The brainchild of producer Bill Wellings, the MFP Hot Hits LPs sold hundreds of thousands of copies before the series ended in 1973. Elton John, Tina Charles, Big Jim Sullivan, Larry Adler (and allegedly David Bowie) all appeared as session musicians and singers.
Today, the appeal of these albums rests as much on the dolly bird cover images as the music. All twenty sleeve are shown here and on the next three pages.
MFP's motto was "Can you tell the difference between these and the original sounds?" Well, yes of course you could, but that didn't matter to the thousands who bought them.
A former Australian male model, Bill Wellings pioneered the cover versions market after doing flexi discs for advertisers in London.
His Top Six EPs began in March 1962 and gave people value for money - six hits for the price of one. Sold to grocery wholesalers from the back of a car, Pye took over distribution. The first Pye Top Six record came out in February 1964. A Beatles cover EP, it sold 100,000 copies.
