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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Honeymoon In Manhattan - The New World Theatre Orchestra

After Hours Joint
Honeymoon In Manhattan
The New World Theatre Orchestra
SF-3000
1958

Somerset is known for budget records. But the company did release interesting recordings. This album could be considered a "concept" album. There are four extended tracks on each side, each titled in such a way to give your the impression that you are going on a tour of NY. The music, while leaning towards orchestrated easy listening, is complex and holds the interest.

And you can tell that D.L. Miller, label owner, was excited by the project because of the large bold faced credits found on the back of the jacket: All arrangements, except Slaughter On 10th Ave. and Street Scene, in this album were scored by Joe Kuhn, cover photo by Frank Zimmerman – Cover art, Joe Krush. This album was produced under the direction of D.L. Miller.

The one thing I find curious... is the "embossed" Somerset logo oddly printed in the middle of the cover. As a designer myself, it makes no sense to place it there. And why the metallic ink overprint?

1 comment:

  1. Mark,
    I think the Somerset Stereo Logo embossed on the front cover was done so customers "flipping" through albums in a rack will see it is stereo. I think this was something done in the late 60s when the whole industry went stereo, and Al Sherman owned the label. Normally you had to turn a Somerset album over to see if it was stereo or mono. I've seen other somerset albums from the "Budget Sound" period with this overstamp.

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