Al Wilson – “Show and Tell” / “Listen to Me” single cover
Picture sleeve for “Show and Tell”, the biggest hit by soul singer Al Wilson (1939–2008). It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 19, 1974. From record collector oopswhoops:
“Listen to me” on B-side is the funky highlight.
1970s Yugoslavian pressing on Polydor/RTB label.
The same cover design was also used in Germany, Spain, and other countries. It combines two all-caps typefaces with similar features: ITC Busorama (1970) is a design by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase with curved diagonals, see A and N. It was drawn in 3 weights; Light, Medium, and Bold. Its Bold – which is used for the titles – isn’t very bold, though. In comes Marvin (1969): this face by Mick Chave offers a single weight*, which works nicely as an extrabold companion to Busorama. The right stem in Marvin’s N was trimmed so that it fits the rounded frame, mirroring the A on the left.
*) Mathieu Triay’s Marvin Visions (2017) is a digital reinterpretation in variable font format, offering axes for weight and optical size.
