DYNAMITE [1974]

When K-Tel released Dynamite in 1974, they established a precedent, a benchmark, for all of their compilations that were to follow.  With ten songs per side, there were opportunities for filler picks but the wizards of K-tel chose well. They were not guilty of false advertising with the tagline: CAUTION! EXPLOSIVE HITS!

The balance of Dynamite is just about right; it's not too top (hits) heavy nor is it all cellar dwellers. It's a decent snapshot of AM Top 40 radio in 1974, which is where HERC's earliest radio memories began. Although the songs on Dynamite all preceded the creation of Billboard's Disco Action charts, several songs are definitely proto-disco.  Eight songs made the R&B Top 40 and thirteen songs made the Easy Listening Top 40; if anything, the diverse track listing on Dynamite could be dinged a point or two for not including any country-pop crossover hits of the time by John Denver, Charlie Rich, Mac Davis or Olivia Newton-John.

DYNAMITE [1974]		K-tel Scale:		28.85
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	Disco	AC
The Night Chicago Died	Paper Lace	1			27
Takin' Care Of Business	Bachman-Turner Overdrive	12
This Flight Tonight	Nazareth
Be Thankful For What You Got	William DeVaughn	4	1		31
I Shot The Sheriff	Eric Clapton	1	33
Hollywood Swinging	Kool & the Gang	6	1
Stuck In The Middle With You	Stealers Wheel	6			13
I'm A Train	Albert Hammond	31			15
Rock Your Baby	George McCrae	1	1		19
Honky Cat	Elton John	8			6
Seasons In The Sun	Terry Jacks	1			1
Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo	Rick Derringer	23
Meet Me At The Corner Down At Joe's Cafe	Peter Noone				22
Save The Last Dance For Me	The DeFranco Family	18
Rings	Lobo				8
The Lord's Prayer	Sister Janet Mead	4			2
Love's Theme	Love Unlimited Orchestra	1	10		1
Show And Tell	Al Wilson	1	10		3
On An On	Gladys Knight & the Pips	5	2
Let's Put It All Together	The Stylistics	18	8		26

Dynamite was issued internationally in the United Kingdom (1974), Germany (1975), the Netherlands and Brazil (1976) and in France and Italy (1977) with differing track listings and cover art.  K-tel also released a Canadian verison of the album in 1974 which upped the ante with 22 songs including 11 holdovers from the US version.

DYNAMITE [1974]		K-tel Scale:		24.09
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	Disco	AC
Takin' Care Of Business	Bachman-Turner Overdrive	12
Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo	Rick Derringer	23
Rock Me Gently	Andy Kim	1			40
Be Thankful For What You Got	William DeVaughn	4	1		31
Summer Girl	Craig Ruhnke
You Make Me Feel Brand New	The Stylistics	2	5		6
If You Go Away	Terry Jacks				29
On An On	Gladys Knight & the Pips	5	2
Hollywood Swinging	Kool & the Gang	6	1
Rock On	David Essex	5
Come And Get Your Love	Redbone	5
Honky Cat	Elton John	8			6
Rock Your Baby	George McCrae	1	1		19
Billy, Don't Be A Hero	Paper Lace
There's Something I Like About That	Chilliwack
Finally Got Myself Together (I'm A Changed Man)	The Impressions	17	1
The Lord's Prayer	Sister Janet Mead	4			2
I Want You to Love Me	Susan Jacks
I'm A Train	Albert Hammond	31			15
Stuck In The Middle With You	Stealers Wheel	6			13
This Flight Tonight	Nazareth
My Girl Bill	Jim Stafford	12			9

In 1996, K-tel issued Dynamite as a ten song CD.
However, only five of the songs were originally on the vinyl LP and there is
some debate over whether the songs used were the orginal recordings.

An avid reader suggested HERC run the K-Tel CDs through the K-Tel Scale machine, so here goes nothing. Because most of the ten songs were big hits, HERC is expecting a high score.

DYNAMITE [1996]		K-tel Scale:		38.90
		Top 40 chart peaks
		Pop	R&B	COU	AC
Love's Theme	Love Unlimited Orchestra	1	10		1
Shamabala	Three Dog Night	3			3
Yes We Can-Can	Pointer Sisters	11	12
I Can Help	Billy Swan	1		1	6
Be Thankful For What You Got	William DeVaughn	4	1		31
Frankenstein	Edgar Winter Group	1
On An On	Gladys Knight & the Pips	5	2
Diamond Girl	Seals & Crofts	6			4
Show And Tell	Al Wilson	1	10		3
Seasons In The Sun	Terry Jacks	1			1

Looks like he was right.  The disc has five Number Ones and not a single hit below #11 on the Top 40 Pop chart.  Unofficially, it's the new benchmark.