Right Idea 7"

I suspect that most people who read this also read other similar blogs, so I figure most of you may have read what Mike wrote a couple of days ago. Which means you've already seen the pics of this record and don't really want to have to read some other moron's pointless thoughts. So I guess I'm going to have to try and keep you interested by posting some slightly different photos and by having a completely different opinion. So here goes...

Here are my Right Idea 7"s. I bought three copies, of which black is the rarest version. It's hand-numbered out of 100, and comes with a little sticker:

I know that the band came up with the idea for the packaging for this, and the idea (which I think isn't exactly obvious) is that this is meant to look like a bootleg of the 12" that came out a few months ago on React! Records. So the cover is supposed to look like a dodgy photocopy of the original:

And the labels are supposed to look exactly like the original, but with the references to React! Records subtly removed:

Seems a couple of people aren't into the artwork on this. But I really like it. I mean, I don't think the idea of making it look like a bootleg really works, because it doesn't look like a bootleg. Most bootlegs either seem to copy the artwork EXACTLY (i.e. leave original record label references on there), or don't have any label details at all. So I don't think that I'd have realised this was meant to look like a boot if I hadn't been told. That said, however, I do like this for a different reason. To me, this is cool because it looks exactly like what it is... which is a 12" scaled down to a 7". So everything is the same except smaller. And obviously to fit the same number of songs on to a 7", the speed has changed from 45rpm to 33rpm. And I like how the changes on the labels are emphasised and made obvious. It would have been easier to make the same changes to the labels "professionally" (i.e. replace 45rpm with 33rpm in the same font and in the same place on the label). But just doing it by hand in a sloppy way kinda makes it more fun and intentionally emphasises the change. So yeah... having a different record label repress a 12" record as a 7" record a few months after it came out is a bit of a strange thing to do, but I like the way that the label have acknowledged this and have dealt with it in a fun way. The only thing I think they should have done differently was issue it on the exact same colours of vinyl as the 12" version. But that's only because I think it would have been cool to be able to photograph the three 12"s and three 7"s together. And then maybe some other label could have come along in a few months and taken it to the next level by repressing it as a 5" :o)

If you want to buy one of these mini 12"s, here's the link you need:

www.myspace.com/bottleduprecords