A poor Saskatchewan farm boy would grow up to changethe music industry for decades.
During the first half of the 20th century and the Great Depression, Philip Kives grew up in the hamlet of Oungre, Sask., around 60 kilometres west of Estevan and about 17 kilometres north of the border to the United States.
Decades later, starting in the 1960s, his label K-Telpopularized the compilation album, also known as comps,adding as many hits from different artists as possible on one record.
While this new concept of consuming music was a convenient enjoyment for some, it would actually shape the life of others in a more significant way.
"The K-Telcomps, when I was a kid, me and my older brother and older sister, I mean, we lived by those things," said Joey Cape, lead singer of the California punk band Lagwagon.
"I think in a strange way this guy is responsible for a really large part of, you know, my life in music."
From infomercials to compilations
Before K-Tel and its compilation albums could affect Cape and the music industry in general, Kives moved from Saskatchewan to Manitoba.
The child of immigrants from Eastern Europe was hoping for a better life in Winnipeg.
After taking on a variety of jobs, Kives tried his luck as a door-to-door salesman, offering pots, pans and other kitchen gadgets.
To better sell these products he created what are considered to be the first infomercials for TV and established the company K-TelInternational in 1962, also known as "The Original As-Seen-On-TV Company,"according to K-Tel's website.
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Kives, however, wouldn't stop at ads.
"The late '60s and the '70s, that was an incredible time for K-Tel, because they were often in the marketplace by themselves," said filmmaker Cam Bennett in 2016, whoproduced the documentary As Seen on TV: The K-Tel Story.
"Their compilation albums were kind of the first; they kind of owned that space."
People could now listen to a genre-specific variety of songs by several artists gathered on one album —functioning in the 1970s and 1980s like a forerunner for modern music apps such as Spotify.
The company's first compilation album 25 Country Hits became a huge success and paved the way for 25 Polka Greats and many more music compilations to follow.
The successful years of the compilation format
Before the internet took over, the decades that followed were a hotbed for compilations.
The California-based punk record label Fat Wreck Chords would break ground with their compilation series, and Lagwagon became the first band the label ever signed.
"In the early days of punk, there were all kinds of compilation records," said Cape.
"Those are the coolest ways to discover bands…. If you like this one band that was on the comp, you'd buy it, and then all of a sudden there were 12 other bands that you'd love."
LISTEN |The history of the compilation album and its connection to Saskatchewan:
8 years ago Duration 1:46
Phil Kives, K-Tel International founder, dies at 87
The affordability of the punk compilations made them even more popular, said Cape.
However, it wasn't only the punk rock genre that capitalized on the success of compilations in the 1990s.
The Canadian music station Much, formerly known as MuchMusic, was particularly successful with its Big Shiny Tunes compilation series.
Its approach was to place less well-known Canadian artists amidst larger popular artists from the United States, said Mark Teo, author of Shine: How a MuchMusic Compilation Came to Define Canadian Alternative Music and Sell a Zillion Copies.
"All of those compilations, just like MuchMusic itself, always had a certain percentage of Canadian artists," he said.
This was in-line with the Canadian content requirement, CanCon for short, of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which askedthat broadcasters produce or play a certain percentage of music that hasat least some Canadian ties.
"It did kind of what CanCon intended to do, which is kind of elevate Canadian artists to, you know, a global stage," added Teo.
Including songs of Canadian musicians on these compilations was like a statement, saying that the artists were worthy being added next to big international names likeRadioheador the Red Hot Chili Peppers, according to the author.
Change in music listening
The change of technology over the years has also changed the music industry and the way people consume songs today.
24/7 music streaming might now be available to people online, but Teo said compilations still serve some roles in the industry.
"There are many, many different ways and many different publishing platforms that bands can use to be discovered," he said.
"We don't necessarily need a compilation anymore to discover new music or regional sounds or labels or anything, right. But I still do think they do have a role. And I especially see it when it comes to sub-genre."
Like compilation CDs, K-Telalso hasn't seen only successful years.
WATCH | Phil Kives, K-Tel International founder, dies at 87:
In 1984, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, but was revived after Kives convinced the banks to give him a second chance.
The business man from the Prairies died in 2016 at the age of 87, but K-Telstill operates today out of Winnipeg, owning music rights and licences.
"From Oscar winning films like Green Book, to Emmy winning shows like[The]Queen's Gambit, to multi-national commercials for brands like Versace and Visa, K-Tel's songs make up the soundtrack to the top-viewed properties of our times," the company said on its website.
