caveinspiredmusic.com PICTURE COVERS – STYLIZED BATS EUROPE In chronological order by release dates _____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 1 PC-BTS-ER1 United Kingdom 1956 LP: Maurice Ravel – L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES Perf: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Contemporary Art) Cond: Ernest Ansermet Label: Decca LXT-5019 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: This is the British release of exactly the same LP as the following release on Decca. Cover illustration shows the boy surrounded by the animals. The small stylized bat can be seen next to his left eye. For more information about this disc see under Contemporary Art Music – 20 th Century – Lyric – L’Enfant et les sortilèges. Ref: Ernest Ansermet, L’Enfant et les sortilèges LP, Discogs _____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 2 PC-BTS-ER2 France 1956 LP: Maurice Ravel – L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES Perf: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Contemporary Art) Cond: Ernest Ansermet Label: Decca LXT-5019 Artist: Jean Cayré Notes: This is the French release of exactly the same LP as the preceding release on Decca. Cover illustration shows the boy surrounded by the animals. The stylized bat can be seen over the top of his head. For more information about this disc see under Contemporary Art Music – 20 th Century – Lyric – L’Enfant et les sortilèges. _____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 3 PC-BTS-ER3 France ca.1960s LP: J. Strauss – LA CHAUVE SOURIS Perf: The Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus (Classical) Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
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caveinspiredmusic.com
PICTURE COVERS – STYLIZED BATS
EUROPE In chronological order by release dates
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 1 PC-BTS-ER1 United Kingdom 1956 LP: Maurice Ravel – L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES Perf: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Contemporary Art) Cond: Ernest Ansermet Label: Decca LXT-5019 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: This is the British release of exactly the same LP as the following release on Decca. Cover illustration shows the boy surrounded by the animals. The small stylized bat can be seen next to his left eye. For more information about this disc see under Contemporary Art Music – 20th Century – Lyric – L’Enfant et les sortilèges. Ref: Ernest Ansermet, L’Enfant et les sortilèges LP, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 2 PC-BTS-ER2 France 1956 LP: Maurice Ravel – L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES Perf: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Contemporary Art) Cond: Ernest Ansermet Label: Decca LXT-5019 Artist: Jean Cayré Notes: This is the French release of exactly the same LP as the preceding release on Decca. Cover illustration shows the boy surrounded by the animals. The stylized bat can be seen over the top of his head. For more information about this disc see under Contemporary Art Music – 20th Century – Lyric – L’Enfant et les sortilèges.
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 3 PC-BTS-ER3 France ca.1960s LP: J. Strauss – LA CHAUVE SOURIS Perf: The Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus (Classical) Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Cond: Herbert Von Karajan Label: EMI 2C 181-00427/ 8 (2XLPs) (Gatefold) Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: This operetta performance was recorded in 1955, but this release looks like it was much later. A huge stylized gray bat with spread wings that are speckled with colorful dots is placed in the center of the front cover. The bat has a dog face and its wings look more like moth wings. Two smaller flying bats of sorts hover at either end of the title, “La Chauve-Souris.”
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 4 PC-BTS-ER4 West Germany 1970 LP: DRACULA – JAGD DER VAMPIRE (Spoken Word – Children’s) Perf: Hans Paetsch, Charles Regnier, Katharina Brauren, etc. Label: Europa E 423 Artist: Holm von Czettritz Notes: Two stylized black bats fly into the foreground followed by many others seen receding in the distance. Dracula is shown with bloody lips and fangs hovering in the sky over a high-perched castle and a horse-drawn coach. Ref: Dracula – Jagd der Vampire LP, Discogs Dracula – Jagd der Vampire LP, europa-vinyl.de
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 5 PC-BTS-ER5 France 1971 Boxed Set LPs: FABLES DE LA FONTAINE – VOL. 1 Perf: (Various) (Spoken Word – SWA# ) Label: Musidisc CCV 2539 – CO 1600 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: A detail of the bottom left corner of this boxed-set cover, a blue bat with spread wings stands on the grass discussing matters with two weasels, one orange and one yellow. This illustrates the La Fontaine fable, “La Chauve-souris et les deux belettes” [The Bat and the Two Weasels], which is on the first LP of a set of 5 LPs included here. For more information about this bat fable see under Spoken Word – Adult Fiction – Poetry – French. Ref: Les Fables de La Fontaine, 10 disques, Worldcat
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 6 PC-BTS-ER6 United Kingdom 1978 12” Maxi 45: BAT OUT OF HELL Perf: Meat Loaf (Marginal Music - Rock) Label: Epic EPC 12-7018 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: It is difficult to tell whether this is a drawing of a real bat or a well-drawn stylized bat. The same illustration was used for the publicity flier. Limited collectors edition 12" single in blood red vinyl. 10,000 copies released.
Ref: Meat Loaf, Bat out of Hell, 12” Single, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bats No. 7 PC-BTS-ER7 United Kingdom 1980 LP: NEVER FOR EVER Perf: Kate Bush (Rock) A. British Releases: 1. LP: EMI 794 2. Reissue CD: EMI CDP 7 463602 (1992) B. American Releases: 1. LP: EMI America ST-17115 2. Reissue CD: EMI America CDP 7 46360 2 C. Canadian Releases: 1. LP: EMI E1-46360 2. Reissue CD: EMI E2 46360 (1990) D. Swedish LP: EMI 7C 064-07339 E. Dutch LP: EMI 1C 064-07 339 F. German LP: EMI 038-74 6360 1 G. French LP: EMI (Pathé Marconi) 2C070-07339 H. Spanish LP: EMI 10 C 066-007.339 I. Portuguese LP: EMI DB 11C 076 07339 J. Italian LP: EMI ITALIANA 3C 064-07339
K. Bulgarian LP: Балкантон BTA 12540 (1989) L. Yugoslav LP: Jugoton LSEMI 78026 (1981) Original British LP
M. Greek LP: EMI 14C 064-07339 N. Israeli LP: EMI EMA 794 O. Indian LP: EMI EMA 794 P. Japanese Releases: 1. LP: EMI EMS-81336 2. Reissue CD: EMI CP32-5276 (1987) 3. Reissue CD: EMI TOCP-6546 (1990) Q. Singapore LP: EMI (Singapore) EMA 794, OC 064-07 339 R. Australian & New Zealand LP: EMI Australia EMA 794 (1980) S. Zimbabwe LP: EMI 82c 064-07 339 T. South African LP: EMI EMCJ(D) 5220 U. Venezuela LP: EMI EMI-7653 (1981) V. Argentine LP: EMI EMI 8934 (1980) Japanese Reissue CD Spec: (All LPs) (Gatefold cover) (Unless stated otherwise – 1980) Artist: (Front & inner covers) – (Color) Nick Price, 1980 Photo: (Back cover) (Color) John Carder Bush
Inside gatefold – Illustrations & lyrics Detail of bat among lyrics Back cover Notes: The cover painting shows Kate Bush in a paisley dress standing barefoot on top of a hill. From under her skirts a mighty cornucopia of creatures flows out and curves around to come straight into the foreground. These include hybrid winged and reptilian creatures, hooded humanoids, birds, marine mammals, a cat, butterflies, and six bats. The first is a bat-winged hybrid creature with human legs, a long
tail, and a pteranodon beak just flying out from her skirts. Three very small bats accompany a long-beaked crow and a snake-like alligator. Further on in the creature-column a fat bat with a beaked nose and human face flies above the cat. The fifth bat is the most prominent in the foreground center (see detail above) flying straight at the viewer. On the inside of this gatefold cover two leaf-nose bats with long fangs appear. One bat is surrounded by birds, more marine mammals, and other hybrid humanoids, one of which rides the back of a large white gull. The other leaf-nose bat breaks through the paper of the inner cover, where the song lyrics are printed, followed by a white gull (see detail). In the foreground ahead of the bat is a large butterfly poised on a pink rose flower that is bleeding. On the back cover is a montage of four different photos, against a twilight sky, of Kate Bush, with translucent gray bat wings, doing the bat dance choreography that accompanied the video (no longer online) for the song, “Breathing,” the last song on the album (see cover photo of the French 7” single). "Breathing" can be considered a marginal bat song (see under Marginal Cave & Bat Music – Rock MM# ). Kate Bush was a multi-talented performer who not only composed and arranged her songs but also danced a professional choreography for the videos, which promoted her songs. As art director, she supervised these cover paintings and photos. These are no doubt the most broadly international releases worldwide of any cave or bat orientated album. Ref: Kate Bush, Never for Ever LPs & CDs, All Countries, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 8 PC-BTS-ER8 West Germany 1982 LP: DRACULA – JAGD DER VAMPIRE (Spoken Word – Children’s) Perf: Konrad Halver Label: Maritim (?) Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: This is a reissue of the earlier LP (see above PC-BTS-ER4). Dracula with long clawed hands, reaches out his right hand where a black bat in flight, with its wings outstretched, grabs his finger with its clawed feet. The left hand of Dracula rests on a tombstone. A green demon with bat-like wings crawls up out of a tomb. Ref: Dracula – Jagd der Vampire (Maritim) LP, gruselseiten.de
Dracula – Jagd der Vampire LP, zauberspiegel-online.de
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 9 PC-BTS-ER9 United Kingdom 1983 1. EP: THE GUANA BATZ
Big Beat SW 89 2. Compilation CD: THE VERY BEST OF THE GUANA
BATZ (2001) Anagram CDM PSYCHO 24
3. CD: THE PEEL SESSIONS (1998) Vinyl Japan JRCD 36 (Tk 2) Perf: The Guana Batz (Punk) Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: A stylized bat with red eyes, pink wing membrane, and an elongated body is the logo of this British punk rock band. This logo appears on the cover sleeve of the EP (front and back) and also on both
labels. Sometimes the bat is linked to a yellow moon, as on the back sleeve cover and on the B-side label. This bat logo, sometimes large and other times small in different colors from red to yellow to black, reappears on the cover of nearly all their albums. Two variants of this design for the two albums shown here have the basic design in a yellow silhouette and the same design with pink wing membranes and red spiky rays. For more information about these discs see under Rock Music – Punk – The Cave. Ref: Guana Batz, Bio, Wikipedia Guana Batz, The Cave, Discogs Guana Batz, The Peels Sessions CD, Discogs The Very Best of the Guana Batz CD, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 10 PC-BTS-ER10 France 1983 1. LP: LES CROQUES-MONSTRES
Magical Ring – Pathé Marconi 2C 068 65 080 2. 45: LES CROQUES-MONSTRES
Magical Ring 2C 008 73 498 Perf: Les Croques-Monstres (Popular – Children’s) Artist: (Color) (?)
Notes: Two bats fly around over six monsters: four ghosts with Frankenstein and Dracula led in song by a bearded bohemian. This is the only known case where bats were drawn with smiling faces, fang teeth, yes, but smiles. The usual illustrations of bats for disc covers, ether for rock records or children’s records, is the scowling,
scary horror bat. Ref: Les Croques-Monstres, Les Croques-Monstres 45, bide-et-musique
_____________________________________ Stylized Bats No. 11 PC-BTS-ER11 West Germany 1985 LP: HELL'S BURNING UP Perf: Chainsaw (Hard Rock) Label: Bonebreaker Bone 002 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: Once again the bat is pictured as a horror creature, as far from the truth as possible. A black bat with huge white fangs and a spiky hunched back carries a blue chainsaw in the claws of its legs and flies above the roaring flames shooting up out of a rocky gulf. The bat is hacking away at the top edges of the gorge. Ref: Chainsaw, Hell’s Burning Up LP, Discogs
Steelhunters (No Catalog No.) Perf: Vortex (Heavy Metal Rock) Artist: (Color) Robert Leerentveld Notes: The painting shows a giant horror bat with large ears and a small unicorn spike in the middle of its
head. Its spread wings have sharp- nailed fingers in place of wing bones. Just below and in front of the bat a skeletal figure wears a crown with small horns, has a manacle with a chain on his left wrist, and in his right hand a spear and a medieval shield. The group's name, "Vortex," is spelled out with skulls and bones that are tipped with big thorns. The blue label of this LP had a more realistic black bat with long ears
and spread wings above the Vortex logo name. The picture disc reissue of this LP put the same giant horror bat with large ears on the label. Vortex was a Dutch heavy metal band from Groningen formed in 1979, now disbanded. The group’s logo is more explicitly bat, showing correct bat wings without the body. For more information about this disc see under Rock Music – Hard Rock – Metal Bats. Ref: Vortex, Metal Bats LP, Discogs Vortex, Metal Bats Pic Disc, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bats No. 13 PC-BTS-ER13 Denmark 1986 EP: CAVECORE Perf: O. H. M. (Okkutte Hule Mystikere) (Hardcore Rock) Label: Cavecore RP 17722 Artist: (Black & White) (?) Notes: A not very accurate stylized bat with an overly long interfemoral tail. This stylized bat is used for the logo of Cavecore Records and also on one on the labels of this vinyl EP (see under Cave Labels). Ref: O.H.M., Cavecore CD, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bats No. 14 PC-BTS-ER14 United Kingdom 1989 CD: 20 SUPERHERO THEMES Perf: The Allen Toussaint Orchestra (Not Bat Music) Label: M. C. R. Productions 2668382 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: Several stylized black bats fly around in a blue night sky. A few stalactites hang in the upper left. Photos from two other superhero films are superimposed over the bats: Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and a scene of Superman flying through the sky carrying a woman. Ref: The Allen Toussaint Orchestra, 20 Superhero Themes CD, Discogs
Stylized Bat No. 15 PC-BTS-ER15 Germany 1989 12” Maxi 45: A GUY CALLED A BAT Perf: The Beat Pirate (Not Bat Music) Label: BCM 12335 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: The cover shows a very stylized black bat with blue eyes against a yellow field. The picture disc also carried this same stylized bat. This is not a bat-inspired record. The guy called bat is probably Batman. Ref: The Beat Pirate, A Guy Called a Bat, Discogs The Beat Pirate, A Guy Called a Bat, Pic Disc, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 16 PC-BTS-ER16 France 1994 CD: BEAUTY OF THE BEAST – THE VERY BEST – VOL. 1 Perf: Meat Loaf (Marginal Music – Rock) Label: Ariola 74321-206672 Artist: (Color) Frank Stephan Notes: Back cover has an illustration of seven bats flying up and away against an orange sky. Ref: Meat Loaf, Beauty of the Beast – The Very Best – Vol. 1 CD, (Back cover not shown) Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 17 PC-BTS-ER17 Netherlands 1995 A. Dutch Compilation CD: SUCKING FOR BLOOD
Arcade 9902277 (2X CDs) B. Spanish Compilation CD: SUCKING FOR BLOOD
Arcade 9902277 (2X CDs) Perf: (Series) Thunderdome X (Hard Rock) Artist: (Color) Victor Feenstra Notes: Once again the bat is pictured, as a horror creature as far from the truth as possible. Cover has a close-up study of a bat's head with its mouth open showing several long pointed teeth and large ears with no tragus. A cave chamber with stalactites is in the background.
The back cover has two smaller versions of the same bat's head and a brownish stylized painting of the interior of a cave passage receding into the distance, decorated with stalactites and stalagmites. The
interior of the liner notes for the two CDs lists all the titles and splits the close up of the bat's head between two pages, each page showing the long receding brown cave passage, and the bat's head reappears in the lower left and lower right corner of these two pages. The label of the CD reproduces the same bat’s head four times symmetrically around the center hole and the center hole area has a portion of the receding cave passage. Ref: Thunderdome X, Sucking for Blood CD, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 18 PC-BTS-ER18 Austria 1997 Perf: Die Wiener Symphoniker (Classical) Cond: Willi Boskovsky CD: Johann Strauss – DIE FLEDERMAUS Label: EMI Classics 5 66223 2 (2xCDs) Artist: (?) Notes: A realistic silhouette of a flying bat colored violet against a gray field. The other releases of this double album in the United States and Germany did not use this cover. Ref: Wiener Symphoniker, Johann Strauss, Die Fledermaus CD, Discogs
_____________________________________ Stylized Bats No. 19 PC-BTS-ER19 West Germany 1997 CD: Johann Strauss – DIE FLEDERMAUS Perf: Bruno Seidler-Winkler – Grammophon-Orchester (Classical) Label: Preiser 89970 Artist: (Sepia) [? T. Schöbel], Berlin Notes: Probably reproduced from the cover of an edition of sheet music of this famous operetta, this CD cover depicts sketches of different characters and scenes in the story. Five long-eared bats (oreillard) can be spotted flying around amidst these people. These bats are sufficiently large and prominent enough to allow this cover to be included here. Ref: Johann Strauss, Die Fledermaus CD, Amazon
_____________________________________ Stylized Bats No. 20 PC-BTS-ER20 France 1999 EP-CD: A CAVE FULL OF BATS Perf: Celestia (Heavy Metal Rock) Label: Drakkar DK CD 006 Artist: Drakkar Productions Notes: The cover has a black and white illustration of an unidentified species of bat hanging up somewhere. One of the thumb claws of the bat has been exaggeratedly lengthened. The CD disc itself has a distorted bat squeezed into the round space, with wings and body wrapped around the center hole and stretched ears at the top. This same wrap-around bat motif is used for the back cover of the CD. Ref: Celestia, A Cave Full of Bats CD, Discogs Celestia, A Cave Full of Bats CD, metal-archives
Stylized Bats No. 21 PC-BTS-ER21 Belgium 2002 CD: BALLADE DANS L’INAUDIBLE (Bat Sounds – DOC-RBB# ) Label: Sittelle CD-11706 Artist: (Color) (?) Notes: A bat as it flies in a cloudy night sky silhouetted against an enlarged moon. For more information on this disc see under Spoken Word – Bat & Bird Sounds – Belgium. Ref: Anon. n.d., Plecotus, Groupe de Travail Chauve-souris de Natagora, Natagora.be Ballade dans l’inaudible, La Boutique Jama Sittelle, Jama
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Stylized Bat No. 22 PC-BTS-ER22 Belgium 2004 CD: J’AI VOUS AI DEJA PARLÉ DES
CHAVES-SOURIS Perf: Pierre Kroll
(Spoken Word – Adult Fiction) Label: Luc Pire (?) Artist: (Black & White) (?) Notes: On the sleeve cover three sketched oreillard [long-eared bats] fly around and one hangs up in the upper right-hand corner. Pierre Kroll himself is pictured upside down. On the CD itself we see two of the flying oreillard that were on the CD cover sleeve, both positioned slightly differently and a new sketch of a third flying oreillard is also included here. For more information on this disc see under Spoken Word – Adult Fiction – Prose – French – J’ai vous ai deja parle des chauve-souris, and also under Spoken Word – Bat & Bird Sounds – Belgium. Ref: Dejardin, Robert, 2012, Donation of this CD, Jan. 2012 La Feuille de Contact Plecotus, n. 28, Déc. 2004-Janv. 2005, p. 6, Natagora.be Gillebert, Julien 2004, Nuit Europeenne des Chauves-souris, Le Soir, 26 Août 2004, Spélé Presse Pierre Kroll, CDTrrracks
_____________________________________ Stylized Bat No. 23 PC-BTS-ER23 Germany 2003-2004 1. Boxed Set Compilation CDs: THE COMPLETE SINGLE COLLECTION (2003)
Label: Gun Supersonic SUPERSONIC 150 (11XCD Maxi-Singles) 2. CD: PLANET OF THE APES: BEST OF GUANO APES (2004)
Label: Gun Supersonic SUPERSONIC 177 3. CD: PLANET OF THE APES: BEST OF GUANO APES
Label: Gun Supersonic SUPERSONIC 177 (2XCDs) 4. CD: BEST OF GUANO APES: BASIC VERSION (2004) Label: Gun Supersonic 82876664262 Perf: Guano Apes (Rock) Artist: (?)
Notes: This stylized bat silhouette flies with outspread wings was used on four different Guano Apes CD releases. First in 2003 for the compilation set of 11 CD singles with the white bat on a red field; then in 2004 for the “Planet of the Apes: Best of Guano Apes” CD with a gray bat on a black field; and again twice in 2004 for the double CD "Planet of the Apes” where the first CD “Bestapes” has the white bat on a black field facing left and then the second CD, “Rareapes,” has the same bat facing right. This bat motif appeared on the CD covers and on three CD labels (see here under Bat Picture Labels). This group used a real bat cover on their 1997 CD release (see under Picture Covers – Real Bats – Fruit Bats). Ref: Guano Apes, Best of Guano Apes: Basic Version CD, Allmusic Guano Apes, The Complete Single Collection CD, Discogs Guano Apes, Planet of the Apes: Best of Guano Apes CD, Allmusic Guano Apes, Planet of the Apes CD, Discogs
