Record Sleeve Finds: XTC’s Paper Box
Most goodies hidden in record sleeves are flat, for obvious reasons. However, in 1989 XTC thought outside the box and were able to give their fans a…box.
Record Sleeve Finds: Kraftwerk’s Megaposter
Kraftwerk released their third album, Ralf und Florian, in 1973. It was the last of their “krautrock” records. Just a year later they would release Autobahn and begin to create history with their pioneering electronic sound.
When Ralf und Florian was released in West Germany, the very first pressing of the album came with a giant-sized 24″ by 36″ comic book/poster by Emil Shult, a cartoonist who has since designed most of the artwork for the band and even played with them for a short while in the early 70s. This poster was only included with the first West German pressing. It never appeared in any British, American or Japanese editions, and it’s even lacking in later pressings of the album that came out of the band’s home country.
The Ralf und Florian album is rare as it is, having never been released on CD, but this poster is downright impossible to find. So imagine my shock when I discovered it in the sleeve of a copy I bought.