DID COLOUR BAG HELP ELVIS JUMP 16 PLACES
For the first time, RCA has issued a single in a full coloured bag. It is Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” which leapt from No.28 to No.12 in this week’s NME Chart.
Did the bag help, or was the music so powerful it didn’t need it?
“I don’t think it’s making a fantastic difference in sales,” said the man at One Stop Records. But “People like to make sure they get the coloured sleeve because usually with a new thing like this the initial bunch is different and then it dies off.
“Also of course the coloured sleeve makes it far easier to display, you can hang them on the walls.”
“I suppose the coloured cover could help sales,” said Alf Lumby at Imhoffs. "It’s a good record anyway so you can’t tell. I’m selling a lot."
“I think every single should be more presentable. At eight and six a record I think the record companies can afford to put them in a nice coloured sleeve!”
"I'd like to see less singles!” said the man at HMV rather bitterly. “I think the Elvis record is selling, just because it’s Elvis!”
But we’d like to know if the coloured bag helped you buy the record. Please let us know at NME, 112 Strand, London W.C.2.
NME December 1969
