If you were a British musical act trying to make it in America, you didn’t have a prayer until The Beatles broke. Here are some of the memorable picture sleeves of the eras.
Picture Sleeve Archive
Rock and roll ladies made their mark at 45 revolutions per minute
Picture sleeves keep teen idols’ legacies alive
The elusive nature of picture sleeves — which had limited press runs, were tacked to bedroom walls or thrown away by parents when their kids moved out of the house — has made the sleeves a hot property among collectors. In fact, many of the sleeves have become far more valuable than the discs they once held.