TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME
Being 'The Most Influential Artist Of All Time', imitation is the cross that David Bowie must bear. The particular example above dates back two years now, but I thought that while we were on the subject of Bowie album cover pastiches, (see yesterday's El Ves story) now was a good time to dig it out. The picture is a detail from the back cover of an album called 'What Kind Of Country Is This?' by the group, Those Magnificent Men, who are three boys and a girl that play a type of country music that isn't really aimed at me. Actually most country isn't really aimed at me.
Nevertheless, the sleeve is a pretty good spoof of the reverse of Ziggy Stardust, (click on the image for the whole thing) from the hand-tinted green of the clothing down to the typeface and those immortal words: TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME. Unfortunately, the listening experience, even with my dial at eleven, is not quite as thrilling as Ziggy Stardust. Good luck to them anyway.
Sony wants to turn the world...
It would seem that it's not only little known country bands that understand the visual power of the Ziggy Stardust sleeve. A campaign that Sony are currently running reached an exciting peak recently, when the image above appeared as a half-page advert in The Sunday Times. The campaign's slogan, Get Closer To The Music, is literally illustrated with a driver's-eye view from the interior of a car that has chanced upon the cover shoot from the front of Ziggy. A great idea, brilliantly executed. Thanks to Spaceface for the scan.
Total Blam Blam (European Correspondent)