Sad Cafe – Misplaced Ideals(1978)

Biography
Sad Café are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK Top 40 singles “Every Day Hurts”, “Strange Little Girl”, “My Oh My” and “I’m in Love Again”, the first of which was their biggest hit, reaching number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979.[2] The band also had two US Billboard Hot 100 hits with “Run Home Girl” and “La-Di-Da”. Frontman Paul Young went on to achieve greater chart success as the co-lead singer (with Paul Carrack) of Mike + The Mechanics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Café

Album & Cover
Sad Cafe’s fourth album is filled with blues-rock songs with a touch of soft rock — or vice versa, depending on the song. Standouts like “Black Rose” and “Babylon” showcase the band’s love for Styx and the Stones, respectively, and the occasional ballad (“Feel Like Dying”) doesn’t cause the album to lose its spirited momentum. Vocalist Paul Young tries very hard to be Mick Jagger on some tracks, but he’s so dead-on that he deserves some credit. https://www.allmusic.com/album/misplaced-ideals-mw0000793579

According to Aubrey Powell, the idea for this cover came from a 1963 movie, ‘The List Of Adrian Messenger’, where Kirk Douglas uses various disguises to commit murders, when finally he peels off his mask to reveal his true identity. Tom Smith, who would be also involved in the movie ‘Raiders of The Lost Ark’ made the mould of the models face and then a latex skin was stretch to give the image on the cover.

Cover Location: Hipgnosis studio, London.
Who Did What: Photography – P. Christopherson/ S. Thorgerson. Make-Up Artist – Tom Smith.
Label: A&M SP 4737(US), RCA Victor Pl 25133(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powel

Credits
Bass, Vocals – John Stimpson
Drums – Tony Cresswell
Guitar [Lead] – Ashley Mulford
Guitar, Vocals, Percussion – Ian Wilson
Keyboards – Victor Emerson
Lead Vocals – Paul Young
Percussion [Additional] – John Punter
Producer – John Punter
Saxophone – Lenny Sachs