Lansdowne Studio • Denis Preston set up Lansdowne Studios in 1957, and is cited as the UK’s first independent producer. This looks like a generic single bag used to house acetates or test pressings made at the studio. There is a date of April 1964 stamped on and the bag certainly has a sixties feel to it, with the vertical stripe and address running at 45 degrees to the main titling. As far as I know there never was an actual Lansdowne label.
Ronn Records • The Americans have managed to produce some really good record sleeve graphics, and some really naff ones. Guess which side of the divide this one falls on. It looks very sixties, despite a release date on this particular single of 1979. The Jewel label started in 1967, so it seems likely the graphics date from then and never changed. Jewel Records began as a shop on 728 Texas Street in 1948 (Elvis did an in-store signing there once). The bag design covered all three of their labels.
Deutsche Grammophon • A well known classical label based in Germany, dating back to the 1800s, this DG label logo was designed around 1950 by Hans Domizlaff who worked for label owners Siemens. This single bag dates from the early 1950s (they issued their first single in 1952), and manages to retain a feel for their history as well as a few contemporary touches like the band of tulips round the edge of the label itself. A similar yellow banded design appeared on their early albums as well. Umdrehungen means revolutions.
Polydor • This is a very busy but memorable sleeve, dating from 1957. The outline figures – musicians, dancers and a gent relaxing in his armchair – form a background pattern and are repeated like wallpaper rolls across alternating bands of colour. The familiar Polydor logo of the time is about the only other graphic imposed on the design, plus a white rectangle provided for the use of shops (who liked to write the catalogue numbers and / or price on the cover) and M45, giving the speed and mono key. There is a page on the change in Polydor logos on the site : German Polydor Logo design
Jolly • Another bag doing service for three associated labels, this single being on the Italian Jolly label (hidden by the bag is a jesters hat over the letter O!). It dates from 1961.
Ricordi • This bag dates from 1960 although the Italian label has origins stretching back to the previous century, and the name is still going today, though owned by BMG. Quite a modern looking graphic for the age, clearly based on the label’s older ‘R’ logo seen on the label itself.
ST33 