V/A - Hit Fascination 5/91 (Germany, 1991)
Top 13 Music Club 67 818 5

Various artists compilations... I haven't really made up my mind about them. Sometimes I feel they're not as "important" as Kraftwerk cassettes, but on the other hand I think they're an interesting place to see Kraftwerk in a contemporary context, though, so I have a few which I think are interesting. 


Today's entry seems to have been issued as part of a hit compilation subscription service; The Top 13 Music Club was a series of compilations of current hits, issued roughly every two months from the late 80s and into the early 90s, where listeners would get a bunch of current chart hits. They came out on LP, CD and cassette, and number 5/91 was released to the fans/ subscribers in August. It features Die Roboter in its 7" remix, alongside a surprisingly good range of other artists - Yello, De La Soul, Erasure, Soft Cell and the big earworm of 1991, Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman". 


One feature of this series which was not common in compilations, is that they've included a tiny image of each artist! Kraftwerk's one is of the four as per the album cover, but here posed on a staircase. This image was not used for The Mix as I recall, but it was commonly used to promote Kraftwerk at the time and I'm sure most fans will recognise it. Nice to have it on a release though!


The cassette is black, with white on-body print, and the J-card is a long 3-panel one, printed on both sides (to make room for all the credits and pictures). Perhaps not a super-collectible item, or my most fascinating cassette, but still kinda cool!





 

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