That Damn Stripe

Ever the 2009 remastering of The Beatles catalog, some of the former band members (or their estates) have made efforts to remaster their solo material.  What's odd about this is not that it is happening. In my view, the 2009 reissue garnered enough goodwill (and rekindled enough nostalgia) in people that they're more likely to continue to buy and rebuy, and they'll arguably be that much more willing to believe whatever revisionist history is written about any one of the four.

No, what I find odd is how they are being released.  Each of the ex-Beatles worked with different labels during their solo careers, and so each of the remastering efforts are their own little projects.  Lennon's discography was handled with help from EMI, and came out all at once.  McCartney, on the other hand, is still working through that weird Starbucks music label, and he's releasing his work at a trickle.  George Harrison's had a a few special packages made up, but his people haven't gone full steam ahead with anything major.  As for Ringo, I could have sworn I read a press release about some All-Starr band remasters, but I can't find it.  Also, don't forget the Apple Records remasters of all the non Beatles acts that recorded for the label. 

And yet, while each of these are individual projects, they have a sense of commonality about them.  For one, most of them are being handled in part by the Abbey Road team that did the 2009 Beatles remaster.  Since could be hired numerous times over, this makes some sense.  But consider the album covers for all these remasters.  Here's Sgt. Pepper:

Notice the vertical stripe on the left side of the cover.  Now here's a Lennon remaster:

Same stripe, different text.  And the cover to Band on the Run?

Again, the same stripe with its own text and color.  And lastly, those Apple Records remasters look like this:

If you lined up all these CD's on a book shelf, or laid them out together on the table, they'd look as if they're part of one giant set.  But they're not, and I haven't found anything that suggests this is anything more than Lennon and McCartney's camps deciding to stay in line with the style chosen to represent their old band. (I think the biggest proof that this is the case is that the stripes aren't all the same size).  Coincidence or not, I think it's a good idea, and if George and Ringo do wind up with remasters, it will be interesting to see if they follow suit.