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"Classic albums and the Cracker Jack syndrome (ca. 1967-1973)": This week's newspaper column


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Classic albums and the Cracker Jack syndrome (ca. 1967-1973)

The so-called “comeback” of LPs/record albums has been noticeable enough to the point that is has a Wikipedia page (“Vinyl Revival”). Thereon, a brief history of the resurgence of interest in the twelve-inch licorice pizza music format is briefly chronicled and lists of bestsellers are presented.

It’s fair to speculate that specific generations can relate to the specific, er, “software formats” of the music with which they came of age. For Boomers, such items would most likely be LPs and eight-track tapes. Cassettes would ultimately supplant eight-tracks as a tape format, but that “victory” in the audiotape format wars didn’t happen until around the end of the ‘70s.

The phenomenon of obsolescence has happened time and time again in the audio-video entertainment marketplace. What’s more, each time a new format has been introduced, it’s usually been smaller. The convenience and portability of cassettes (vs. eight-tracks) and compact discs (vs. LPs) were obvious facets of advertising campaigns and features-and-benefits hype.

That said, two things that LPs had going for them regarding their large size were (1) more opportunities for unique and ultimately-iconic artwork and  (2) more opportunities to include extraneous items inside--think Cracker Jacks--or perhaps there was some doo-dad attached to the front cover. What seems to validate the recollections and desirability concerning such albums is that a disproportionate number of them were released during the most diverse and productive half-dozen years in popular music history (1967-1973).

Let’s consider some of the albums that had “goodies” first:

One of the earliest oddball rock album covers was proffered in 1966. Designed by Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground & Nico featured music by a so-called “art rock” band and a German singer-songwriter. The front displayed an adhesive-backed illustration of a banana, which could be peeled off.

Posters were often included as album paraphernalia, and more of those items probably were found inside record jackets than any other extraneous merchandise. Many large posters were folded over several times to fit inside a twelve-inch album cover.

Examples were seen in Isaac Hayes’ Black Moses, as well as two posters in Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall. It’s fair to opine that Chicago’s four-LP effort was one of rock music’s first box sets, but back then it was generally dissed, due to lousy fidelity.

The original 1971 version of the Faces’ A Nod Is As Good As A Wink included a collage-type poster with some controversial images. The record company quickly eliminated the poster, turning the earliest version of the release into an instant collector’s item.  Rod Stewart was the singer for that band, by the way.

The contents of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon included two posters and two stickers.

The front cover of the Faces’ final studio album, Ooh La La, had a die-cut portrait of a dandy that moved when a tab was pushed, changing the expression on his face to a leer.

The “motion” idea for album covers had actually been seen several years earlier in a reticular picture on a Rolling Stones release, and Andy Warhol also conceived a design with an actual zipper for another Stones album.

The Raspberries’ first album featured a scratch-and-sniff sticker on the front. Guess what it smelled like.

However, full disclosure mandates the revelation that the Raspberries’ eponymous album wasn’t the first olfactory-oriented LP in the marketplace. Back in 1959 (!), the Faberge company had introduced a new fragrance called “F Sharp”, and the purchase of a bottle of that perfume included an album titled F Sharp—Where There Is Music by Ernest Maxin and his orchestra. The music consisted of a dozen standards such as “As Time Goes By” and “Tangerine.” The album jacket was upholstered in black felt and scented with the signature cologne, which could still be, er, sniffed out years later. Don Draper would be proud of such a marketing ploy.

And in the early ‘70s, even a comedy LP featured an add-on widget—Cheech and Chong’s Big Bambu included a giant cigarette rolling paper.

By 1975, the idea of enclosing gimmicks with rock albums seemed to have pretty much run its course. That annum witnessed an iron-on transfer of the front cover enclosed with Chicago VIII, and Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was wrapped in solid navy blue (non-transparent) cellophane. A small sticker was necessary to inform the record-buying public of the band and the contents.

Then there are LP album covers that are iconic for their artwork alone. We’ll consider some of those next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rolling Stones “Sticky Fingers”. My Old Man had an original copy with the zipper and I always thought that was cool as hell.

And the CD box set of The Velvet Underground that came out in the 90s had the vinyl cling banana and the pink artwork underneath too; I always thought that was the best contender for greatest reissue, in the spirit of trying to continue bold artwork in new recorded mediums.

I think that whether it’s a huge rolling paper from Cheech and Chong, Pink Floyd posters and stickers, or the huge gatefold from Eat a Peach, it added value and there’s a reason we’re still talking about it.

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I miss the days of actual artwork being used for album covers and film posters. These days, everything is Photoshopped pictures. 

Still there were some good double-albums that had the folded double-sleeves with cool notes, pics, and lyrics in the center pages. And let's not forget picture-discs. I've seen those pop up in the recent vinyl resurgence as well.

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On 6/29/2018 at 3:48 PM, Willie G. Moseley said:

That annum witnessed an iron-on transfer of the front cover enclosed with Chicago VIII

I remember that!  My mom actually ironed it on to a shirt for my dad.

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Hey, I had that Pink Floyd DSotM poster!

What about the original Living in the Past with the booklet inside, or the TAAB "newspaper"? Or the artwork on Crimson's Lizard or Wake of Poseidon? Early Greenslade album covers... Hawkwind... all the Roger Dean stuff...

Sure seems that the small format CD cases don't lenf themselves to these same levels of intricacy in cover art.

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