The UK Royal Mail announced that they will in 2010 print a series of stamps bearing the covers of ten well-known British albums from the last forty years. The album covers are –
Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed (1969)
Led Zepellin Untitled Fourth Album (1971)
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells (1973)
The Clash London Calling (1979)
New Order, Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)
Primal Scream, Screamadelica (1991)
Pink Floyd, The Division Bell (1994)
Blur, Park Life (1994)
Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)
Pictures of the stamps are here. All the stamps show the album cover and a vinyl record partly removed from the sleeve.
You could say that this is snail mail trying to look edgy. More likely it represents the embrace of what was once outre by one of the stodgiest establishments. Or maybe we’re just getting older.
Sources: “Discos que valen un sello,” abc.es (Oct. 20, 2009), “Design Classics: Classic Album Covers — 7 January 2009,” norvic-philactelics.co.uk (Jan. 7, 16, 2009), entries on each album in Wikipedia, as linked
kevin monroe | 25-Oct-09 at 5:49 am | Permalink
getting older is the key phrase. I love Pink Floyd and the rolling Stones (although i have a fictional female character who hates the Stones) but 4 of these groups i never heard of.
Gonzalo Barr | 25-Oct-09 at 6:02 am | Permalink
I would like to see the USPS (while it still exists) issue stamps with the album covers of classic LPs by US bands. As I posted on Facebook, I can see more than one Talkingheads LP cover qualify as art. There is also the first Santana album. Having been much more an afficionado of British rock, though, that’s pretty much where my list of US LPs ends.
kevin monroe | 26-Oct-09 at 3:26 am | Permalink
Itzhak Perlman allegedly said that Brian Wilson, founder of the Beach Boys, is the sort of musical genius that comes around only so often, the previous being Beethoven. Brian Wilson allegedly said “Well if he’s comparing me to Beethoven, that’s pretty cool.”