Royal Mail continues to find reasons to issue stamps for British musicians who were well respected in their time, but who are now well past their best.
The Rolling Stones are revered as one of the greatest live acts of all time. They have sold an estimated 250m records and in the UK have eight no.1 singles and twelve no.1 albums. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the band, Royal Mail is issuing a new set of eight Special Stamps capturing moments from some of their legendary performances over the years.
Rather than writing a lot about the band - which you can find in Wikipedia - I'll stick to the stamps. I'll just say that there are only two members who have lasted the course: Jagger and Richards.
The stamps for this set of Music Giants mark a departure from previous similar issues. The earliest ones were similar to the Album Covers with the 'throw-out' vinyl disc breaking through the right of the stamps. The next ones were similar, but the disc edge, Queen's head, and denomination were outside the album cover design, but within an overall rectangular area.
The Rolling Stones stamps simply show scenes from concerts, rather than album covers.
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| Set of 8 Rolling Stones stamps, 4 each 1st class and £1.70 - 20 January 2022 |
The scenes on the stamps are:
1st Class: London, UK, July 1969; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, August 2019; Rotterdam,
Netherlands, August 1995; Tokyo, Japan, March 1995
£1.70: New York City, USA, July 1972; Oslo, Norway, May 2014; Hertfordshire, UK, August 1976; Düsseldorf, Germany, October 2017.
The Miniature Sheet has four more stamps (2 x 1st class, 2 x £1.70) featuring shots of the band together and a selection of some of the Tour Posters from around the world.
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| Rolling Stones stamp miniature sheet 2 x 1st, 2 x £1.70 - 20 January 2022. |
The 1st class stamps show photos of the band; the £1.70 stamps show posters for the 1971 UK Tour, Tour of the Americas 1975, the 1981 American Tour, and the 1990 Urban Jungle European Tour.
Technical details and acknowledgements
The gummed stamps were printed in lithography by International Security Printers. The sheet stamps are 50 x 30 mm perforated 14, and the MS stamps are 60 x 30 mm perforated 14½. The MS is 192 x 74 mm. Design is by Baxter & Bailey. The Rolling Stones logo and typography © 2022 Musidor B.V. Under license to Bravado Merchandising. All Rights Reserved.
Prestige Stamp Book
As usual the Prestige Stamp Book (PSB) includes all the special stamps and a pane of definitives. The two sets of Machins are coded M21L MPIL, and include 10p, 20p, 50p & £1. However, only the £1 stamp is new - the 10p was included in the Music Giants V and Industrial Revolutions books (DY38/39), the 20p was included in the Industrial Revolutions and DC Comics books (DY39/40), and the 50p stamp was included in the Music Giants V (DY38) book. The £1 will be listed as Norvic 4100P.21.
The 24-page PSB is written by well-renowned rock and pop critic, Alexis Petridis, who looks back in detail at the unrivalled success of The Rolling Stones. The book starts with The Rolling Stones’ first gig in 1962 and takes the reader on a journey through their rapid rise to the top and their growing reputation as one of the best live touring bands in the world. The book is filled with a stunning selection of photography captured throughout the past 60 years. The price is £20.85.
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| Cover of Music Giants VI Rolling Stones PSB, 20 January 2022. |
There is also a limited edition PSB (5,000 run) sold in a bespoke flight case style presentation box. The Stamps and Panes are identical to those in the standard Prestige Stamp Book but with a Limited Edition front cover - price £49.99.
Collectors sheets: 'Hyde Park' and 'On Tour'. These sheets include the stamps of the counter sheets but are printed self-adhesive in litho, probably printed by ISP Cartor.
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| Rolling Stones: Hyde Park, Collectors Sheet - AT133 £11.50 |
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| Rolling Stones on Tour, Collectors Sheet - AT132 £11.50 |
Other products
Presentation pack, first day covers, medal covers, silver stamp ingot, gold stamp set - reproduction of the stamps in 24 carat gold (edition of 1962), fan sheets (Hyde Park, Voodoo Lounge), Souvenir Folder, Framed stamps & MS, and stamp prints.
Interesting how the Royal Mail pictures show the £1.00 on the PB Machin pane with u-slits.
ReplyDeleteStock photos, Gary, cut & paste! Hence the label in the centre has no perforations to speak of.
DeleteJust curious...do you know if the miniature sheet stamps in the prestige booklet are imperforate (and possibly self-adhesive), while the actual miniature sheet itself has gummed, perforated stamps? It looks like that in the pictures posted.
ReplyDeleteJ, Royal Mail didn't provide details of the contents of the PSB (printers, other pictures, etc,) - and I have asked since but no answer yet. I have the PSB all the stamps are gummed: certainly none are imperforate; that's just a paste-up illusion.
DeleteI'll buy some but not very keen. Too much repetition in my view. Brian Jones is a big miss.
ReplyDeleteCan't see any images of Bill Wyman, a founder member!
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it - or use a search engine - you should be able to figure out why he is thought 'unacceptable,' even though his criminal record is markedly cleaner than those of several of his erstwhile bandmates.
DeleteI bought The Times today (Saturday) in The WH Smith shop in Dartford, where the Rolling Stones were founded (at the railway station). On Page 38 Royal Mail has taken out an advertisement which just says Rolling Stones Stamps and collectibles. But that is all: no release date or other information. Could do better! It is little wonder that so few commemoratives are bought by ordinary folk for sending letters; with such a dearth of information. And I doubt that an advert in The Times is cheap either.
DeleteWith all due respect as all these 'Musical Greats' are indeed great, but when are we going to have any female British musical greats such as Cilla Black, Lulu, Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark?
ReplyDeletePaul,
DeleteWe've had Famous Authoresses (1980), Famous Women (1996) and Women of Distinction (2008) so Famous Women Musicians probably wouldn't go amiss.
Hi... what is "new" about the £1 Machin please?
ReplyDeleteIt's the first time the gummed version has appeared with M21L coding. The previous ones were 2014 & 2015
Delete