Decca SLK 16834-P. Ted Heath’s name is in Univers; the track list in Akzidenz-Grotesk.

Ted Heath (1902–1969) was a British big band leader. His 1967 album Swing Is King was issued in a number of cover variants. The image above shows what I believe to be the original design. The photo depicts royal insignia – crown, orb and scepter – on a throne, surrounded by musical instruments, with red curtains in the back. Above, the title is set in capitals from an ornamented typeface. It’s Karnac, which originated at the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston in 1884, and was adopted for phototypesetting by VGC in 1967. The typeface choice continues the theme of regal pomp. It certainly helped that some of the ornamentation in John F. Cumming’s design echoes the fleurs-de-lis seen on the crown.

The variant shown below is an example of a fine cover ruined by series design: someone at Decca/London Records decided that it additionally had to feature the large numeral 4 from the Phase 4 Stereo design (cf. Chacksfield Plays the Beatles’ Song Book). The already complex photo is now cut up by thick white lines. And there wasn’t enough space left at the top, so the title had to be crammed into the small field at the top left. Too much elements, and too little space for Karnac to breathe.

A German reissue from 1969 (last image) replaces Karnac with Moore Swash, a VGC original by James H. Moore and shows the artist’s name in Times New Roman. For some reason, the photograph was mirrored for this variant.

[More info on Discogs]

London Records SP 44104. The track names are here set in Trade Gothic.

The gatefold has the liner notes set in Trade Gothic Condensed, with the numeral 4 shown in negative. The text about Phase 4 Stereo on the right uses Century Schoolbook. Lowercase Futura serves for the heading.

Decca DS 3198/1-2 double LP

Cover of the Phase 4 Stereo release

“POW!” – this peppy record cover features letterforms that seem to be shooting out of a black box in the center, with the big red O resembling a cannonball. The album title at the top is patterned after Halloween, alternating between purple and red letters, with yellow and black edges. The “shrapnel” in the lower half of this typographic explosion consists of caps from the open style of Permanent Headline, again with purple and red letter bodies. Together with the onomatopoetic title, the Ben Day dots in the background suggest that the uncredited sleeve design was inspired by works of pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, see his Whaam! (1963) or Sweet Dreams Baby! (1965).

Trombonist Ted Heath (1902–1969) was a British big band leader. According to Wikipedia, his band was the most successful one in the country during the 1950s, and the best swing band that Britain ever produced. In 1956, Ted Heath & His Music toured the U.S. together with Nat King Cole, with whom Heath became firm friends.

[More info on Discogs]

Cover for the mono pressing, without the Phase 4 Stereo frame featuring Futura