“Jack White’s Freedom at 21 may go down as the most literal ‘launch’ of a single in music history.” – USA Today
While at Third Man Records, we launched Jack White’s solo career by attaching his previously unreleased debut single to 1,000 balloons and releasing them–an innovative idea originated by Ben Blackwell.
Some of the records flew over 200 miles from Nashville to Tuscaloosa.
Postcards I designed were attached, asking finders to share their photo and location.
One family in Alabama discovered several balloons in their yard. They auctioned them off to help rebuild their town, which had previously been damaged by a tornado. The first record they put on eBay broke a record to become the highest priced flexi-disc of all time when it sold for over $4,000.
Stephen Colbert miraculously found one in his NY studio. Here he is speaking with Jack about it:
PROJECT COLLABORATORS
Ben Blackwell
Everyone at Third Man Records
the wind