Top 10 Picture Disc 7”s and the history of the format
A few words on Picture Discs, the history of gimmick vinyl formats, The Cars, sexist Blondie advertising, Stiff Records, Britt Ekland, Lana Del Rey, Lady GaGa, The Smiths, New Order, Warren Zevon, Echo & the Bunnymen, Men Without Hats and the Apollo 8 lunar mission.
Picture Discs were described in a 2015 Record Collector article as, “The bane of audiophiles everywhere but beloved by many collectors.” Therein lies the simple contradiction: though regarded as notoriously dodgy from a sound perspective some Picture Discs - and there are plenty of examples below - are beautiful collectable records.
In December 1978 Record Business, a UK music industry trade magazine, declared 1978 the “Year of the Promotional Gimmick”.
Picture Discs had been around since the 1920s and over the decades were usually only sold as novelty records or used as special promotional items. Though the format was revived in the 1970s, it was still really only utilised for unique promotional items.
One of the most famous of these is Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves of London’ Picture Disc released in 1978 by Asylum Records, the 12” was posted out to American DJs and marked “For radio station use only. Not for sale.”
‘Werewolves of London’ Picture Disc: 1978 12”
In November 1978, Record World, reported that “Pic Disc, a division of the Fitzgerald/Hartley pressing company, announced the release of the first seven-inch, 45 rpm, Pic-Disc single, manufactured in the US for promotional purposes.”
“The first artists to use the new promotional vehicle are Columbia recording artists, Toto, for their current single, ‘Hold The Line’. The company plans an immediate release of a special limited edition.”
Toto - ‘Hold the Line’, Columbia, 1978.
In that December 1978 Record Business article, Tim Smith, the paper’s Retailing Editor wrote, “Few record dealers would disagree that 1978 has been the year of the promotional gimmick. You name it, the record manufacturers have been falling over each other to be the first to ship it out. It all began when the flood gates opened and in poured an endless stream of 12-inch singles. Discs were soon being released in every conceivable shade of coloured vinyl. WEA, through Damont, then came up with the UK’s first picture disc for The Cars’ single ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’. Other UK companies were rapidly off the mark, and in no time at all US picture disc imports were arriving at £10 upwards.”
Smith continued: “In fact it has now almost reached the stage where a seven inch, black vinyl single in a plain bag could easily become a collector’s item - so long as it was released in a limited edition.”
R&R October 1978
A few months earlier, in October 1978, R&R magazine - Radio & Records, another industry trade paper that ran from 1973 until 2009 and covered radio and music industry news - wrote about WEA/Elektra’s use of the Picture Disc format to push The Cars’ ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ into the UK Singles Chart. R&R reported that the Picture Disc single, “will retail in the UK only, priced at 90p, the same as a standard seven-inch single. Sound quality is said to be equal to that of a standard single. ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ comes in a clear PVC plastic bag displaying The Cars’ logo.”
The Boston band released ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ in November 1978. Despite negative reviews (“All dressed up and no where to go. The Cars have a smartass producer and a single that looks like a wedding cake, but it’s all just window dressing, all image welding, to beef up puny material.” - Record Mirror, 04 November, 1978) the single landed at No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart. Their first single, ‘Just What I Needed’ had failed to chart the previous May. The Picture Disc “promotional gimmick” seemed to work. Two weeks later the single had climbed to No. 3. just behind Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ at No. 2 while ‘Rat Trap’ by The Boomtown Rats was still at No. 1.
“Gimmick mania all souped up and ready for Christmas, is upon us, I fear. And all because - it works,” wrote Record Mirror in early December 1978.
The article continued: “At least if The Cars phenomenal success is anything to go by, it does. It is almost unheard of for an unknown band to crash into the charts at Number 10 with a debut [sic] single. And it’s impossible to hype a single in at that position. Which leaves one possible conclusion. The picture disc that the single was pressed on - ugly though it was - turned out to be a spectacularly effective promotional device.”
Damont advert from Record Business in 1979
Record labels were taking note, particularly indies like Stiff Records. Paul Conroy, Stiff’s label manager commented, “It’s too early to tell whether the discs have significantly lifted sales, but it has got them a lot of national publicity which can’t be bad.”
WEA/Elektra would issue further singles by The Cars bearing the band’s distinctive logo in the Picture Disc format, including a reissue of their debut single, ‘Just What I Needed’:
The Cars: ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ (Nov ‘78), ‘Just What I Needed’ (Jan ‘79), ‘Let’s Go’ (Jun ‘79), ‘Double Life’ (Oct ‘79), ‘Shake It Up’ (Mar ‘82) and ‘Shake It Up (Mar ‘82).
Before The Cars’ 7” Picture Disc, the format was usually utilised as a promotional tool only. The clipping below from a December 1978 issue of Record Mirror illustrates a cut-out coupon for a Blondie competition. The prize - a Picture Disc of the band’s third album Parallel Lines.
Blondie advert from Record Mirror in December 1978
Promotional Parallel Lines Picture Disc from 1978
The Parallel Lines Picture Disc LP, with its photograph of Debbie Harry licking a record looks like a pastiche of the cover of Bob Welch’s ‘French Kiss’ which had been released the previous year. Welch had been a member of Fleetwood Mac for a few years in the early 70s and ‘French Kiss’ was his debut album and it too was released as promotional Picture Disc.
Bob Welch - French Kiss, Capital Records, 1977
The Blondie Picture Disc may have been a knowing parody of Welch’s cover art but unbelievably a year earlier Chrysalis had advertised ‘Rip Her to Shreds’, the band’s first UK single, with the sexist headline “Wouldn’t you like to rip her to shreds?”. Absolutely astonishing.
Blondie advert from 1977
A few months after ‘My Best Friend’s Car’ crashed into the UK Singles Chart Music Week reported that other major labels were getting in on the act: “EMI and United Artists announced their first picture singles. EMI releases ‘Come Dancing’ by No Dice on April 27 in a limited edition of 40,000 retailing at 99p. The picture features the band and a dancing girl in a chorus line.” A spokesperson for the label claimed, “We have prepared a comprehensive marketing campaign to support the No Dice album, 2 Faced, the picture single and a forthcoming UK tour. We are determined to break No Dice in a big way in the UK this year and the success of this current product will go a long way to achieving that aim.”
The Music Week article continued: “United Artists releases its first picture disc - ‘The Worker’ by Fischer-Z in a limited edition of 20,000. The single comes in a picture sleeve depicting the same design as on the disc.”
The “dancing girl” in the chorus line with members of No Dice was popular UK glamour model Gillian Duxbury, the single peaked at No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart in May ‘79 and quickly disappeared. Fischer-Z’s ‘The Worker’ fared slightly better landing at No. 53 in the Chart in late-May. In both cases the Picture Disc “gimmick” failed to push the singles higher.
No Disc - ‘Come Dancing’ (EMI, 1979) and Fischer-Z - ‘The Worker’ (UA, 1979)
In April 1979, below a photograph of a Picture Disc, Record Business reported that Pye were about to release a Picture Disc: “The nubile ladies of Blonde On Blonde will be featured in this arresting pose on Pye Records’ first picture disc single, scheduled for release on May 11. It is also the first picture disc to be manufactured at Pye’s Mitcham plant.”
Blonde On Blonde - ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (Pye, 1979)
Blonde On Blonde was a girl group formed the previous year by the British glamour models Nina Carter and Jilly Johnson. The Picture Disc format was a perfect marketing tool to push titillating content but Blonde On Blonde’s disco cover version of Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ failed to chart.
Blonde On Blonde weren’t the only act made up of former glamour models. Page Three, comprising the models Felicity Buirski, Clare Russel and Stefani Marrian, signed to Warner Brothers in 1977 and released a single, ‘Hold On To Love’, leading Music Week to write: “After the new wave, expect the emergence this summer of Britain’s newest musical phenomenon, the nude wave, as record companies launch female acts with a history of modelling assignments for page three of The Sun.”
New manufacturing capabilities in the late-70s meant that pressing times and costs were reduced. One of those pressing companies was Orlake Limited in Dagenham, East London.
Orlake advert from Music Week in 1979
Orlake regularly took out full page advertisements in the trade papers highlighting different vinyl possibilities including Picture Discs, coloured vinyl and custom centre-disc labels.
Britt Ekland - ‘Do It To Me (Once More With Feeling)’, Jet Records, 1979.
Within months Picture Discs were everywhere. Don Arden’s Jet Records pressed Picture Discs for lots of its artists including for Britt Ekland’s debut (and only) single, the disco-infused ‘Do It To Me (Once More With Feeling)’ with naked photographs of the actress and a strategically placed shining globe.
Jane Aire and the Belvederes - R&R advertisement.
Jane Aire (aka Jane Ashley) was from Akron, Ohio. Aire had two songs on the famous Stiff 1978 compilation, The Akron Compilation and was often compared to fellow Akron native Chrissie Hynde. She moved to the UK and her band The Belvederes included Lu Edmonds (who would later join Mekons and latterly PIL), and Jon Moss (later to join Culture Club). ‘Yankee Wheels’, her debut single was released on Stiff Records in 1978.
Virgin Records picked up Aire the band and released a couple of singles and an album. ‘Call Me Every Night’, the band’s first single for Virgin, was marketed heavily in the music press with advertisements declaring: “First 40,000 Picture Disc 99p”. An ordinary black vinyl 7” single sold for between 90p and 99p in the late 70s in the UK, so this below cost selling of Picture Discs was a clever marketing ploy but like Blonde On Blonde, Aire failed to break into the UK Singles Chart. In 1980 Aire married The Boomtown Rats’ Pete Briquette in Blackrock, in Dublin.
On an RTÉ News report broadcast on 25 February 1980, reporter Michael Walsh, said:
“Hundreds of people turned up to see Pat Cusack, alias Boomtown Rat Pete Briquette, enter the matrimonial trap. All his fellow Rats, gorgeously attired, were there to see him off. The bride, American singer Jane Ashley, was more conventionally dressed. She wore a cream silk outfit. The crowds included rock fans, hundreds of schoolchildren, dozens of women with prams, and quite a few elderly ladies who said it was all very romantic and they thought the Rats were lovely.”
Jane Aire and The Belvederes - ‘Call Me Every Night’ (Virgin, 1979)
Stiff Records had by now decided that the format could be an integral part of any release campaign and went all-in, pressing Picture discs for most of its late-70s and early-80s artists, ensuring chart positions for many. In 1982 ‘House of Fun’ was the first Madness single to be issued in the Picture Disc format.
Record Business - 10 May 1982
Madness - assorted Picture Discs, all Stiff Records.
By mid-January 1979 record retailers in the US were concerned about “oversaturation” of the marketplace. “Since the picture disc boom last September, retailers have reported a gradual downswing in sales with figures decreasing as much as two thirds at some accounts despite an upswing in overall production,” reported Record World in late January.
“The decline has been attributed to record companies’ stripping away the collector’s appeal and novelty of the product by oversaturating the market.”
Tracey Ullman - ‘Move Over Darling’, The Belle Stars - ‘The Clapping Song’, Lene Lovich - ‘It’s You, Only You’ and Kirsty MacColl - ‘They Don’t Know’ - various Pictures Discs, all Stiff Records.
By 1982 Record Business was reporting that, “Picture Discs continue to dominate the singles chart as marketing departments attempt to boost flagging sales, but the craze may be of strictly limited duration.”
Orlake advertisement - Music Week 1984.
“But it is Dagenham-based Orlake which is centre of the present picture disc explosion,” continued the Record Business article.
“With capacity for more than 10,000 picture discs per day it has so far managed to keep pace with the demands of CBS, EMI, Chrysalis, MCA, Arista, Jive, Chiswick, Magnet, Virgin, Kamaflage and Stiff. With a run of 70,000 for the new Madness single Stiff are far and away the largest single item buyers. Most companies are sticking to a basic 10,000 for the specific task of gaining a chart place or boosting a current chart item.”
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - ‘Relax’ (ZTT, 1984), The Fall - ‘Hit the North (Part 2)’ (Beggars Banquet, 1987) and Madness - ‘Michael Caine’ (Stiff, 1984).
In the article Magnet Records’ General Manager Graham Mabbutt commented, “Timing is crucial. The picture disc provides that extra push up the charts and gives the fans a collector's item.”
Echo & the Bunnymen - ‘Bring On the Dancing Horses’, Korova, 1985.
The Picture Disc “gimmick” was still being used well into the mid-80s and beyond. One such Picture Disc was the Bunnymen’s shaped Picture Disc for ‘Bring On the Dancing Horses’. The Disc featured a cow - a nod to the band’s Korova label logo. The label was named Korova (Russian for cow) after the Korova Milk Bar in Stanley Kubrick’s film of Anthony Burgess’ novel A Clockwork Orange. This Picture Disc along with a 12”, 7” and a double pack 7” ensured a UK Singles Chart placing of No. 21 for the band in 1985.
Talk Talk Picture Discs - ‘Talk Talk’ (EMI, 1982) and ‘Living In Another World’ (EMI, 1986)
In the age of Record Store Day collectibles and the much talked about vinyl revival the Picture Disc is well and truly back. In recent years Abba and David Bowie’s singles have all been reissued in the format.
Below is a Top 10 of my favourite Picture Discs. I’ve included 4 special mentions - 2 records each from Lana Del Rey and Lady GaGa. These are all beautiful items - just don’t mention sound quality!
4 Special Mentions
Lana Del Rey
‘Video Games / Blue Jeans’
(Stranger, 2011)
Lizzy Grant reinvented herself as Lana Del Rey and this was the debut single. Two incredible tunes. Limited to 1,500 copies and now valued at around €80 (Discogs “Median”).
Lana Del Rey
‘Born To Die’
(Polydor, 2012)
The second single from the album of the same name. Limited to 1,500 copies and valued at around €100 (Discogs “Median”). An absolutely brilliant track from Del Rey. The same photograph was used for both sides of the 7”.
Lady GaGa
‘Poker Face’
(Streamline/Interscope, 2009)
The second single lifted from The Fame, GaGa’s debut album, is backed by a Space Cowboy remix of ‘Poker Face’ this limited 7” goes for about €50 (Discogs “Median”). Banger!
Lady GaGa ft. Beyoncé
‘Telephone’
(Streamline/Interscope, 2010)
GaGa and Beyoncé together - what’s not to love. ‘Telephone’ appeared on a repackaged version of The Fame, entitled The Fame Monster. On this 7” ‘Telephone’ is backed with a banging Passion Pit remix of ‘Telephone’. This 7” goes for about €35 (Discogs “Median”). Another banger!
Top 10 Picture Disc 7”s
10. Girl Band
‘Amygdala’
(Rough Trade, 2020)
Warning: “Do not play over the holes on the record, it will most likely break your needle.” The disc is designed as a thaumatrope - a 19th-century optical toy consisting of a disc with different, but related, images on each side. Early thaumatropes would often have an image of a bird on one side and a cage on the other, when spun the bird appeared to be trapped in the cage. When Girl Band’s 7” is spun the vintage motorbikes appear to ride inside the cage globe. Limited to 500 copies.
‘Amygdala’ it reminds me of the night I had the great pleasure of witnessing a “Motorcycle Globe of Death” at Cirque Berserk! in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in September 2018.
I’ve played ‘Amygdala’ about three times and spun it about two times!
Novelty gimmick - yes siree!
09. Public Service Broadcasting
‘The Other Side’
(Test Card, 2016)
‘The Other Side’ (taken from PSB’s superlative The Race For Space) was issued in a Limited Edition of 2,000 for Record Store Day 2016. It just missed out on making my Record Store Day - A Top 10 list. It’s backed with a Datassette Remix of the title track. The song is inspired by 1968’s Apollo 8 mission, the first human orbit of the moon (in other words: the first humans to see the far side of the moon).
I love how PSB ratchet up the tension in ‘The Other Side’ over the course of the song. In reality it took Apollo 8 almost 20 minutes to round “the backside of the moon”. The tension must have been absolutely indescribable for those at Apollo Control, Houston.
69 Hours into the flight
“They’re travelling over the backside of the moon now. Our velocity reading here 7-7-7-7 feet per second. Now, we’re in our period of the longest wait. Continuing to monitor, this is Apollo Control, Houston.”
“Apollo Control, Houston. We’ve acquired signal but no voice contact yet. We’re standing by.”
- 20 minutes later -
“We’ve got it! We’ve got it! Apollo 8 now in lunar orbit! There’s a cheer in this room!
This is Apollo Control, Houston, switching now to the voice of Jim Lovell.”
Lovell: “Go ahead, Houston, (This is) Apollo 8. Burn complete.”
Earthrise. Photograph taken by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968 from lunar orbit during the Apollo 8 mission. “The most influential environmental photograph ever taken” - nature photographer Galen Rowell. Photograph from Nasa.
08. Babybird
‘If You’ll Be Mine’
(Echo, 1998)
The brilliant Ugly Beautiful gave us the hit ‘You’re Gorgeous’ (No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1996) but the next album There’s Something Going On, for my money, was even better. It had the single ‘Bad Old Man’ and this absolute classic, ‘If You’ll Be Mine’. There’s Something Going On was the seventh Babybird album and since then Stephen Jones has released over 20 more.
07. Lily Allen
‘Not Fair’
(Regel, 2009)
Some commentators seemed quite shocked by Lily Allen’s forthright lyrical content on her recent album West End Girl. Allen’s always written brilliantly confessional pop songs. ‘Not Fair’ is one of her best. Love it. The music video parodies a guest appearance on The Porter Wagoner Show.
06. The Belle Stars
‘Iko Iko’
(Stiff Records, 1982)
As mentioned above, Stiff Records went all-in with Picture Discs. The Belle Stars debut, self-titled album was jam packed with killer singles - ‘The Clapping Song’, ‘Sign of the Times’ - and this absolute banger. I loved, and still love, The Belle Stars.
05. Warren Zevon/Flamin’ Groovies
‘Werewolves of London’
(Rhino, 2016)
Another record that just missed out on making my Record Store Day - A Top 10 list. This was released as part of Warner Music Group’s Side by Side series - limited split 7” releases produced each year for Record Store Day by featuring two versions of the same song, usually the original and a cover version.
‘Werewolves of London’ was reissued back in 2016 as part of the split 7” series. The original Zevon version of ‘Werewolves’ is backed with the Flamin’ Groovies cover version from 1979. The 2016 Werewolf looks far more ferocious than the his 1978 counterpart!
04. The Cars
‘My Best Friend’s Girl’
(Elektra, 1978)
The record that started it all - this was the first commercially available 7” vinyl Picture Disc in the UK. ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ backed with ‘Moving in Stereo’, two of the standout tracks from The Cars’ debut album.
03. The Smiths
‘The Queen is Dead’
(Warner Music, 2017)
‘The Queen is Dead’ was released as a single to promote the 2017 re-release of The Queen Is Dead album. The cover star is Margherita Caruso in a still from Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) (1964) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. This Picture Disc also features in my post “The Smiths - Rarities”.
02. New Order
‘People On the High Line’
(Mute, 2016)
Limited to 2,000 individually numbered copies worldwide, the Music Complete track is remixed by Richard X and Claptone. Art Direction by Peter Saville mirrors the artwork of Music Complete.
01. Men Without Hats
‘The Safety Dance’
(Demon, 2013)
‘The Safety Dance’ featured on Now That’s What I Call Music in 1983, the first volume of the long-running compilation series. ‘The Safety Dance’ was the second track on Side 2, nestled between Culture Club’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ and Kajagoogoo’s ‘Too Shy’. The tracklisting is still seared into my memory and I could easily rattle off the rest of the songs on Side 2 in sequence if my life depended on it (I’ve no idea how such a skill might ever be needed, but it’s my “get out of jail card” if needed).
‘The Safety Dance’ single was accompanied by a Tim Pope directed music video that resembled scenes from a folk horror film. Its Morris dancers, Mummers, Punch and Judy show, jesters, ceremonial procession through a village and maypole dance must surely have been inspired by The Wicker Man. The song reached No. 3 in the Irish Singles Chart and No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1983. I picked up the 12” secondhand sometime in the 90s but I was all on for this 7”, pressed for the 30th anniversary in a limited edition of 750 copies. I adored ‘The Safety Dance’ then, and still do.
The track is taken from the Canadian band’s great debut album, Rhythm of Youth (Statik, 1982) and the Picture Disc artwork mirrors that of the album’s. In the late 80s when I first picked up the album I used to imagine that this band from Montréal were making a political point about the Orange Order and marching season in the North.
Rhythm of Youth (LP, Statik, 1982) & ‘The Safety Dance’ Extended Club Mix (12”, Statik, 1982)
Altogether now, “We can dance…
Other posts in a continuing series about records include…
Top 20 Most Valuable Vinyl LPs
Top 10 Irish Albums of 2025
Top 10 Vinyl Finds of 2025
Top 10 Live Albums
Top 10 Movie 7” Singles
Record Store Day: A Top 10