Stupid question...OBI?

[jacknife]

Just wondering what OBI means. I know it's that spine cover insert thingy but what does it stand for and what is the purpose of it anyway?

[Guest Mnytime]

A Obi is the name of the sash or belt that Japanese woman would wear to keep their Kimono's closed.

[jacknife]

A Obi is the name of the sash or belt that Japanese woman would wear to keep their Kimono's closed.

does this relate to cd's somehow? Please enlighten me! I thought OBI had something to do with Star Wars!

[Rooster_Ties]

[Guest Mnytime]

To the Japanese the Spine Cover is considered to be similar to the OBI belt from a Japanese women's Kimono.

So I am sorry to say this has nothing to do with The Force. Though many of the musicians that the OBI's surround their CDs are strong with the Force. Some of course are more one with the Force than others, Blakey, Gordon, Green, Hancock, Henderson, Hubbard, McLean, Mobley, Morgan, Rollins, Shorter, Silver, Smith, Taylor, Young, etc...

Edited April 10, 2003 by Mnytime

[Man with the Golden Arm]

If I'm not mistaken the 'obi' is essentially a 'upc' symbol for the Japanese market. They run promotions there that require you to send in the obi strips of ,say, "three cds and you get one free".

[WD45]

Didn't Blue Note do that with the first group of Conns with OBIs? You could get a watch, or something, if I recall.

[P.D.]

Originally the "Obi" strip was on the Japanese issues LPs then CDs, because they duplicated the original cover and liner notes in English. The obi was a "sash" that described the Album and the contents, briefly in Japanese. There was always a full japanese insert inside the album.

If you look at old Japanese reissue Obis they state the date of recording.. something often lacking in the original release... verve in particular.

I think the Obi term applied to this piece of paper is a bit of Japanese "slang" relating it to the original clothing item

Edited April 11, 2003 by P.D.

[Rooster_Ties]

Yup, I think if you bought 10 of the very first 12 Conns, you could mail the OBI's in and get a free watch.

I did, and still have the watch to this day!! I wore it as my 'daily' watch (for work, M-F) for about 5 years, until I moved on to something else.

There were fancier BN watches available too (maybe still are?), I think for about $60 each - but I always like the 'freebe' one better.

[Chuck Nessa]

The original "musical" obis were not spine covers but a "strap" wrapped around the record jacket - much more like the clothing item than the current cd incarnation.

[Use3D]

Interesting...

[jacknife]

So...OBI is a word, not an acronim? I initially thought it stood for something like 'outer binder insert' or something like that! Shows what I know! Do you pronouce it like the Star Wars character? I have seen some ebay auctions that describe " complete with fax obi" ....what does that mean, the fax part?

Edited April 12, 2003 by jacknife

[wesbed]

Sellers often advertise, on eBay, stating that the CDs they're offering retain the OBI strip. This release of Jimmy Giuffre's 'The Easy Way' has a sort-of OBI strip:

I have several of the Verve Digipak releases with the OBI strip attached. Sometimes I want to remove the strip, get it out of the way, and toss it in the garbage can. Is there any reason to keep the OBI strip? Does it add some kind of mystical value to the CD packaging? Or, maybe the strip has no value but collectors like to keep it intact because it's part of the original packaging?

As asked previously in this thread, how is 'OBI' pronounced? The same as the pronunciation used in Star Wars? Should 'OBI' be capitalized or is it just a word written like so: 'Obi?'

[7/4]

Does it add some kind of mystical value to the CD packaging?

Yes.

[robviti]

the evolution of obi:

in the beginning there was

and this became

which led to

so now we have

and unfortunately we end up with

Edited May 16, 2004 by jazzshrink