Rihanna - Disturbia 3:58
15 XTC - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead 4:54
16 R. Dean Taylor - There's a Ghost in My House (Original 1967 7" Mono Single Version) 2:26
17 Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Eugen Jochum, Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Carl Orff - O Fortuna 2:32
18 Britney Spears - Toxic 3:20
19 Katy Perry - Ghost 3:23
20 Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf (Original 1982 7" Single Version) 3:28
21 Queen - Killer Queen 3:01
22 The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein (Original 1973 7" Single Version) 3:27
CD2
23 Vic Mizzy and his Orchestra - The Addams Family Theme 0:52
24 Classics IV - Spooky 2:49
25 The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia 3:35
26 Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me 4:54
27 Lush - Ladykillers 3:13
28 The Cranberries - Zombie 5:07
29 Beyoncé - Haunted (Michael Diamond Remix) (From the "Fifty Shades of Grey" Soundtrack) 5:08
30 ABC - Poison Arrow 3:23
31 Joy Division - Dead Souls 4:52
32 Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly 4:01
33 Alice Cooper - Poison 4:30
34 Blue Öyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper 5:09
35 Deep Purple - Black Night (Original 1970 7" Single Version) 3:25
36 Bernard Herrman - The Twilight Zone Theme 0:54
37 The Doors - People Are Strange 2:12
38 The Sweet - Hell Raiser 3:17
39 Dead or Alive - Something in My House (Original 1986 UK 7" Single Remix) 3:50
40 Ramones - Pet Sematary (Original 1989 7" Single Version) 3:32
41 Cozy Powell - Dance with the Devil 3:33
42 The Rattles - The Witch (1970 7" Single Version) 2:38
43 Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman (Original 1976 UK 7" Single Edit) 4:12
CD3
44 Santana - Black Magic Woman 3:15
45 Johnny Cash - (Ghost) Riders in the Sky 3:46
46 Johnny Kidd and the Pirates - Shakin' All Over 2:19
47 Elvis Presley - (You're the) Devil in Disguise 2:23
48 London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Herrmann - Psycho: Murder Sequence 3:44
49 Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (Original 1979 7" Single Edit) 4:51
50 INXS - Devil Inside (Original 1988 7" Single Version) 5:12
51 a-ha - Cry Wolf 4:06
52 Kylie Minogue - Better the Devil You Know 3:53
53 Sugababes - Freak Like Me 3:15
54 Taylor Swift - Bad Blood 3:32
55 Kate Bush; TOTEM; Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Running Up That Hill / TOTEM Remix / Stranger Things (Extended) 13:56
56 The Damned - Grimly Fiendish (12" Spic 'n' Span Mix) 5:23
57 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand 6:10
58 The Stranglers with the 'Barracuda Bass' Sound - In the Shadows 4:37
59 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Spellbound (Original 1981 12" Extended Single Version) 4:39
CD4
60 The Birthday Party - Release the Bats 2:31
61 The Cure - Lullaby (Original 1989 7" Single Mix) 4:10
62 Jack Marshall - Theme from "The Munsters" 2:07
63 The Who - Boris the Spider 2:30
64 The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer 3:28
65 The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil 6:18
66 AC/DC - Highway to Hell 3:29
67 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast 4:50
68 Metallica - Enter Sandman 5:31
69 Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) 6:05
70 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (Original 1979 Beck Studios 12" Single Version) 9:33
71 Stevie Wonder - Superstition 4:09
72 KC and the Sunshine Band - I'm Your Boogie Man 4:01
73 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You 2:24
74 Rick James - Super Freak (Original 1981 7" Single Version) 3:25
75 Eminem feat. Rihanna - The Monster 4:10
76 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll 3:41
CD5
77 The Psychedelic Furs - The Ghost in You 4:15
78 Echo & the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon 5:48
79 Cream - Strange Brew 2:48
80 Donovan - Season of the Witch 4:58
81 Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising 2:19
82 Eagles - Witchy Woman 4:10
83 Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win) (Original 1976 7" Single Version) 3:46
84 L7 - Pretend We're Dead 3:54
85 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Original 1977 7" Single Version) 4:18
86 David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) 5:13
87 Radiohead - Creep (Unedited Album Version) 3:58
88 Kate Bush - Hammer Horror (Original 1978 7" Single Edit) 4:14
89 The Specials feat. Rico - Ghost Town (Original 1981 12" Extended Single Version) 6:03
90 Billy Idol - Eyes Without a Face 4:58
91 Space - Female of the Species 3:20
92 Larry Marks - Scooby Doo, Where Are You? (Original 1969 Season 1 Opening Theme) 1:03
93 The Automatic - Monster 3:42
94 Japan - Ghosts (Original 1982 7" Single Version) 4:02
CD6
95 Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (1973 Opening Theme from The Exorcist) 3:17
96 The Sonics - The Witch (Original 1964 7" Mono Single Version) 2:39
97 Killing Joke - Love Like Blood (12" Version) 6:49
98 Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon 4:17
99 Van Halen - Runnin' with the Devil 3:35
100 Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra (Original 1982 7" Single Version) 3:41
101 Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive 3:47
102 Blondie - One Way or Another 3:35
103 Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy 2:45
104 Pat Benatar - Shadows of the Night (Original 1982 7" Single Edit) 3:41
105 Lady Gaga - Monster 4:09
106 The Police - Every Breath You Take 4:16
107 A Flock of Seagulls - Nightmares (1983 US 12" Promo Version) 4:37
108 Cliff Richard - Devil Woman 3:33
109 The Coasters - Poison Ivy (Original 1959 Atco 7" Mono Single Version) 2:43
110 Frank Sinatra - Witchcraft 2:52
111 Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party 6:18
112 Ministry - (Every Day Is) Halloween (Original 1985 12" Single Version) 6:36
113 John Carpenter - Halloween Theme (Original 1978 Main Title) 2:22
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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