Monthly Archives: June 2024

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New Album Covers by Klaus Voormann.

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Klaus Voormann will be 86 on April 29th, 2024, but he hasn’t retired from record cover design. My current list of Voormann covers has just reached its centenary — 100 covers listed! The list includes magazine and book covers in addition to the 90-odd record covers he has designed.

The latest two to turn up are Wolfgang Bernreuther’s Still a Fool, a CD or a limited edtion double LP, released on 21st April 2023.

Classic Voormann drawing.

And, as mentioned in my recent post on Voormann’s early covers, the latest Manfred Mann greatest hits package called Hits From the Sixties, was released in April 2024. Thanks to Stefan Thull, a Voormann collector, I was able to get a signed copy to add to my collection.

Klaus drew this portrait of Manfred Mann in 1966 — as written on the piano keys while he was a member of Manfred Mann. He also designed the cover for the Manfred’s 1966 album As Is.

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Madonna’s “Celebration” Album

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Madonna originally released her 36-track greatest hits album “Celebration” in 2009 as a double CD , BlueRay set and a limited edition 4LP set in a gatefold cover. The vinyl version soon became a collectors’ item with copies selling for up to $850. I imagine that a vinyl reissue to coincide with Madonna’s 2024 world tour must be an irritation for collectors who have the original version. Released on March 1st, 2024, the vinyl reissue is difficult to differentiate from the 2009 original, The covers, with the classic Mr. Brainwash portrait of Madonna, appear identical.

The original 2009 sticker on the left, compared with the re-issue sticker on the right.

But once the shrink wrap had been removed together with the sticker collectors will have to look at the record’s spine to be able to decide which version they have .

The original release is on the Warner Bros. label while the reissue is credited to Warner Music, or just plain “Warner” on the spine, and the catalogue number is given both with the spine number and the full barcode number on the reissue.

It’s impossible to tell if the reissue will also become a collectors’ item as I haven’t been able to find out if it is a limited edtion. I popped into one of Stockholm’s biggest record shops yesterday (8th June, 2024) and they didn’t have a copy, so perhaps it is fairly limited. Anyway, I’ll keep both my versions. But there is a limited edition od the reissue — 500 copies include a lithograph of Mr. Brainwash’s cover portrait of Madonna.