Wow - UK 7" Single: Reissue

The reissue has a inferior, cheap paper sleeve, which is fairly typical for these reissue releases. The artwork, colour and lettering, front to back, are also inferior.

The back of the sleeve differs considerably to the first issue. The sleeve folds have angled corners, the EMI logo has been replaced with a rectangular one and the opening has a circular type cut-out.

Even though both the first issue and reissue records look the same, the typeset on each release differs. Also, reissue vinyl has no inscription etched into the run off on A Side.

This reissue can also be found in the Single File box set.

Wow - UK 7" Single: First Issue

First issue releases come in a thick card sleeve. The photo, colour and lettering are much sharper than they appear on the reissue. In fact, on the reissue these aspects are a little more faded with a hazy looking blur.

The back of the sleeve has a rectangular cut-out opening with angled cuts, rounded folded edges and a circular EMI logo - all key areas that differ completely on the reissue sleeve.

Although both the first issue and reissue records look the same, the typeset differs on both releases. Also, first issue releases have the inscription "Thank You Emily" etched into the run off vinyl on Side A. Reissues do not have this inscription.

Wow - Italian 7" Single

The Italian 7" Single for Wow has completely different artwork to its UK counterpart. Admittedly, I do find the overall appearance of this picture sleeve a little boring. It's nice because it's different, but somehow it just looks slapped together.

The biggest disappointment is the quality of the sleeve. Even though it's slightly more thicker than the Italian sleeve for Wuthering Heights, it's still a very cheap quality sleeve with a very flat matte finish. These kinds of covers are very susceptible to edge wear, staining and creasing. You can clearly see some of the typical problems this type of sleeve can have from my scans.

The record labels on this release are similar to the UK ones at the time.

I would still recommend getting this one, especially if you're into collecting variants with unique covers.

Wow - Canada 7" Single (Gold Vinyl)

This is the Canadian 7" single release for 'Wow', which has been done in gold coloured vinyl. Different colour vinyl has always been a very interesting feature to me because it's something a little different from the norm. I think it would have been nicer if a little more effort had gone into the picture sleeve itself. To me it's a bit bland in comparison to this wonderfully coloured vinyl record. I probably shouldn't complain though. It's more than they did for the Canadian release of 'Symphony In Blue', which only got a generic company sleeve.

As of April 29, 2015 all of the photos I originally had here were removed and replaced with scans. I think with the new scans you can see much better some of the damage this picture sleeve has suffered than you could with the photos I previously had here. Sleeve damage tended to be a huge problem with Canadian and U.S. sleeves because they were very cheaply made out of thin paper to start with, and therefore susceptible to damage quite easily.

This one is considered rare and has become quite expensive through the years. If you decide to go looking for it, don't expect to find a mint condition sleeve.