Tom Jones  Daughter of Darkness b/w Tupelo Mississippi Flash  Decca Records (Spain).  And here’s one suitable for framing!  …

Tom Jones  Love Me Tonight b/w Hide and Seek  Decca Records (Spain)

(17 votes, average: 4.24 out of 5)

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Always fun to find different records with the same or similar covers.  Here are two picture sleeves from different countries by different artists using different shots from the same photo shoot.  The one on the top, Hit Parade on Romance Records is from Holland and the one below is an EP from Italy by Nini Rosso “I Ragazzi Del Jazz “on Sprint Records.  One is pop music, the other Jazz.  One from Italy, the other from the Netherlands.  Guessing they both were released in the late fifties/early sixties.  People are more the same than they are different – no matter where they live.

(14 votes, average: 4.36 out of 5)

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The Tornados  “Robot” / “Life On Venus”  Decca Records (UK)

“Robot” is a follow up of sorts to the far more famous, equally futuristic “Telstar.” It is a testament to writer-producer Joe Meek’s creativity that the songs do not sound more similar.

The song, like “Telstar,” begins with Joe Meek sound effects before musically depicting the titular machine coming to life through an increase in tempo, as if he were slowly speeding up like a locomotive. What follows next is a lovely, tuneful track driven as much by Meek’s early electric keyboards as it is by the signature guitar sound of the Tornados, which is able to rise brilliantly above the rest of the arrangement.

The song is one of many by Meek that deals with space aged or futuristic subject matter. He and the Blue Men created a whole album of such material, his landmark I Hear a New World.

This was the Tornados’ fourth single, and their third hit record, reaching number 19 on the British charts.

(23 votes, average: 4.43 out of 5)

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“This is Surfin’ ” Wipe Out  The Surfaris  Dot Records (Japan)   Maybe with the Ventures, the Surfaris and their drum crazy hit “Wipe Out”were the most popular of the sixties surf scene.  This is a cool and unique cover only issued in Japan.  (Is that Sandra Dee on the cover?)

(40 votes, average: 4.03 out of 5)

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Mel Torme “Swingin’ on the Moon”  A World Record Club Release from the UK of the 1960 Verve release below.

(26 votes, average: 4.27 out of 5)

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“I (heart) Art Blakey”  “Tough!”  Chess Records (Netherlands)  Recorded in 1957 and first issued in 1966 in the US on Cadet Records …

With Jackie McClean, Bill Hardman, Sam Dockery and Spanky De Brest as Messengers.

(26 votes, average: 4.23 out of 5)

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Original cover of David Bowie’s self-titled album from 1969 which was subsequently reissued as Space Odyssey.  Phillips Records (UK)   At $6,826, this is the most expensive record ever sold on Discogs!  See the story here!

(20 votes, average: 3.30 out of 5)

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Have you ever found old 45’s without their picture sleeves and wondered what the covers could be if YOU were the art director and artist.  I recently found this handful of homemade jackets that some creative soul designed to replace the originals.  I dig the girl covers!  I can imagine our DIY hero listening and dreaming of each song’s romantic heroine, but I’m most intrigued by what the Hollies “On a Carousel” conjured up!

(22 votes, average: 4.36 out of 5)

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Stirring the Cream  CREAM   Polydor Medium Records  (Holland)

(31 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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A beautiful alternate cover from Japan.  “Sounds Like The Flirtations”  Deram Records (1970)  Here’s their greatest hit “Nothing But A Hearthache”  A Northern Soul dance club favorite.

Although they never recorded for Motown Records, the Flirtations should have, because they sounded like nothing so much as a more energetic version of the Supremes, and by all rights, this exciting vocal trio should have been continually at the top of the pop charts during the late 1960s and early 1970s. They did have a big hit with 1969’s “Nothing But a Heartache,” a record that has had an enduring shelf life and actually might be better known now in the 21st century than it was 40-some years ago. An American singing trio who relocated to the U.K. in 1967, the Flirtations recorded an album, Sounds Like the Flirtations, and several singles for the Decca imprint Deram Records before leaving for Polydor Records in 1972. This set collects the Deram album and adds in four additional tracks from the same time period to make an ideal introduction to this fun group. Among the gems here are the undeniably classic “Nothing But a Heartache,” the bursting-with-energy “Need Your Loving,” the autobiographical “South Carolina” and the why-wasn’t-this-a-hit “What’s Good About Goodbye My Love,” but everything here falls into the same groove, with upbeat arrangements, spirited singing and insistent, racing and almost unhinged horn arrangements.  (Allmusic)

(24 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)

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