Mojo - The Music Magazine

LAST WEEK, LED ZEPPELIN star Jimmy Page launched the Royal Mail's latest array of stamps, which commemorate the art of the album sleeve. Seen here cradling the iconic George Hardie/Led Zep-designed cover of the record we call Led Zeppelin IV, the guitarist reflected on the design's timeless appeal...

"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," said Page. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."

Daringly, Led Zeppelin's fourth album had no mention of the band's name on the cover. The painting of the faggot-bearing old man was, it is said, found by singer Robert Plant in a Reading junk shop. For the cover it was nailed to a demolished house in Dudley. The sleeve joins nine other classic cover designs in philatelic form:

The Division Bell - Pink Floyd (designer: Storm Thorgerson; heads drawn by Keith Breedon, sculpted by John Robertson)
A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay (designer: Sølve Sundsbø)
Parklife - Blur (designer: Chris Thomson and Rob O'Connor of Stylorouge; photo by Bob Thomas)
Power Corruption And Lies - New Order (designer: Peter Saville; flowers by Henri Fantin-Latour)
Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones (designer: Robert Brownjohn; cake by Delia Smith)
London Calling - The Clash (designer: Ray Lowry; photo by Pennie Smith)
Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield (designer: Trevor Key)
Screamadelica - Primal Scream (designer: Paul Cannell)
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars - David Bowie (designer: George Underwood; artwork by Terry Pastor; photograph by Brian Ward

Quirkily, each album stamp has the edge of a vinyl disc poking 'outside' the perforation. Even more quirkily, the Royal Mail felt obliged to explain the non-inclusion of Pink Floyd's classic Dark Side Of The Moon sleeve, designed by Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell and George Hardie at Hipgnosis. Apparently, the image is "too dark" for the Royal Mail's operational machinery and letters bearing it would be rejected by the automated sorting machines.

The stamps are available at Post Offices and other outlets now.

COMPETITION!

MOJO can offer 10 Prestige Books - that's the full set of stamps in a beautiful 24-page booklet with notes by MOJO Editor-In-Chief Phil Alexander, including interviews with sleeve design legends Peter Saville, Sir Peter Blake and Roger Dean.

10 Presentation Packs, featuring the stamps and a profile of Storm Thorgerson, are available to runners-up.

To be in with a chance of winning these fabulous mementos, mail us with the correct answer to the following question...

The first Durutti Column album has a notorious place in the annals of sleeve design. Is this because...

a) It featured a poisonous dye that killed anyone who touched it?
b) It was made of sandpaper, which destroyed any record cover it was racked next to?
c) It folded out into the shape of a swastika?

Don't forget to provide your name and contact details, including your postal address. Competition closes on Tuesday, January 26.

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Gummy Terms & Conditions

• No prizes can be traded or exchanged for a cash alternative
• Closing date for this competition is January 26
• All entrants are responsible for including correct contact details
• The judges' decision is final and no negotiation or debate will be entered into.
• All winners will be notified by email.
• This competition is open to all UK readers, except employees and associates of Bauer and their families.