The last of the reprint updates! Stock of the new edition arrived from the printers this week (as before, the second run has been done in the UK) and we are already sending back-orders out and aim to have them all finished over the next couple of days. To our surprise and joy some countries in Europe have added a second layer of customs duties and charges on UK post since we last checked, but we are taking the hit (and cursing brexit still!). We appreciate everyone being patient and hope you really enjoy going through the book and showing it to friends and family. We’re still enjoying it! Do feel free to let us know, or mention it on social media. Stock is also going out to our warehouse and distributors (the good folk at Lodge Moor Post Office love us).
Easy Books have also produced a new flyer (above), these seem to disappear as fast as we print them (the last lot were all snaffled by the people of Mansfield), so thought it would be fun to launch another earworm on the world at the same time with a 30 second YouTube video which you can watch here:
If you can get Oh What A Big Big Boy (released way back in 1941) out of your head after hearing this you are better than us! Thanks to the wonderful Internet Archive for the digitised 78 rpm audio.
A last reminder that you can still catch Steve Goldman’s big Worst Record Covers In The World exhibition at Mansfield until the end of August, or the concurrent show in Edinburgh in the Assembly’s George Square Studios bar during the Fringe, also on until the end of the month (see newsletter 9 for more). Or treat yourself and get to both as they have different content! If you do please send us snaps.
And as ever a couple more bizarre sleeves which didn’t make the book! A contender for the section on strange cat covers at the front of the book, I confess we know little about Tom Cat other than they were a Japanese six man new wave pop band formed in 1978. This, their only album (above) didn’t come out until 1985. They secured proper one-hit wonder status in Japan for providing the opening track to the anime film Fist of the North Star 2 (no, us neither!) but split in 1987. None of this explains that grim cover shot, unless they were aiming at the feline dental surgeon end of the boy-band market. Let’s hope the photographer got out of this with fingers all intact.
Then we come to a Spanish album which seems very obscure, probably because if you were shopping for a rock & roll collection, you too would go for a “Best Of” rather than one which promises to be terrible!! It’s a shame ‘cos that’s a great cover shot, albeit spoilt by the overlaid lettering. Is it a simple language turn about that just looks comical to us? I’m no duolinguist but I know the French often use turn the word on its head. Let us know if you can explain. Doesn’t stop it being funny either way! The music? All low-budget cover versions of the real thing. Maybe they are terrible. I’ll let you know, we just found a copy on Spanish ebay!
Simon and Ann / Easy On The Eye Books
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NEWSLETTERS - You can check out previous Bizarre Sleeves newsletters on the publisher's web site, plenty to read and follow up on:
