# "Goodies" in Vinyl Albums
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 18, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201 "2012-02-18T00:08:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@KneeSid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneeSid)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/1 "2012-02-18T00:08:57Z")
My thread about the “good old days” got two interesting responses for me
> [@The 'Bad' "Good Old" Days](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bad-good-old-days/613030/18):
>
> Vinyl albums and even some vinyl singles had cover art, and sometimes some extra goodies. For instance, _Sgt. Pepper_ had a sheet of cut out artwork, and I think it had some other goodies as well. Now, MOST albums didn’t have the extra goodies, but just the cover art on most albums was a great extra. And you just can’t get that level of art goodness on a smaller package, there’s not enough area.
> [@The 'Bad' "Good Old" Days](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bad-good-old-days/613030/20):
>
> I recall that the White Album had four 8x10 portraits of the Beatles, suitable for framing; that McCartney’s _Wings over America_ had a full-size poster of the band; Elton John’s _Captain Fantastic_ included two booklets, one with lyrics and one with reprints of news clippings and photos of Elton’s and Bernie’s history; and that Jim Steinman’s _Bad for Good_ even included a 7" EP with the music he wanted to include in the album but that wouldn’t fit on the 12" LP.
>
> As **Lynn** mentioned, most albums didn’t have such things, but for those that did, the extra goodies were real treats.
Since I didn’t come of age in they vinyl era, what other vinyl albums had “goodies” in them. Any unusual things?
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/2 "2012-02-18T00:15:31Z")
Most of this was before the Arab oil embargo, which drove the material cost of the disc up. But Cheech & Chong gave a giant sheet of cigarette paper. Alice Cooper had a panty in one album (Killer?) and a fold-out calendar in Muscle of Love.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/3 "2012-02-18T00:18:50Z")
Posters were common. Simon & Garfunkel’s _Bookends_, Santana’s _Abraxas_, Ten Years After’s _Watt_, and most of Chicago’s early albums were among those that included posters. Pink Floyd’s _Dark Side of the Moon_ contained two posters, plus a couple of stickers.
The Alice Cooper album with the panties over the disc was _School’s Out_. _Killer_ was, I believe, the one with the calendar.
The first pressing of Plastic Ono Band’s _Live Peace in Toronto_ included a John & Yoko calendar. The second pressing had a coupon you could send in to get the calendar.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/4 "2012-02-18T00:46:14Z")
All sort of things. The champ was the original version of the Who’s **Live at Leeds** , which had:
A poster of the group
A copy of their contract at Woodstock\*
A letter from EMI records, rejecting them as a recording act.
Typewritten lyrics to “My Generation,” with handwritten notes.
A sheet showing the income and expenses for an early tour.
A letter telling them a gig was being cancelled because they weren’t the type of act the venue wanted.
A list of gigs on a tour, with what they were being paid for each.
A delivery slip for fireworks
An early photo of the group
A picture of Townsend jumping up and down with his guitar at Woodstock.
Plus a few other items that I can’t remember.
The first two Bonzo Dog Band Albums had booklets just a little smaller than the record sleeve with information and photos of the band.
\*This showed up on Pawn Stars; they bought one thinking it was genuine.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/5 "2012-02-18T00:50:44Z")
Jethro Tull’s “Thick as a Brick” came with a many-paged newspaper insert. Their “Stand Up” had a pop-up of the band in the middle.
Queen’s “Jazz”, which included the song “Fat Bottomed Girls”, came with a poster of a girls’ nude bicycle race (I still have that!).
The Clash’s first album briefly came with a lyric sheet (unusual for punk), which was then replaced with a 45rpm single (I have both of those).
The Who’s “Quadrophenia” came with a massive foldout book (still have that too!).
Lots of posters as well.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/6 "2012-02-18T00:55:31Z")
The inner sleeve of Led Zeppelin’s “In Through the Out Door” had a b&w photo of a man sitting at a bar. The careful application of a damp cloth caused some parts of the picture to become colorful (e.g. a dollar bill turned green).
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/7 "2012-02-18T00:59:44Z")
I’m not sure if this counts, but Split Enz’s “True Colours” was laser-etched so that spinning the album - particularly in sunlight - caused a freaky light show. It was really cool at first, but eventually became annoying.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/8 "2012-02-18T01:06:28Z")
Todd Rundgren’s albums have featured a number of extras _A Wizard/A True Star_ featured a postcard that purchasers could send in to get their names on the next album, and a printed image of a Band-Aid with a poem by Patti Smith. _Todd_ had that poster, 10,000 names laboriously typed in by hand (this was in 1974) and screened to duplicate the cover image in shades of gray. His album _Healing_ was a themed song suite, and the record company complained that it had no potential hit single. Todd recorded a single _Time Heals_ and a b-side _Tiny Demons_ that was included as a 33 1/3 RPM 7" single with the LP. The [length of the single is 3:33](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healing_%28Todd_Rundgren%29#7-inch_disc), an ironic jab at the record companies search for singles.
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### Author:  [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/9 "2012-02-18T01:06:32Z")
“Dark Side of the Moon” had posters and stickers.
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### Author:  [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/10 "2012-02-18T01:07:52Z")
Oh yeah, one of Black Oak Arkansas’ albums had a deed for a square inch of land in Black Oak, Arkansas.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/11 "2012-02-18T01:22:05Z")
Jefferson Airplane’s Volunteers album had a one-page “newspaper” insert.
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### Author:  [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/12 "2012-02-18T02:03:37Z")
Not exactly extras, but the covers for the first five or six **Hawkwind** albums would fold out to form bigger pieces of artwork.
“In Search of Space” folded out into a cross with more artwork, photos, and lyrics. This release also included a booklet with illustrations, lyrics, and fiction.
“The Space Ritual” cover unfolded into a bigger 3 panel by 2 panel size.
“Warrior at the Edge of Time” unfolded into a shield with the symbol for “Chaos” emblazoned on it.
To EMI’s credit, the CD reissues they put out in the late 90’s used paper digipaks and tried to incorporate some of the same fold-outs.
Most (all?) of these covers were designed by the late great British graphic artist **Barney Bubbles**. He also designed a massive fold-out cover for **Elvis Costello**. I can’t remember the name of the album off the top of my head, but there was a whole lot of artwork that went into that album.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/13 "2012-02-18T02:15:28Z")
John and Yoko’s **The Wedding Album** also have a variety of items, including photos, drawings, a copy of their wedding license, a picture of a piece of cake, and news clippings.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/14 "2012-02-18T02:33:36Z")
More posters:
Ten Years After–_Cricklewood Green_ came with a poster of Alvin Lee, _Watt_ came with a psychedelic poster of the band.
_Nilsson Schmilsson_ had a poster of Harry in vampire mode.
Donvan’s _Cosmic Wheels_ had a poster of him against a starfield.
Pete’s _Who Came First_ had a poster of ocean waves (I think designed by Mike McInnerney).
_Odds and Sodds_ came with a poster of The Who in concert.
The cover of Man’s _Be Good To Yourself At Least Once a Day_ unfolded into a 2’x 2’ wonderful color “Man’s Map Of Wales”.
Manfred Mann’s _The Good Earth_ came with a certificate good for 1 square foot of Llanerchyrfa in Wales.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/15 "2012-02-18T02:54:23Z")
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> Pete’s _Who Came First_ had a poster of ocean waves (I think designed by Mike McInnerney).
>
> _Odds and Sods_ came with a poster of The Who in concert.
What!? I just checked and neither of mine had posters, dammit. I did find a couple of Who bootlegs I’d forgotten about…I really need to do something about converting those.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/16 "2012-02-18T03:10:39Z")
Brian Eno’s _Before And After Science_ had 4 11"x6" offset prints by artist Peter Schmidt.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/17 "2012-02-18T03:36:43Z")
Sometimes the album itself was a goodie. Dave Mason’s **Alone Together** was originally pressed on [multicolored vinyl](http://www.vinylhistory.com/spec_covers/dave_mason_3.jpg). It also had a [fold out cover](http://www.vinylhistory.com/spec_covers/dave_mason_1.jpg). Here’s the [reverse side](http://www.vinylhistory.com/spec_covers/dave_mason_2.jpg).
Jethro Tull’s **Stand up** featured a[popup](http://www.vinylhistory.com/spec_covers/jeth_tull_stand_up_2.jpg).
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/18 "2012-02-18T05:19:53Z")
In a slightly different vein, Cheech and Chong’s comedy album **Big Bamboo** had a giant rolling paper. It took a couple of ounce of homegrown leaf to fill.
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### Author:  [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/19 "2012-02-18T05:45:22Z")
There are some things unique to vinyl that can’t be duplicated on CDs:
1. One of the Beatles albums had an infinite run out groove. In other words, an album side ended in an audio loop that would play forever.
2. Mastering engineers would sometimes hand carve a few words of commentary onto the record.
3. One issue of Mad Magazine had a flexi-disc that told a funny story with a few minor variations. The needle would jump at certain points and take one of two possible paths.
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### Author:  [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodies-in-vinyl-albums/613201/20 "2012-02-18T07:58:07Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> . Pink Floyd’s _Dark Side of the Moon_ contained two posters, plus a couple of stickers.
I still have the [blue pyramid](http://therockfile.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/inside-the-dark-side/) poster on the wall of a disused bedroom. Might have been there for 20 years, possibly longer.
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