I received my copies of the reissues of both Silver Laughter albums today, and boy, am I impressed! Not only are the jackets nearly authentic (except for the New Music/Green Tree label) to the originals. As you can see, the front covers are nearly exact duplicates from the 1976 and 1978 Fanfare albums. It should be known, however, that some improvements have been made.
“Handle With Care” and “Sailing On Fantasies” on the back of the album covers now show my name as Mick Orton which is a change from the originals. And on the back cover of “Sailing On Fantasies” there is a slight improvement. If you enlarge the photo inset you will see there is a watermarked version of several photos inside the two sections where the recording information and song lists are. These were not there on the original versions. However, the photo under the recording info (bottom left) pictures Kim who did not appear on this album.
What is most impressive is the quality of the inside sleeves. They are very heavy paper stock and durable. The photo quality and printing are exquisite. As you can see, both albums share the same information on the history of the band, but some new photos appear both on the history side as well as watermark versions on the lyrics sides. On the left “Handle With Care” sleeve, the first and fourth photos were taken when Kim came back to Silver Laughter in 1978. The second picture shows Paul who had just joined at the end of the “HWC” recording sessions. The third is one of the early promo pictures John Ludtke Sr. took of the band shortly after Ken joined us. On the right is a watermarked version of the 1978 photo with Kim who did not appear on that album.
Finally, the flip sides of the inner sleeves contain all the lyrics for each album. Once again the band promo pictures are watermarked. It should be noted that they are reversed. Kim is on the “Sailing On Fantasies” lyrics sheet and Paul is on the “Handle With Care” lyrics sheet. I was consulted on the proofing of these printed materials, but I must have missed those details!
Categories: Current News, Memorabilia
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