Bottoms on Sleeves - No. 3

Bumper bottoms this week as we look at the sleeve for...

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (single, 1989)

- here's how a model's bum was featured on the, er, rear side of the 7" & 12" sleeves respectively:

the gatefold 7" featured all four band members and the same bum

The hanging gardens of Shoreditch

John Foxx has another new album out at the end of this month. London Overgrown is a collection of instrumental tracks under the general theme of the UK's capital city being overrun by trees and bushes and so on.

Foxx had this to say:

Let's practice vertical gardening over buildings everywhere. Create the Hanging Gardens of Shoreditch, The Glades of Soho. Let's have floating overgrown islands moored on the Thames - they can make bridges and movable, modular, floating landscapes. Let's open up the pavements and glass them over so we can see all Londons hundred rivers flowing under our feet. These can be planted with fern mosses and lichen and illuminated at night to make spectacular walkways.

The album is out on March 30th, available from all good music outlets and garden centres. Details here.

A song for Europe

Depeche Moder Martin L. Gore has posted a new solo instrumental track on Soundcloud. It's called Europa Hymn and it's the taster for a new solo album MG coming out at the end of April 2015*.

Full details, pre-order, tracklisting etc. over on the Mute page.

You can listen to Europa Hymn here if you like:





*We just hope it's better than VCMG.

Bottoms on sleeves - No. 2

The Smiths - Hand in Glove (single, 1983)

Photograph by Jim French who did a lot of that sort of photo. Original here.

Literature in Music - 1

..another ocasional series...

The Echo & the Bunnymen track My White Devil, included on their album Porcupine (1983), references playwright John Webster (1580 - 1634) and two of his major works The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi.

"John Webster was

One of the best there was

He was the author of

Two famous tragedies

The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi

The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi.."

Bottoms on sleeves - No. 1

..an occasional series..

Ultravox - All Stood Still (single, 1981).

pic: discogs.com

Sleeve credits state "Three Graces, Museum of Side. Turkey", so possibly based on this.