VG+ Forum: Euro Picture Sleeve 45s thread....

[Ian Townsend]

....is an awesome display of record pron loveliness. Savour the sleeves and check out post #180; a veritable visual love letter to Euro sleeves painstakingly pieced together by Rich Hero.

See it here. (http://www.verygoodplus.co.uk/showthread.php?35131-Return-of-the-Euro-45-picture-thread/page8)

[treeboy]

I want a wall size print of that! I was patting myself on the back as I recognised about a dozen or so that I have, then realised the extent of it. Fantastic job :)

[sourcerer]

Incredible collections and beautiful to look at. Thanks for sharing.

[ironheadrat]

Anyone know why pic covers were pretty much standard in western Europe and not in the US and UK (at least until the late 70s)?
And what happens in other parts of the world? Brazilian 45s I've come across either have pic sleeves or stiff card label sleeves that are often beautifully designed.

[Ian Townsend]

Anyone know why pic covers were pretty much standard in western Europe and not in the US and UK (at least until the late 70s)?
And what happens in other parts of the world? Brazilian 45s I've come across either have pic sleeves or stiff card label sleeves that are often beautifully designed.
I was wondering exactly the same thing as I perused that thread. (If you don't take that question over to the collective knowledge VG+ I will!)
There are loads of 60 s American Popcorn tracks that are given a pic sleeve when released in Europe too. I'm on a minor mission to gather together a whole bunch of them for a wall at some point.

When the Forumusic 'story arc' ( it doesn't look like there's one at the moment but there is one) moves post- 2000 to the huge influence the Internet had on crate- digging further afield than the US and Western Europe, a nice permanent wall of Euro 45s will appear on the main Forumusic site.

[ironheadrat]

I was wondering exactly the same thing as I perused that thread. (If you don't take that question over to the collective knowledge VG+ I will!)
There are loads of 60 s American Popcorn tracks that are given a pic sleeve when released in Europe too. I'm on a minor mission to gather together a whole bunch of them for a wall at some point.
.

I'm speculating that it might be to do with the US having so many local labels specialising in 45s only with no budget for an art department. In much of Europe established companies with designers on board re-released established hits from the US as well as home product. Not sure where the UK fits in, but maybe US imports had an effect?

There also seems to be seamless move from picture sleeve eps to 45s in Europe, whereas in the UK early eps got the mini-lp treatment but 45s didn't.

[ironheadrat]

Also: jukeboxes.
You don't need a pic sleeve if you're stacking your 45s on a jukie.
I don't think the jukebox thing was anything like as big in Europe - but why are big centre holes standard, then?

Hmmmm, maybe back with some more off-the-top-of-my-head ill-informed pondering later...

[Ian Townsend]

Also: jukeboxes.
You don't need a pic sleeve if you're stacking your 45s on a jukie.
I don't think the jukebox thing was anything like as big in Europe - but why are big centre holes standard, then?

Hmmmm, maybe back with some more off-the-top-of-my-head ill-informed pondering later...
Pondering good.
Pondering sums up the majority of the content on the website :D

[ironheadrat]

I think eps are the key.
Very popular in europe and the UK, but not in the US.
Why the UK didn't go for pic sleeve singles I don't know.

[Highland Doom]

I think in the UK a lot of it is to do with the rush to actually get a record in the shops. It seems crazy nowadays that a track could be recorded and then in the shops just a few weeks later. Now the record companies need 3-6 months to get their marketing campaign (Yuk) together.

A Kinks 45 would probably be released in Germany a few weeks after the UK release, giving them time to get artwork together.

It also maybe helped prevent import copies. Mainland continentals waiting a few weeks for their own colourful domestic release rather than buying an imported UK copy.

Just guesswork on my behalf of course.

[Ian Townsend]

Thank you both for those thoughts. I suppose there are always reasons behind the way something evolves, but once a thing or way of doing something has established itself it just becomes the accepted norm and nobody thinks twice about it. (Conscious I'm not really adding anything at all here! :rolleyes:)

Supporting my reasoning are Sun Page 3 girls.
In this country no-one bats an eyelid at a pair of breasts on the third page of a national daily publication but I can attest that German, French, Canadian and American visitors / lodgers over the years have been amazed by the phenomenon and always want to buy copies and send them home to relatives.

[ironheadrat]

A Kinks 45 would probably be released in Germany a few weeks after the UK release, giving them time to get artwork together.
.

Good point. I get the impression the continent was always well behind the UK for US stuff (although plenty of US stuff got a Euro release and no UK one)
In Spain they had to translate the title, too, due to Franco-ite laws promoting the noble Castillian language.
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag became Papa Tiene un Flamante Nuevo Bolso.
Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag became Papa Tiene un Flamante Nuevo Bolso de Piel de Cerdo (Papa's Got a Spanking New Pigskin Satchel)
Cheryl Lynn's Got To Be Real becomes One Has to Be a Realist (Hay Que Ser Realista)
There areseveral other clunking examples like this.