Here we are, hard at work trying to rescue the Art Of Bizarre Vinyl Sleeves book! Working towards a second printing we could have just given the printer the original PDF production files, but there are a few typos which needed tidying up. Plus we want to have a go at an ebook edition too. However opening the original InDesign layout files showed that, following a move to a newer laptop and operating system, ALL the links to the images files had been lost. So it’s been a case of manually finding each one and relinking the whole lot. Still, I’ve just passed page 100 so the end is in sight, though a couple of images have disappeared altogether. How do you lose The Planets? I backed everything up at the time of the first print run so we’ll hook up the hard drives and hopefully the missing scans will be there. And to be honest it’s still great fun to see the covers once again and hard not to start laughing all over again. Here are The Kaye Family for example, playing with their giant felt rodents on page 83. We still have no idea why. More details via the link below.

The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve

Apologies for the lack of updates on this title of late. The same issues which seriously affected a few of our other projects has been to blame (upgrading hardware, then system software and finally design software caused the artwork files to lose all their links) but we are now getting on top of the relinking process (which has to be done manually, the auto functions are not, um, functioning properly!). We’ve got another page of previews done too, click on the link to view the gallery. If new to you, then to read more about this feast for fans of Fifties pulp artwork check out The Art Of Mexican Lobby Cards. You can also subscribe there for a newsletter which we will launch shortly.

There has been a decent obituary in The Guardian newspaper which can be read online, the link is below:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jan/04/brian-smith-obituary

Written by Tony Burke, editor of Blues & Rhythm magazine (apologies for mixing this up in our post), it includes a nice photo of Brian which I had not seen before. Funeral details are in the post following.

Frustratingly we must warn that two of our titles are close to selling out. The second edition of our best selling Deep Purple biography Wait For The Ricochet has just been hit with a “low stock” notice by our distributors, while The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve has now almost sold out the initial print run. We have just a handful of copies left in our online shop. We will attempt to republish both in the new year but cannot say when this might be.

We had to suspend shipping to the USA in August when they slapped an $80 tariff duty on ALL small parcels, which clearly we could not impose on our customers.  It then changed to a blanket 10% tariff on parcels from the UK, plus a per parcel customs handling charge.  It now seems somebody pointed out that books are protected in U.S. law (though for how long…) and will be exempted from tariffs though the customs handling charge remains, albeit payable in the UK.  We are reading up on the rules on the Royal Mail site, and if we think we understand it all, we will reinstate a USA delivery option next week. And then go for a lie down.

The stupidity of Donald Trump knows no bounds but, because of it, today, like thousand’s of other small traders around the world, we have had to take the sad decision to stop all sales to the USA due to his imposition of an $80 surcharge on regular parcels from outside the country. Most European postal services have in any case already suspended shipping to the USA. We apologise for the people who placed orders this week, and have refunded them in full.

Boom Boom Boom Boom – American Rhythm & Blues In England 1962 – 1966 – The photographs of Brian Smith

It has been a mad couple of weeks as we undertake media on this book, trying to spread the word and reach writers and journalists who might be able to review or publicise the title. But the reaction from all quarters so far has been really positive, and thanks to people who bought the book direct and have emailed Ann and myself with their reaction. Easy On The Eye Books’ main aim is to produce books which we would wish to purchase, and it’s great when others get what we are about.

To quote from just two reviews in the press: “The book is an exhaustive chronicle of the times, an archive of intimate yet historic moments when a culture was in flux. These photos are truly the minutes of a revolution”. (Bob Bell, former producer at Island Records, Blues & Rhythm magazine). “The book is a treasure trove of magnificent moments caught in time. The stage shots are exhilarating, but the candid behind the scenes snaps are equally fascinating. An absorbing look back at a singular musical era.” (Chris Wheatley, Vintage Rock).

And wait until Brian sees what the Dutch have made of the book in a two page preview due next month; they’ve given over half the spread to a shot of him! We’ll show this here when we have permission. From the publishers AND Brian.

Still time to order a copy direct from us for a discount and a free bookmark, though stock of those are fast disappearing!

Excellent to find comedian Stewart Lee indulging in a bit of crate digging at The Big Difference venue in Leicester on the 14th, as he dropped by to look and chuckle at Steve’s worst album covers which are currently decorating the place for the duration of the Leicester Comedy Festival. Stewart was playing that evening at the De Montfort Hall so it was really good of him to spare the time, and after a few words from Steve the collector, Stewart read aloud from his book introduction and had invited guests chuckling away. Always great to be chatting with vinyl fans and thanks to Fern who organised this for us. There is still time to catch author Simon’s illustrated talk on the worst album covers which will be at lunchtime on Saturday 22nd February but while this is free you MUST book a seat in advance through the Leicester Comedy Festival website as numbers are restricted.

Our book The Art Of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve can be found on the site.

Thanks to everyone who has placed a pre-order on Boom Boom / The Blues Photographs of Brian Smith. There is still time to do so and we will be sending another newsletter out about this to everyone next week, but wanted to wish everyone who looks in on this site all the best for the New Year. We managed to put some time in on another upcoming title in between eating home made mince pies and watching Wallace & Gromit, and the fruits of that work will figure here shortly. Right now it’s time to get the snow shovel out; the printer has some proofs for me to look at and it’s a steep drive!

Couple of new spreads from the as yet still unscheduled Go Home On A Postcard book. The pages above show a pair of young women, likely sisters, enjoying themselves in Great Yarmouth in the Fifties, along with three young women on a break in Blackpool actually during World War Two. The trendy white rimmed sunglasses influenced by Hollywood publicity photos give this quite a spooky look. Below is a spread of these commercial street portraits taken in and around Skegness in the 1950s, family groups – up to eight people in one shot – heading for the beach judging by the tin buckets visible in most of the shots!

With our next title (Boom Boom) heading for the printers any day, this book has now become a priority, especially with an exhibition in the offing. However frustratingly the software has gone and corrupted all the image links in the artwork, so I have first got to relink all 350+ scans before moving on to final production work! This seems to be something to do with me having updated the InDesign software a couple of times since starting the project, and there seem to be no easy work rounds, so I best get on with it… You can sign up for a newsletter using the link above to get the latest news.

More page spreads on the site.