[78-L] Upcoming Steinweiss book

[David Lennick]

And HMV put out acoustical Gilbert and Sullivan sets with gorgeous full color 
covers before 1920 and I'm sure there were examples before that.

dl

Michael Biel wrote:
> fnarf at comcast.net wrote:
>> Yes, they did. Those are the album covers Steinweiss is alleged to have invented, 78 albums. But typically, before Steinweiss and other pioneers (AND OTHER PIONEERS, I will preemptively yell) started putting pictures on the front, they weren't sold with the records, but rather as separate blank albums. Indeed, if I'm not mistaken,
> 
> You ARE mistaken.
> 
>>  the first pictorial 78 albums were sold empty, to be filled with discs by the purchaser, sort of like stamp or coin albums, which they were I think modeled on.
>>
>>
>>   
> While Cary has that Jimmie Rogers album from 1933 that he thinks was 
> sold empty, I am talking about regular numbered albums sold with 
> specific records.  Decca's 1941 catalog, copyright 1940, includes the 
> album numerical listing thru number 199, most -- if not all -- of them 
> issued with illustrated covers prior to Steinweiss's first album cover.  
> And prior to Decca, Brunswick (run by the same Jack Kapp) had issued 
> several albums with GEORGOUS covers, such as Blackbirds of 1928.  Decca 
> and Bluebird/Victor had issued childrens albums in the 30s with 
> illustrated covers, and you can count in the Bubble Books which had 
> illustrations throughout, and the Tiny Tots albums with color covers.  
> All of you have at least one copy of the Decca Porgy and Bess from 1939, 
> and that cover is not out of the ordinary for Decca.  I have several 
> copies of the earlier Victor P&B with Tibbett and they all have an 
> illustrated cover -- did that originally come out with a plain cover?  I 
> have Columbia Masterworks Set 340 with ARC era labels that has a 5x7 
> glossy of Maurice Evans glued on the cover, with the titling printed 
> below.   And I have other examples even in the 20s.  I know that some of 
> these are "dead end" since they didn't continue or affect the industry, 
> but Decca is an example of a long term series that existed prior to, and 
> continued parrallel to, Steinweiss.  STEINWEISS DID NOT INVENT THE 
> MODERN ILLUSTRATED ALBUM COVER, HE BORROWED THE IDEA FROM 
> DECCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  PERIOD.  END OF STORY.
> 
> All of the empty performer albums that I have are of 1940s performers.  
> My theory has been that these were manufactured to emulate the 
> illustrated albums which had become common by then, not prior to them 
> becoming common.   There were these exceptions, but this was never a 
> really big part of the record industry. 
> 
> And again I challenge whoever came up with that "800% sales increase 
> within months" figure to source it and to prove that cutting the price 
> of the records in half did not cause whatever increase there was.
> 
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com  
> 
> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Ron L'Herault" <lherault at bu.edu>
>> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Sent: Friday, September 25, 2009 1:14:07 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Upcoming Steinweiss book
>>
>> Did not 78 Albums have artwork much like an LP (or Lp) cover?   So then, is
>> it not just an adaptation of what was already in existence?
>>
>> Ron L
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
>> [mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Michael Biel
>> Sent: Friday, September 25, 2009 4:09 PM
>> To: 78-L Mail List
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Upcoming Steinweiss book
>>
>> Don Cox wrote:
>>  > So who was the inventor of the modern album cover?
>>
>> This supposes that there was an "invention" of the modern album cover by a
>> person, not a general trend in the industry.  But I suppose, since the Decca
>> Album series had about 200 albums, mostly with illustrated covers, by the
>> time of Steinweiss's first cover, I suppose the Art Department of Decca
>> might be credited.  But there are many examples prior to the founding of
>> Decca, so I think they were just, to use the words of one of the songs from
>> a Decca album, "doin' what comes naturally".
>>
>> Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com   
>>
>>
>>
>>   
>>> Hello Michael
>>>
>>> On 25/09/2009, Michael Biel wrote:
>>>   
>>>     
>>>> Bertrand CHAUMELLE wrote:
>>>>     
>>>>       
>>>>> http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/search/result.1.htm? 
>>>>> show_all=catalogue&search_string=steinweiss&linkbutton=Search
>>>>>   
>>>>>       
>>>>>         
>>>>>> BC
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>           
>>>>>   
>>>>>       
>>>>>         
>>>> Below is a more appropriate URL for the book, and you can view pages
>>>> and go to other versions of the book from here.
>>>>
>>>>       
>> http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/design/all/01099/facts.alex_steinw
>> eiss_inventor_of_the_modern_album_cover_art_edition.htm
>>   
>>>> Of course Steinweiss was NOT the "inventor" of the modern album cover.
>>>> And I would like to know where the bullcrap about Columbia sales
>>>> increasing 800% in six months because of the covers comes from. It
>>>> doesn't mention that this also was at the time that prices for
>>>> Masterworks were cut in half. I bet that had MUCH MORE to do with
>>>> increased sales!!!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     
>