Valérie Čižmárová – “Za sluncem, za vodou” / Victor Sodoma – “Tajuplný ostrov” single cover

Valérie Čižmárová has already been featured at Fonts In Use in connection with both Davida and Folio, variously for her singles sleeves from 1971 to 1973 and for the singles sleeves from 1973 to 1975 and her eponymous album of 1975.

This is an association with both those fonts in one package in the shape the sleeve for her recording, half-a-century ago to the day as I write this entry on the evening of 5th April 2021, at the Dejvice recording studio in Prague of the song lined up for her for the Děčínská Kotva (Děčín Anchor) Festival of 1971, more commonly under the title of “Za sluncem, za vodou” (“In Sunshine, In Water”) and alternately under the title of “Borůvek pár“ (“A Few Blueberries“). This occasion has today been celebrated at the blog I author for Valérie Čižmárová, “Bananas For Breakfast”. There is also a link through on that blog post to play a new YouTube video I recorded and uploaded today of the song.

“Za sluncem, za vodou” was particularly notable in the recording career of Valérie Čižmárová inasmuch as it was her first visit to the Dejvice studio, where she would go on to record other notable singles and also the aforementioned album. It was also her first collaboration with the great orchestra leader, Karel Vlach, with whom she would go on to record her one and only studio album. The other composition and performance credits were as follows.

Music: Ivan Šendera. Lyrics: Jana Hornofová. Backing Vocals: Sbor Lubomíra Pánka (The Lubomír Pánek Singers).

What is particularly striking about the sleeve is the very ingenious way in which the designer of the sleeve incorporated Davida’s letter O in “Kotva” into the anchor. In that context it is a pity that there is no actual individual’s name with which one can associate this design, even though Supraphon, as a whole, can be credited. The K has been altered.

The song titles along the bottom of the front of the sleeve are printed in Folio. “Děčínska” appears to be set in Univers, more specifically the condensed Univers 59.

For a little further information, the title of the Victor Sodoma song on the other side of the record is “Island Full Of Mystery” in English.