Nick Mackenzie – “One Is One” / “A Little Bit Closer” German single cover
Active from about 1972 to 2002, EMI Electrola was a German subsidiary of the English company EMI (Electric and Musical Industries Ltd), an electronics company that also funded and released recorded music (and motion pictures). EMI Electrola’s job was to release a portion of EMI’s recorded music by their international artists, as well as music by EMI’s own roster of German artists. Releasing foreign material sometimes entailed creating unique packaging specifically for the German market.
A good portion of the artwork created for EMI Electrola’s 7″ singles are colorful, type-centered designs. Designers working for the company mostly picked from Letraset’s collection of wild display faces. Design credits for these singles are very hard to find on the internet.
The 7″ single pictured above was a German release by Dutch/Indonesian vocalist Nick Mackenzie (a stage name of Nick van den Broeke). The A-side One is One was a top 5 hit in the Netherlands. The type used for this single is Colin Brignall’s Superstar (which was used on many EMI Electrola singles).
