Thaemlitz: Styx (The Wire: The Inner Sleeve)

The Inner Sleeve
Artwork selected this month by Terre Thaemlitz

Text by Terre Thaemlitz

The following text was published in The Wire, Issue 239, January 2004.

As many have done before in this column, I feel obligated to bemoan the decline of vinyl and reassert the impact record sleeves hold over CDs. I also have to excuse my final selection by acknowledging all of the better choices I coulda-shoulda-woulda made... Kraftwerk's glow-in-the-dark 12-inch of "Neon Lights," Laibach's vinyl edition of "Baptism," Devo's poster monstrosity from "New Traditionalists," the hand-print cover to After Dinner's self-titled debut, or the laser-etched grooves on the B-side of Styx' "Paradise Theater" (fucking cool! find it in a discount-bin!).... Which brings us to my final selection, the gatefold from Styx' "Pieces of Eight."

A few years ago when writing the "Epiphanies" column I asked you to remind me to tell the story of when I was beaten up by a gang of Rockers because I owned a copy of this record before they did, apparently defaming Styx' image because I was such a terminal nerd. Little did those thugs know I bought it by mistake... I really wanted "The Grand Illusion" for that amazing synth solo on "Come Fly Away." Suckers!

Even as a child the Easter Island motif struck me as a bit lame (along with that "Lord of the Rings" song - dumb). But, before you stand my sexual downfalls - older women and girly-boys (Tommy Shaw was such a fox). I can't say whether this jacket inspired my object choices, or if it's appeal was symptomatic of such burgeoning tendencies.... but I still think this cover is sexy, inside and out.