We know that there were some pretty cheesy album covers over the decades. The 1970s especially, were rife with some of the worst album cover art of all time.
This morning I was looking for information on an obscure big band leader, but inadvertently happened across the Sexy Sax album by the Oscar Volk Orchestra instead. Despite his name, nothing in my research has turned up any connection to Germany, or any other country of origin for that matter.
Regardless where he’s from, Volk’s Sexy Sax is way over the top on the cheese scale—even for 1970s, saxophone album covers.
Source: rateyourmusic.com
If you’re having a hard time making out the details, here’s a larger version of the album cover from Flickr.
I’ve never seen a spiral staircase with decorative knobs/gears before, but hey, why not. They seem to be working for her!
But titillation aside, “What does the band sound like?”, you ask. Well thanks to YouTube you can now find out, before spending hours upon fruitless hours trying to track down this elusive album.
BTW, did you notice that the song’s title is Smoothing Harry… Hey, I’m not even going to go there. 😈
Update May 2024: You’re welcome. I found the full album on YouTube. 😉
If Smoothing Harry is indicative of what the rest of the album sounds like, and there’s no reason to believe it’s not, then I think a fair assessment of Sexy Sax would be: The 1970s are calling, they want their easy listening, saxophone-driven, instrumental soundtrack back.
If you hurry, you can find more of the same on eBay as we speak:
OSCAR VOLK ORCHESTRA – OPERA A GOGO
Oscar Volk and His Sextet – DANCING AFTER MIDNIGHT
Interesting that these all claim to be Canadian pressings…
Oh thank you Paul! I had only seen the Opera A Gogo, and almost missed Dancing After Midnight. My record collection would not have been complete without out. I can now die a happy woman. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 😆 😆 😆 😆
DEAR HELEN .I AM QUITE POSITIVE THAT YOU WOULD HAVE HEARD THE ITALIAN SAX GUY CALLED FAUSTO PAPPETTI.BACK IN 1977 WHEN I FIRST CAME ACROSS HIS LP’s IN DAMASCUS I FOUND THAT HE WAS QUITE FOND OF USING THE FEMALE FIGURE ON HIS RECORD COVERS .HE HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST PROLIFIC RECORDING ARTISTES OF SAX MUSIC.NEEDLESS TO SAY I NEVER BOUGHT ANY OF HIS RECORDS AND THE ONLY TRACK OF HIS THAT I LIKED WAS ‘HOW INSENSITIVE’.I REMEMBER ONE RECORD COVER HAVING A BUST SHOT OF A BARE BREASTED GIRL.
Hello Kumar.
Oh yes, I’ve heard about him. I’ve even written an article about Fausto Papetti’s album covers, and naturally it’s illustrated. Because he released as many records as he did, Papetti’s albums are an interesting way to see how the representation of women’s bodies changed as a way to sell sax, and sex, over a the decades of his career.