“The Beatles” released their legendary album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” on 1 June 1967. For the band from Liverpool it marked much more than a musical turning point and it is still considered one of the most influential releases in pop history. Now, for the 50th anniversary, the album, which won four Grammys at the time, has been released in a remix with thus far unreleased tracks in various editions. Topac plays a big role in the release since the Sonopress subsidiary is producing sophisticated packaging solutions of the impressive “Anniversary Editions” for several clients.
The order for the Super Deluxe Edition is the most comprehensive one, as Sarah Heublein, Sales Manager at Topac, explains: “This edition is being released with four CDs, DVD, Blu-ray, booklet and other extras in a box with the cover’s counterfeit. We produce the disc gatefold covers in LP format with six pockets for the individual products.” In addition to this sophisticated product solution, the team also produces LP gatefold covers for the vinyl versions, as well as the packaging for the different CD editions. “They include the pacs with book cover plus insert card and 60-page, glue-bound textbook for the ‘Anniversary Edition’ that comprises two CDs,” says Senior Sales Manager Michael Habighorst. The pocket pacs for the one-disc version, including the insert card and 32-page stapled booklet, are also produced by Topac. The Sonopress subsidiary has produced packages in the millions for the first editions alone.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was the eighth studio album of the “Fab Four” and was released in the “Summer of Love” in 1967. The cover realized by artist Peter Blake already documented this epoch’s transformation of style in many facets. “The Beatles” present themselves in silk fantasy uniforms, surrounded by other icons including Bob Dylan, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Oscar Wilde. Directly next to them and in front of a grave stand their four alter egos, with the characteristic black suits and striking haircuts.
The album, designed as a synthesis of the arts, was an expression of a new lifestyle. With profound and surrealist lyrics, the Liverpool band delivered a unique synthesis of music, lyrics and visual presentation. Within three months, “Sgt. Pepper” sold over 2.5 million copies with its international hit tracks such as “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “With a Little Help From My Friends”.
Mixed by Giles Martin, the son of “Beatles” producer George Martin, the anniversary editions bring the probably most famous quartet in music history back to the global stage 50 years after the album’s first release in mono – in stereo and with all nuances of the four-track recordings.
