On June 9, 2025, we lost Sylvester “Sly” Stewart, a Black genius and major innovator of funk, psychedelic soul and rock – in return developing progressive soul, influencing artists and musicians of all backgrounds. Prior to Sly’s passing, trumpeter and “original hypeman” Cynthia Robinson left us on November 23, 2015.

From AllMusic:

In 1966, Stone formed the Stoners, which featured trumpeter Cynthia Robinson. Though the Stoners didn't last long, he brought Robinson along as one of the core members of his next group, Sly & the Family Stone. Formed in November 1966, the Family Stone also featured [Freddie] Stewart (guitar, vocals), Larry Graham, Jr. (bass, vocals), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone), and [Rose] Stone (piano), who were all of different racial backgrounds. The group's eclectic music and multiracial composition made them distinctive from the numerous flower-power bands in San Francisco, and their first single, “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” became a regional hit for the local label Loadstone. The band signed with Epic Records shortly afterward, releasing their debut album, A Whole New Thing, in 1967. The record stiffed, but the follow-up, Dance to the Music, generated a Top Ten pop and R&B hit with its title track early in 1968. Life followed later in 1968, but the album failed to capitalize on its predecessor's success. “Everyday People,” released late in 1968, turned their fortunes back around, rocketing to the top of the pop and R&B charts and setting the stage for the breakthrough success of 1969’s Stand!

The cover of A Whole New Thing, released on Epic Records in 1967, features the widely identifiable and clowned upon Hobo, tightly set in white for the artist’s name and green for the album's name, both in all caps. Helvetica appears on the rest of the back cover. It is not known who designed the cover, as no designer credits appear, although for the 1970 reissue, Teresa Alfieri is credited as designer, with Stephen Paley for photography credits.

The reissue cover of A Whole New Thing uses Bauhaus Prisma Q for “SLY” and Jazzbeau for “& THE FAMILY STONE”, along with the album’s name. The reissue uses images from 1969’s Greatest Hits, although the cover is incorrect considering Rose Stone did not join the Family Stone until Dance to the Music – yet she appears on the cover.

[More info on Discogs]

Back cover with liner notes by John Hardy

1970 reissue

Women Who Swing Both Ways is an adult novel—presented as non-fiction although actually fictional—written by Lawrence Block (under the pseudonym "John Warren Wells") and published in 1971 by Lancer Books.

The title and author's name are in lowercase Jazzbeau, using alternates for g h m n. Additional text uses lowercase Futura.

Jetport Black is the only typeface design credited to Leonard Bruck. It’s basically a bold geometric sans, with a simple yet effective twist: some of the interior and surrounding negative space is filled in. Chances are that the name is a riff on Airport Black (although the underlying letterforms are not a perfect match for Baltotype’s 1940s typeface). In 1972, Jetport Black featured in bichromatic use for Come Back, Charleston Blue, with the “fillings” separated and printed in a second color.

Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the crime comedy film is a sequel to Cotton Comes to Harlem from 1970. The soundtrack was produced by Donny Hathaway, with supervision by Quincy Jones. Jetport Black was used for both the movie posters and the cover of the soundtrack album. The secondary typeface is Jazzbeau, another recent PLINC release. As with the precursor, the art is by Robert McGinnis. No typographer is credited.

[More info on Discogs]

Track list and credit block on the back of the album cover are set in two weights of Helvetica. The credits at the bottom were carried over from the poster and combine Venus Light [edit: Monotype Grotesque Light 216, see comments] with News Gothic Bold.

Half-sheet movie poster. “A ghost has come back to Harlem – and started the wildest gang war ever.”

US style B movie poster, with Jetport Black set on a curve

The second book by Gerald Jay Goldbert (1929–2020), The National Standard was first published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1968, with a jacket design by Milton Glaser.

Shown here is a different edition; Ballantine’s paperback from 1972, with uncredited layout and typography. Alex Gnidziejko provided the cover art. Title and author name feature Jazzbeau, released in the early 1970s as part of Photo-Lettering’s Decotypes. The synopsis is set in Vogue with its alternate monocular a.