Just days after the news that Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier has been destroyed by fire, landmark London record store Sister Ray has gone into administration, citing competition from free music downloads and a "dearth of good releases".
These two events may seem completely unrelated, but there is a connection - both the Grand Pier and the Sister Ray store appeared on Oasis sleeve artwork in 1995.
The Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare can be seen here in the background of the Roll With It single cover:
While the Sister Ray frontage appears on the (What's The Story) Morning Glory? sleeve, photographed on Berwick Street in London's Soho:
It doesn't end there though. The cover of Oasis's 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe features the late, great footballing genius and legendary swordsman George Best. As far as we are aware, Burt Bacharach and former Manchester City star Rodney Marsh, who also appear, are both alive and well at the time of writing.
Even the band members themselves aren't immune to this misfortune. Other than Andy Bell, Gem Archer, Liam and Noel Gallagher, every member featured on a cover sleeve has eventually been fired.
Thank goodness that new album Dig Out Your Soul's cover art is just a psychedelic collage.
“The same hand soldered through-hole construction and super rare military spec germanium transistors that were used in the original”: EarthQuaker Devices celebrates two decades of stompbox design with the Hoof Fuzz 20th Anniversary Edition
“Perhaps it's not too surprising that it would be such a big hit”: Reverb reveals its top selling pedals of 2024 and a compact modeller is this year's big winner
