I was today years old when I realized that the cover of SOTT illustrates the line from The Cross, "Ghettos to the left of us, flowers to the right."

On one side you see garbage like in a ghetto, and on the other, flowers. Am I the last person to discover this? Mind blown.

Of course, on the cover it's reversed, but look at it from Prince perspective on the new cover:

I just releaized that my CD version and LP version of the original SOTT both have chinese lettering on the white box behind his head and the LP and CD version of a friend of mine doesn't and looks like the box on the SDE cover without the lettering.
Anyone know why they erased that?

Yes, it looks intentional.

I do think the old cover art with him in the foreground out of focus on the bottom right is much better than the alternate shot that will be used for this special edition seen in this post. I think they made the right choice back in 1987. From a designer POV.

[Edited 8/25/20 7:04am]

Here's something I've only noticed recently. I always thought those white, pinkish streaks on the left side of the background were a trick of the light, but they actually form a circle on the right too? All of the signs in the background also form a circle. Were these signs supposed to look as if they were being viewed through a Crystal Ball?

thedoorkeeper said:

Not seeing it. Just looks like a messy stage after a concert.

.

lol... because every stage has a old tire, a boom box, a gas can, and straight up trash thrown all over it? oook

.

looks like a fair representation of a ghetto to me

[Edited 8/25/20 8:08am]

LOL you might not be the last person to recognize it, but yeah I did back in 87.
I always studied the album photography/art etc when listening to the albums

JorisE73 said:

I just releaized that my CD version and LP version of the original SOTT both have chinese lettering on the white box behind his head and the LP and CD version of a friend of mine doesn't and looks like the box on the SDE cover without the lettering.
Anyone know why they erased that?

from PrinceVault - Trivia section for SOTT album (discography):

http://www.princevault.co..._The_Times

Warner Bros. Records had to blur the side of the "Golden Dragon Inc." fortune cookies box in the back on their request on all commercial material, including the Sheet Music book cover, after a first batch of records and promotional items were shipped to retailers. This copyright issue concerned commercial copies of the album in LP, Cassette and CD format, for the USA territory only.

langebleu said:

Warner Bros. Records had to blur the side of the "Golden Dragon Inc." fortune cookies box in the back on their request on all commercial material, including the Sheet Music book cover, after a first batch of records and promotional items were shipped to retailers. This copyright issue concerned commercial copies of the album in LP, Cassette and CD format, for the USA territory only.

So if you have one with the Golden Dragon Inc on it, it's rare! I'll sell mine for $500! hehehe.

VaultCurator said:

Here's something I've only noticed recently. I always thought those white, pinkish streaks on the left side of the background were a trick of the light, but they actually form a circle on the right too? All of the signs in the background also form a circle. Were these signs supposed to look as if they were being viewed through a Crystal Ball?

That I always did notice. It seems to be the crystal ball superimposed at a larger size.

ufoclub said:

VaultCurator said:

Here's something I've only noticed recently. I always thought those white, pinkish streaks on the left side of the background were a trick of the light, but they actually form a circle on the right too? All of the signs in the background also form a circle. Were these signs supposed to look as if they were being viewed through a Crystal Ball?

That I always did notice. It seems to be the crystal ball superimposed at a larger size.

Could be spotlight illumination? Just a guess!

I never noticed that because Prince's head is blocking out most of the "ghetto" side on the original cover. I don't think it's as obvious there. As for the "Golden Dragon, Inc" lettering...just checked, and my CD doesn't have it but my vinyl does. Cool!

[Edited 8/25/20 11:37am]

langebleu said:

JorisE73 said:

I just releaized that my CD version and LP version of the original SOTT both have chinese lettering on the white box behind his head and the LP and CD version of a friend of mine doesn't and looks like the box on the SDE cover without the lettering.
Anyone know why they erased that?

from PrinceVault - Trivia section for SOTT album (discography):

http://www.princevault.co..._The_Times

Warner Bros. Records had to blur the side of the "Golden Dragon Inc." fortune cookies box in the back on their request on all commercial material, including the Sheet Music book cover, after a first batch of records and promotional items were shipped to retailers. This copyright issue concerned commercial copies of the album in LP, Cassette and CD format, for the USA territory only.

https://www.princebyjeffk.../prince-40

You can see "金龍" in Jeff Katz's original picture.

The print on bag of potato chips is also blurred.

TakEpri said:

Germanegro said:

ufoclub said:

That I always did notice. It seems to be the crystal ball superimposed at a larger size.

Could be spotlight illumination? Just a guess!

That edge seems sharp to be a spotlit circle.... but Jeff Katz would know!

ufoclub said:

Yes, it looks intentional.

I do think the old cover art with him in the foreground out of focus on the bottom right is much better than the alternate shot that will be used for this special edition seen in this post. I think they made the right choice back in 1987. From a designer POV.

[Edited 8/25/20 7:04am]

The trend of "alternate" shots/art on SE boxsets is lame in general. White 1999 color removal didn't work either.

ufoclub said:

Yes, it looks intentional.

I do think the old cover art with him in the foreground out of focus on the bottom right is much better than the alternate shot that will be used for this special edition seen in this post. I think they made the right choice back in 1987. From a designer POV.

[Edited 8/25/20 7:04am]

A thousand times better, this one looks like bad photoshop

langebleu said:

JorisE73 said:

I just releaized that my CD version and LP version of the original SOTT both have chinese lettering on the white box behind his head and the LP and CD version of a friend of mine doesn't and looks like the box on the SDE cover without the lettering.
Anyone know why they erased that?

from PrinceVault - Trivia section for SOTT album (discography):

http://www.princevault.co..._The_Times

Warner Bros. Records had to blur the side of the "Golden Dragon Inc." fortune cookies box in the back on their request on all commercial material, including the Sheet Music book cover, after a first batch of records and promotional items were shipped to retailers. This copyright issue concerned commercial copies of the album in LP, Cassette and CD format, for the USA territory only.

Ah ok! Thanks!
My CD version is from France so that explains it. My vinyl is from the US so one of the first batch.

Just checked the cover of my SOTT SHM mini lp and the box print is intact.

Germanegro said:

I just checked my vinyl and fatboy cd. They both have the chinese writing.

peedub said:

Germanegro said:

Could be spotlight illumination? Just a guess!

It's a printed cloth backdrop. You're seeing the contours of the hanging cloth.

through a discolored area that indicates something else. For example, if you look at the top you can see what the cloth drape contours look like normally.

peedub said:

It's a printed cloth backdrop. You're seeing the contours of the hanging cloth.

It's the borrowed backdrop of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 1987 production of Guys And Dolls, actually.

HamsterHuey said:

peedub said:

It's a printed cloth backdrop. You're seeing the contours of the hanging cloth.

It's the borrowed backdrop of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 1987 production of Guys And Dolls, actually.

No shizz? That's pretty neat--more local neighborhood product representation. The way that it's pasted all over the SOTT promotions and its prominent use as the stage backdrop, I'm guessing that he ultimately bought it from the theatre.

HamsterHuey said:

jasopig said:

HamsterHuey said:

It's the borrowed backdrop of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' 1987 production of Guys And Dolls, actually.

Just one problem with that theory. Guys And Dolls wasn't performed at CDT until 1987. Prior to 1987 the last time it was performed there was 1975. [Edited 8/27/20 6:24am]

It's Laura LiPuma's memory. Thought it was a fun fact, but we'll see; maybe there's more info in the book in the box. Or we can ask Jeff Katz.

Chas said:

I was today years old when I realized that the cover of SOTT illustrates the line from The Cross, "Ghettos to the left of us, flowers to the right."

On one side you see garbage like in a ghetto, and on the other, flowers. Am I the last person to discover this? Mind blown.

Of course, on the cover it's reversed, but look at it from Prince perspective on the new cover:

I don't think the "gargabe" is visible on the actual album cover. See post from OldFriends. We just see it on this "new" cover that is being used for the SDE. Or am I misunderstanding your point?

controversy99 said:

Chas said:

I was today years old when I realized that the cover of SOTT illustrates the line from The Cross, "Ghettos to the left of us, flowers to the right."

On one side you see garbage like in a ghetto, and on the other, flowers. Am I the last person to discover this? Mind blown.

Of course, on the cover it's reversed, but look at it from Prince perspective on the new cover:

I don't think the "gargabe" is visible on the actual album cover. See post from OldFriends. We just see it on this "new" cover that is being used for the SDE. Or am I misunderstanding your point?

It's hardly visible on the original album cover. On the new deluxe edition cover you can see it. There's a ghetto on his left, and flowers to the right. Like the line in the song.