The World of... series


The World of... is a series of budget albums released by Decca Records and its subsidiaries. Launched in 1968, the series showcased a wide variety of the label's output including classical music, pop, folk, jazz, blues, world music, showtunes, comedy and spoken word releases. Among the editions are compilations, reissues, samplers and several collections based upon the BBC Radio programme Your Hundred Best Tunes. The World of... brought Decca’s catalogue to retailers like supermarkets, encouraging new buyers to "dip in". By 1975, it was described as "probably one of the best-selling series ever devised by a record company". The World of... albums are commonly found in charity shops in the UK.
The World of... series was formulated after Decca head Sir Edward Lewis was shown Germany's Phase 4 Stereo sampler albums on a business trip to the country. The series marked Decca's entry into the budget market, with the cut-price albums intended to entice consumers who didn’t usually buy LPs. Promoted with window displays, browser cards and colour posters, the series was an immediate success. By 1973, The World of... held 18-20 percent of the budget albums market in the UK, behind MFP with an estimated 28 percent. In 1975, the albums retailed at £1.29. By 1986, the dealer price had increased to £2.12.
The first release, the 14-track compilation The World of Mantovani, was issued in September 1968 in a gatefold sleeve and priced at 17/6d. The album reached number six on the UK Albums Chart, while a second Mantovani volume made number 4 in 1969. Among the early entries in the series was The World of Johann Strauss, the first of several releases that "treated classical music much like pop: compiling the most popular pieces and presenting them across two sides". By the end of 1969, 54 titles were available in the series.
Several releases spotlighted Decca's contemporary pop signings. The World of David Bowie was issued after Bowie left the label and features most of his 1967 debut album along with 1966 B-side "The London Boys" and three previously unreleased songs. Further releases were dedicated to Tom Jones, Lulu, Cat Stevens, Lynsey de Paul, the Zombies, Amen Corner, Alan Price, the Flirtations, Them and Billy Fury, among others. Seven The World of Hits albums featuring acts such as Small Faces, the Move and Thin Lizzy were issued between 1969 and 1974. Dedicated World of releases appeared for blues, soul, folk, easy listening, hard rock, country, music hall, television themes, sacred music and brass bands. Comedy releases featuring the Goons, Tony Hancock, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Benny Hill, Marty Feldman, the Goodies and Bernard Manning among others were also issued. In classical music, several The World of Your Hundred Best Tunes compilations were among the best-selling releases in the series, leading to the publication of a companion book by Alan Keith in 1975 "for the millions who have shown their needs by buying the discs".
Some albums in the series dropped the World of designation. These releases can be identified by their catalog numbers, which are prefixed SPA as with all others in the series. They include Nova Sampler, comprising selections from Decca's short-lived progressive music series, I Thought Terry Dene Was Dead, a companion to Dan Wooding's biography of the same title, and a 1975 reissue of The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp. The release schedule slowed during the 1980s, with some of the final original albums appearing in 1986. The series inspired the title of Morrissey's World of Morrissey album, released in 1995. The World of... was revived in 2019 when five new titles were released to celebrate Decca’s 90th anniversary.

Selected titles

The World of MantovaniThe World of the BachelorsThe World of Val DoonicanThe World of Roberto MannThe World of Frank ChacksfieldThe World of Julie FelixA Whiter Shade – The World of HitsThe World of LuluThe World of Max BygravesThe World of Johann StraussThe World of Kenneth McKellarThe World of Vera LynnThe World of Blues PowerThe World of Charlie KunzThe World of Jimmy YoungThe World of Marianne FaithfullThe World of Military BandsThe World of Billy CottonThe World of Josef Locke TodayThe World of WaltzThe Happy World of Tommy SteeleThe World of Noel HarrisonThe World of World War One: Oh, What a Lovely WarThe World of Oliver!The World of Reginald DixonThe World of British ComedyThe World of ScotlandThe World of Wales in Song The World of Josh WhiteThe Romantic World of Anthony NewleyThe World of Frank IfieldThe World of John MayallThe World of MelachrinoThe World of George FormbyThe World of Winifred AtwellThe World of OperettaThe World of IrelandThe Big Band World of Ted HeathThe World of BalletThe World of David BowieThe World of Kenneth WilliamsNova SamplerThe World of Donald PeersThe World of Alan PriceThe World of Gracie FieldsThe World of Kathy KirbyThe World of the ZombiesThe World of Cat StevensThe World of TijuanaCome to the World of DancingThe World of Joan SutherlandThe World of SteamThe World of ChristmasThe World of Dudley MooreThe World of Your Hundred Best Tunes: The Top TenThe World of Anton Karas and Harry LimeThe World of Soul PowerThe World of the Beverley SistersThe World of Matt MonroThe Crazy World of Marty FeldmanThe World of Harry RoyThe World of Irish DancingThe World of East of EdenThe World of James Bond AdventureThe World of the Very YoungThe World of Dylan ThomasThe World of ShakespeareThe World of Dickie ValentineThe World of the Spanish GuitarThe World of Billy FuryThe World of EnglandThe World of MotoringThe World of Caterina ValenteThe Phase 4 World of Burt BacharachThe World of the Cinema OrganThe World of Stanley HollowayThe World of ChildrenThe World of Stars on SundayThe Lord's Taverners at the Mansion HouseThe World of Lena MartellThe World of the Grenadier GuardsThe World of Wally WhytonThe World of the TornadosThe World of Chris BarberThe World of RussiaThe World of the HarpsichordThe World of St John'sThe World of the Temperance SevenThe World of the Hammond OrganThe World of the CountrysideThe World of RachmaninoffThe World of Neapolitan SongThe World at WarThe World of Elizabethan MusicFavourite TV ThemesThe World of the GoodiesThe World of Two PianosThe World of Gerry MonroeThe World of Ray CharlesBirds in MusicI Thought Terry Dene Was DeadThe World of LisztThe World of the SeaThe World of DanaThe World of SchubertThe World of MendelssohnThe World of Tony HancockThe World of the YettiesThe Hit Making World of Blue MinkThe World of Railways: G.W.R.The World of VerdiThe World of HandelThe World of Tom JonesThe World of Engelbert HumperdinckThe World of Max BoyceThe World of Jacques Loussier LiveThe Wonderful World of Nursery RhymesThe Singing World of Bernard ManningThe World of Hubert GreggThe Flamenco World of Paco PeñaThe Welsh World of Mary HopkinThe World of Classic CommercialsThe World of BoleroThe World of the GoonsThe World of Peggy Ashcroft & John GielgudThe World of ElgarThe World of Haydn