Siouxsie and the Banshees – “Israel” / “Red over White” German single cover
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
on Mar 2nd, 2023. Artwork published in
November 1980
.
Source: twitter.com License: All Rights Reserved.
Siouxsie and the Banshees wrote “Israel” while touring Europe in autumn 1980, as a sort of Christmas song. It was released as a stand-alone single between the albums Kaleidoscope (1980) and Juju (1981) on 28 November 1980, with “Red over White” as B-side.
On this German sleeve, the song names are set in a rarely seen typeface designed by Phil Martin of Alphabet Innovations in 1970: Swath is basically a bold all-caps sans of condensed proportions. Added to that are various rounded details, hanging bits and extensions, as if the letterforms were bandaged up, with some of the gauze coming loose. I wonder if Swath was ever chosen for any mummy-themed applications.
The band name appears to be in custom brush lettering.
4 Comments on “Siouxsie and the Banshees – “Israel” / “Red over White” German single cover”
I find the use of Swath in this a bit ironic, considering Alphabet Innovations’ Vol. 3 specifically states that “double swaths” aren’t possible.
BTW Swath seems to have shown up around 1969, at least according to this album:
Thanks!
I can’t rule that out. However, the dates on Discogs aren’t always accurate. According to RYM, the After All album was recorded in 1969, but released in 1970. Athena gave it catalog number 6006. Nos. 6003 and 6005 are dated 1970 – whatever that means.
Ahh, I see. Thanks for clearing it up!