I’ll stick with you baby for a thousand years…
Just in time to get a birthday card in the post to David Bowie for his 63rd birthday is the upcoming official stamp of the Ziggy Stardust album cover, which will be issued on January 10th, 2010.
The stamp will be of the first class variety (naturally) and it’s one of ten in a series of classic British album covers. Here’s some blurb…
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Norvic Philatelics – GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks
Design Classics: Classic Album Covers – 7 January 2010
After the success of 2009?s British Design Classics, 2010 opens with a look at the classic art of the album cover. For decades the album sleeve has been the canvas for some of the most imaginative graphic artists in the world. This stamp issue salutes this unique art form and celebrates some of the greatest examples, used by UK artists.
This band of designers and photographers have not only reflected the visual styles of many musical cultures, but have also defined and created them, too. The stamp issue explores some of the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people?s lives.
This issue celebrates the work of the album sleeve designer, not the music. Royal Mail began with very extensive research of existing lists and polls of ?Greatest Album Covers? in books, music press and the web. This trawl of literally thousands of albums uncovered many that were common to most lists.
The editors of three of the UK?s most influential music publications together with a number of graphic designers and design writers were asked to independently list the most significant album sleeve artwork used on records by British artists.
Royal Mail reviewed all the research to assemble a shortlist of albums that spanned the decades from the 1960s. Some albums could not be included for operational reasons (for instance, designs that were too dark), after final deliberation the ten albums were arrived at.
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The set will be available in the following formats…
Set of 10 self-adhesive stamps:
Sheet 1 – strip of 5
a. The Division Bell ? Pink Floyd;
b. A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay;
c. Parklife ? Blur;
d. Power Corruption and Lies ? New Order;
e. Let It Bleed ? The Rolling Stones
Sheet 2 – strip of 5
a. London Calling ? The Clash;
b. Tubular Bells ? Mike Oldfield;
c. IV ? Led Zeppelin;
d. Screamadelica ? Primal Scream;
e.The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ? David Bowie
Souvenir Sheet
In the form of a ‘Best of…’ album cover (see above) this sheet contains the same 10 stamps, the same size, conventionally gummed and perforated.
This sheet is 223mm x 188mm (8.8 x 7.4 inches) and there will be a special first day cover to accommodate it.
Finally, there is a Classic Album Covers Prestige Stamp Book which you can read more about here along with the technical spec and all that stuff.
