John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5903, 1981))

A companion release from the same series as the Flying Lizards ‘Move On ‘Up’ 12″ documented in a previous post. Taking the usual cavalier attitude to track selection and sleeve design that many Japanese releases of this period had, this little beauty gathers together a selection of tracks from three of John Foxx’s 1980 singles (‘Miles Away’, ‘Burning Car’ and the extra single from the ‘No-One’s Driving’ double-pack 7 inch) in a sleeve/label design unlike any other Foxx release.

John Foxx 'Burning Car' Japanese 12 inch mini-LP
^ John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese 12 inch mini-LP

Along the way, it has also managed to include a different mix of ‘Miles Away’, the same one as used in the promo video for the single, I believe. (This mix finally made it on to CD with the late-2008 2-disc re-issue of ‘The Garden’.) Continue reading “John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5903, 1981))”

Flying Lizards ‘Move On Up’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5902)

Japanese releases have always been fabulously exotic and collectable to me, with their disregard for replicating the exact same releases elsewhere and willingness to mix and match tracks into new combinations, such as 12″ mini-albums and so on. Plus of course the extra attention to detail with the quality of sleeve designs, inserts and packaging in general. Virgin released a series of ‘pic label’ releases by a few of my favourites such as John Foxx, The Human League, Japan, and, in the subject of this post, The Flying Lizards.

Flying Lizards 'Move On Up' Japanese 'Pic Label' series 12" single front sleeve with Obi
^ Flying Lizards ‘Move On Up’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12 inch single front sleeve with Obi

Hailing from late 1980, this 12″ compiles various tracks from all of the Flying Lizards singles up to that point and comes in a die-cut sleeve with an over-sized 6″ picture label on show (front only) – ‘Move On Up’ (Single edit) and Portugal from the A and B side respectively of the ‘Move On Up’ 7″ single, ‘All Guitars’ from the B side of the ‘Summertime Blues’ single, ‘Money’ (the longer, album version though) from the ‘Money’ single (which was available on 12″ in some territories) and ‘Tube’ from the B side of the ‘TV’ single. Continue reading “Flying Lizards ‘Move On Up’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5902)”

Skids ‘The Absolute Game’ original album label designs

Some months back I promised that as well as publishing some details on the CD issues of the Skids album ‘The Absolute Game’ I would post some photos of the original album art, for comparison – so anyone who is not familiar with the original album (and free album) can get an idea of details such as the label designs, inserts and even a badge of the period that was available courtesy of the merchandise sheet slipped into the album copies.

'The Absolute Game' label design, A side
^ ‘The Absolute Game’ label design, A side

Continue reading “Skids ‘The Absolute Game’ original album label designs”

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: ‘Architecture & Morality’ USA LP (Epic/Virgin/DinDisc ARE37721)

US 'Architecture & Morality' front sleeve design

When it comes to version craziness, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark win in spades, what with their numerous colour variations for their first few LP sleeves and later CD issues. We’ll come to those in more detail on another occasion. This time round, a calling card – here is the American issue of ‘Architecture & Morality’. Musically, it is no different – but as you can see from the sleeve reproduced above the cover design is a variation on the UK edition – with the photograph much larger and the titles above and below it.

Label design, inner sleeve and rear cover design