Blue Bell Knoll

• This was the first major label Cocteau Twins LP release (on Capitol Records in the USA).
• Blue Bell Knoll peaked at #15 on the UK album chart, and #109 in the US. “Carolyn’s Fingers” reached #2 on the US alternative singles chart.
• “Carolyn’s Fingers” was #26 on John Peel’s “Festive Fifty” 1988.
• Blue Bell Knoll was the only Cocteau Twins LP to be released commercially in DAT format (and was the only 4AD release to ever appear in that format).
• A limited-edition gatefold sleeve design was available for the vinyl format.
• Promotional videos were produced for “Carolyn’s Fingers” and “Cico Buff.”
• Promotional 7-inch and 12-inch singles were released for “Carolyn’s Fingers” backed with “Ella Megalast Burls Forever,” and for “A Kissed Out Red Floatboat.”
• The song “The High Monkey-Monk” was recorded at this time, but was released only as part of the compilation Gigantic! 2 from Melody Maker in 1990. It was later released on the Bonus Disc in the EPs and Singles Box Set in 1991.
• “Athol-Brose” was released as a single in Japan in 1990, backed with “Carolyn’s Fingers” and “Iceblink Luck,” after having appeared in an automobile commercial for television.
• A live performance of “Ella Megalast Burls Forever” was recorded for SNUB-TV in 1990.
• The following songs have appeared in live performances: “Blue Bell Knoll,” “Carolyn’s Fingers,” “For Phoebe Still a Baby,” “Cico Buff,” “A Kissed Out Red Floatboat,” and “Ella Megalast Burls Forever.” An extended version of “Blue Bell Knoll” was performed during the 1996 Milk & Kisses Tour.
• The songs “Blue Bell Knoll,” “Athol-Brose,” and “Suckling the Mender” were performed live with new arrangements by Elizabeth Fraser during her Meltdown Festival solo performances in 2012.
• “Carolyn’s Fingers” and “Cico Buff” appear on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil.
• Blue Bell Knoll was digitally remastered and re-released on CD by 4AD in 2003.
• The model for the hands used in the sleeve photography was a friend named Carolyn, hence “Carolyn’s Fingers.”
• Blue Bell Knoll was re-released on high-definition vinyl in 2014.
• Included in Pitchfork.com’s “200 Best Albums of the 1980s.”
• The album title takes its name from a land formation in Utah (USA).
• Though the band typically recorded music tracks before Elizabeth composed vocal lines and melodies, “A Kissed Out Red Floatboat” was recorded the other way around, with Liz recording the vocals first using a basic click-track. Robin and Simon then composed music to fit what she had sung.